Linux and the future of Firefox

[Mazate]

Now that Adobe is no longer going to be coming out with any new versions of flash, what's going to happen to Firefox on linux? At some point the current (and last) version of Flash is going to become too obsolete to use, then we're stuck with either using Chromium or an open source flash-like app which doesn't work too well. I'm not a big fan of Google so I really don't want to use their browser if I can avoid it. Any and all comments are welcome.

[azangru]

At some point the current (and last) version of Flash is going to become too obsolete to use

Will that some point happen before of after Flash itself becomes an obsolete technology - this is the question :)

[BarfBag]

Chrome is a fine browser. I'm not Google's biggest fan either, but I have no problem using it. That being said...


Will that some point happen before of after Flash itself becomes an obsolete technology - this is the question :)

This, right here, is the key. HTML5 will most likely replace Flash in the near future. As it currently stands, YouTube even has an HTML5 setting you can enable.

[Primefalcon]

HTML5 will most likely replace Flash in the near future. As it currently stands, YouTube even has an HTML5 setting you can enable.
it won be superseded in the next 5 years..... 15-20 maybe, for a start HTML5 Video is still lacking in key features that prevent sites like Hulu using it.... Not to mention that Flash is far too embedded into the market to disappear so quick...

And of course Youtube has an html5 code, it uses their own webm video format

[vasa1]

Now that Adobe is no longer going to be coming out with any new versions of flash, what's going to happen to Firefox on linux?
Shumway?


I'm not a big fan of Google so I really don't want to use their browser if I can avoid it. Any and all comments are welcome.
Not a problem for me. I looove all things Google.

Edit
Shumway, not Shamway :)

[irv]

I switch from using Firefox to Chrome Browser a few months ago. I found after getting my wife a Chromebook, which I use once in awhile that I liked the browser. I think the reason I like it is because of the Google apps. Google has a reputation as a spy, but they have done wonders with the Internet and search engines. Now they have gotten into the game with there own OS.

Now as far as Firefox goes, I still use it once in awhile because of some of the plug-ins. FireFTP for one. I started using FileZilla to replace it, so I find I am using it less and less.

Now when it come to videos on the web, there are some really issues. It seem that when I watch some videos that have commercials I either lose the video (video goes black) or the sound after the commercial. This happen on TV shows or Hulu. Other websites with embedded videos act this way also. And it doesn't matter what browser I am using. My work around is to just restart the video. It can be a pain in the you know what to have to do this.

As time goes on things should get better. I always hated all these plug-ins and add-on one needs to get things to work right. Maybe with HTML5 things will start to change and get better.

[tartalo]

I don't think that Flash will ever be a big issue for Firefox in Linux.

Flash usage in websites is droping steadily [1] [2]. And it's not like the Flash client for Linux dissapeared, it just won't be updated beyond security fixes. The Flash client won't be updated either in mobile platforms [3].

I'd expect that the remaining sites that still depend on Flash will first care about backwards compatibility, and later slowly migrate to alternatives.

---

Firefox does have however a Marketing problem, in many's mind it's not the "cool" browser anymore, Chrome has that position.

No matter that the engine has been improved a lot in terms of speed and RAM usage (needs even less than Chrome!), many people still see it as a slow resourse-hog.

Firefox still has more and better plugins, but that's a geeky advantage, on the other hand Chrome has Angry Birds.

Becoming a very minoritary browser would be a problem because Mozilla's income comes mostly from the default search engine in Firefox.

[1] http://trends.builtwith.com/framework/Shockwave-Flash-Embed
[2] http://w3techs.com/technologies/details/cp-flash/all/all
[3] https://mashable.com/2011/11/09/its-official-flash-mobile-player-is-dead/

[Ravi5kumar]

There is no way I will switch to chromium. I love Firefox and will not abandon just for flash. I will abandon flash for my firefox:P!

[Sandertje]

I find firefox to be too much clutter lately anyway. Chrome suits my needs a lot better, actually. :-)

[irv]

There is no way I will switch to chromium. I love Firefox and will not abandon just for flash. I will abandon flash for my firefox:P!

