Firefox Is Heading Towards Trouble (rotting from the inside out)

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[GeorgiaFreeper]

Firefox Is Heading Towards Trouble

Posted by: Mike Griffin on March 11, 2005 @ 10:45 AM

FireFox may be in danger of "rotting from the inside out" according to industry experts including one of the developers on the FireFox review team. Lack of attention by developers and money from supporters may end the meteoric rise of the browser where it is today.

Forget about Microsoft coming out with IE 7 to challenge Firefox. If Firefox rots from the inside out; the way so many other programs, like the original Netscape browser, did; then it's not going anywhere much beyond where it is now.

In an EWeek article, the author declares his support for FireFox but raises serious concerns with how the project is being managed.

I think Firefox is the best browser on the planet, but it's not going to stay that way long unless the team behind it gets their act together sooner rather than later.

Mike Connor, a core Firefox developer, writes in his blog,

"In nearly three years, we haven't built up a community of hackers around Firefox, for a myriad of reasons, and now I think we're in trouble. Of the six people who can actually review in Firefox, four are AWOL, and one doesn't do a lot of reviews. And I'm on the verge of just walking away indefinitely, since it feels like I'm the only person who cares enough to make it an issue."

Finally the author ends the article with this summary.

If the Mozilla Foundation and Firefox friends like Google don't start spending money—right now—to hire more programmers, more project managers and more servers, it won't matter how many ads in the New York Times Firefox supporters take out, Firefox will have already reached its high tide of popularity and we can only wait for the ebb to begin.

Read the entire EWeek article

You can also read Mike Connor's Blog Here.

[GeorgiaFreeper]

Looks like Firefox is heading down the tubes. This is from Mike Connor's blog (a core Firefox developer) and a eweek article. Is the fabled promise of OSS development failing?

[Redcloak]

Yup... This is what did in Linux.

[ShadowAce]

Tech Ping

[scab4faa]

maybe google.com should take over firefox.

[Arkinsaw]

Looks like Firefox is heading down the tubes

Mine still seems to be working.

[Redcloak]

Being forced to work for free doesn't work. Volunteerism, on the other hand, seems to work rather well.

[Allan]

Bump

[srm913]

If this is true, then I am devastated. I fell in love with Firefox the first time I used it. The tabbed function is divine.
I don't EVER want to use that P.O.C. IE browser EVER again!

[Redcloak]

I see your point. This is why the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the Boy Scouts, and so many other volunteer groups have gone down the tubes.

[JoJo Gunn]

I can't help but notice some moron put "Communists" in the keywords, and doubtless that same moron doesn't see the irony of Big Brother XP, of the antagonistic business precedent where what you bought and paid for isn't yours.

[since1868]

That is why MS beat out Apple in the begining.
Gates loved computers bit he also loved money and being the best.

[hispanichoosier]

Not really, it stagnates without a profit motive.

Dude, I beg to differ. I don't get up on Saturday mornings during election years to knock on doors for profit. I do it because I want to end abortion, stop gay marriage, and keep the gubmint from taking arms away from the citizenry. I don't think any of those qualify as profit. I've done it for 11 years and don't think I'll be stopping any time soon.

[GeorgiaFreeper]

Lack of [snip] money from supporters may end the meteoric rise of the browser where it is today.

Snicker ... what do they expect from a "free" product???? I think that the firefox developers are not getting satisfaction from their current compensation model. Maybe they should start charging for support.... HEE HEE!

[GeorgiaFreeper]

Communists and OSS go together ... Read Stallman's (the founder of the OSS movement) web page: http://www.stallman.org/

[JoJo Gunn]

Am I to take it that you're the one who placed the keyword?

If so, how do you feel about wearing your knees out to Gates? Can you imagine any other company where you need authorization from a fry cook to use what you bought with your hard earned cash?

Doesn't that bother you?

Since you think open sourcers are pinkos, which leash do you prefer?

[Ex-Dem]

Know what you mean. There're some days it's hard to tell Slashdot from DU.

[GeorgiaFreeper]

If so, how do you feel about wearing your knees out to Gates?

Since you are going along in that vein....

How do you like biting the pillow for your fellow OSS fanboys? Do they whisper sweetly to you first? Buy you flowers? Chocolate?