I said the same thing until a got my wife a Chromebook. I don't like Chromium but Chrome Browser is nice. I like the idea of Apps.
222009 222010 222011 222012

[MadmanRB]

SAhumway looks to be the answer, it will take some time but it seems to be underway and will replace firefox flash soon enough.
Shumway was probably intended for firefox mobile OS but it will be there for desktops with no doubt.
Plus there is always a chance for a flash alternative to catch up, or something that can convert flash to html5.

[The Cog]

I'm finding myself starting chromium rather than firefox more often recently. This is despite some niggles (settings menu on the right, and grows to the left despite having a > on the right of parent menu items, for instance). We use lots of javascript-manipulated svg at work, and chromium is perhaps an order of magnitude faster at rendering SVG in the dom than firefox.

[angry_johnnie]

on the other hand Chrome has Angry Birds.

:D can't beat that...

i use firefox primarily, but i actually installed chrome just to play angry birds :p

[TheMTtakeover]

Was wondering the same thing, This is main my problem on why I can't use Linux. It runs great as an OS but you have to go through so many workarounds to do the simplest things. Seems like more and more things are now not being supported in Linux. Java, flash etc. The only thing it seems to be gaining is game support.

[levlaz]

Java is fully supported in Linux. (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Java)

i am using Java 7 JRE and use it to connect to SSL/VPN using an applet.. smooth as butter.

[llanitedave]

We use lots of javascript-manipulated svg at work, and chromium is perhaps an order of magnitude faster at rendering SVG in the dom than firefox.

That's interesting. I'd only been hearing about Mozilla's much-vaunted Javascript JIT engine, and I thought it was the fastest thing out there. But it's been a while since I did any benchmarks.

[vexorian]

it won be superseded in the next 5 years..... 15-20 maybe, for a start HTML5 Video is still lacking in key features that prevent sites like Hulu using it.... Not to mention that Flash is far too embedded into the market to disappear so quick...

And of course Youtube has an html5 code, it uses their own webm video format
The whole premise of this thread seems strange. Chromium actually uses the flash plugin too, you know. So if there is no flash for Linux, you won't get to use it for chrome either.

Either flash will go obsolete and get replaced by HTML5 (It already is). Or it will not go obsolete and it will motivate the development of a free software version that is good or better. I would not worry about it that much. Web developers everywhere are waiting to dance on its grave.

Chromium is all right, but its interface is not my favorite and it does not respect your OS' theme. It got the second place on the list of better browsers. But only because just about any major browser not called firefox or chromium is really bad (Including Google Chrome, which is proprietary and thus a ridiculous choice for such a vital thing as a web browser.).

[kurt18947]

Not mentioned in this thread is Chrome (not chromium AFAIK) and 'pepper flash'. My understanding is that flash will still be available for Linux but not as a direct download from Adobe. Mozilla has chosen to not implement pepper at this time, I'm not clear on why. Something to do with licensing?

http://socialbarrel.com/adobe-pitches-pepper-flash-player-on-google-chrome/32590/

I prefer Firefox to chromium and am not concerned about the short term. Not many web sites even require flash 11, flash 9 or 10 works fine ignoring security issues. By the time Adobe ceases security updates for Linux in 5 years there should be a plan B. There was some speculation about installing Chrome for the pepper flash and symlinking the flash bits to Firefox. I don't know if that is a viable plan or not. Or perhaps Firefox will find a suitable way to implement pepper flash itself.

[vexorian]

Thanks, I didn't know that (I have not cared about flash for a long time, it seems). Now the thread makes sense to me.

Edit: deleted wrong speculation.

Edit 2: If this becomes a serious issue, Mozilla will just have to implement Pepper (If it becomes a serious issue, mozilla would no longer be disinterested in it). Worst case scenario, some group of programmers will decide to patch FF with support for it. It might take them a year or so, but afterwards, you get a shiny new firefox with safe working flash player in all platforms.

If it does not become a serious issue, well, it would only mean that flash died. We will enjoy HTML5.

[mr john]

For me firefox is too clunky and is always trying to update plugins etc. Not much fun when you are in a hurry to do something! However, I like the proxy setting in preferences. I ssh tunnel through a server in the UK so that I can appear to be in the UK when I am really in Honduras. Firefox has a nice plugin to help me switch the SOCKS proxy on or off.

I need to check to see if Chrome has that feature because I would prefer to use chrome.

[Primefalcon]

I don't think that Flash will ever be a big issue for Firefox in Linux.

Flash usage in websites is droping steadily [1] [2]. And it's not like the Flash client for Linux dissapeared, it just won't be updated beyond security fixes. The Flash client won't be updated either in mobile platforms [3].

I'd expect that the remaining sites that still depend on Flash will first care about backwards compatibility, and later slowly migrate to alternatives.

---

Firefox does have however a Marketing problem, in many's mind it's not the "cool" browser anymore, Chrome has that position.

No matter that the engine has been improved a lot in terms of speed and RAM usage (needs even less than Chrome!), many people still see it as a slow resourse-hog.

Firefox still has more and better plugins, but that's a geeky advantage, on the other hand Chrome has Angry Birds.

Becoming a very minoritary browser would be a problem because Mozilla's income comes mostly from the default search engine in Firefox.

[1] http://trends.builtwith.com/framework/Shockwave-Flash-Embed
[2] http://w3techs.com/technologies/details/cp-flash/all/all
[3] https://mashable.com/2011/11/09/its-official-flash-mobile-player-is-dead/
you can run those chrome apps like angry birds in FF, just copy and save the url... also its on g+ as well as facebook

[Lucradia]

I still use Flash 10 due to issues I have with 11 anyway. (On windows even!)

As a reminder: Never will love chrome (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1758275)

[The Cog]

That's interesting. I'd only been hearing about Mozilla's much-vaunted Javascript JIT engine, and I thought it was the fastest thing out there. But it's been a while since I did any benchmarks.
I'm not blaming the javascript engine or the svg rendering code explicitly. I don't know which is the slow part (compared to chromium). But for instance we have a page with several graphs, and tables, and as you wave the mouse over the graph, the same time on all the graphs gets highlighted and all the tables change to show the data for that moment in time. It's noticably sluggish in FF.

[vexorian]

For me firefox is too clunky and is always trying to update plugins etc. Not much fun when you are in a hurry to do something! You could like disable the plugin update thing.

[lancest]

Went back to Firefox 14 as sole browser.
More stable, Unity integration, has whiz-bang auto address.

[irv]

Has anyone been using Firefox Nightly Builds.
http://nightly.mozilla.org/
222053

[juancarlospaco]

sed -e 's/firefox/qupzilla/i'

[Frogs Hair]

Has anyone been using Firefox Nightly Builds.
http://nightly.mozilla.org/
222053

I have been testing what is now Nightly since Namoroka 3.7 . There is never anything to report though . It never crashes, flash and all other plug-ins work fine. Other than add-on compatibility it performs like a stable build.

I had a minor font problem on one the 4.xx builds that lasted until the next day. Flash works fine on all my browsers and always has. If problems arise in the future Chrome will be there waiting.

[irv]

I have been testing what is now Nightly since Namoroka 3.7 . There is never anything to report though . It never crashes, flash and all other plug-ins work fine. Other than add-on compatibility it performs like a stable build.

I had a minor font problem on one the 4.xx builds that lasted until the next day. Flash works fine on all my browsers and always has. If problems arise in the future Chrome will be there waiting.

The reason I was asking was I had tested it until I started having problems with computer lockups. I don't believe it was Firefox Nightly, because I installed a new SSD with a fresh install and this time I left off Firefox Nightly and was still having lockup. I'm still trouble shooting this problem so I didn't want to reinstall it yet. (That's another issue.) Once I get this figured out I will reinstall it and go back to testing.

[vexorian]

I just wish either Firefox or chromium made pinned tabs show up in all browser windows.

I might even switch to Chromium if they do that first.

[juancarlospaco]

I just wish either Firefox or chromium made pinned tabs show up in all browser windows.
I might even switch to Chromium if they do that first.

Available on Chromium Daily, you have to setup it on about:flags