Upgraded to 8.04 this morning...

[crane]

Don't you have read the release notes about firefox 3 being set by default instead of Firefox 2 ?

Anyway, before getting my *ss kicked, just think about having a firefox version which support is dead by next december in a 3 years SUPPORT distro ?

And at least, for your info, S = Support, not Stable in LTS.

Having it supported is fine. The problem is that people have become attached to their extensions and plug-ins as I have. None of which, at this time work under FF3. So I understand why people want FF2 back.

ON a side note, it seems to me that FF2 has a crisper look. The fonts on FF3 are a bit blurry to me.

[MerlinsLair]

Don't you have read the release notes about firefox 3 being set by default instead of Firefox 2 ?

Anyway, before getting my *ss kicked, just think about having a firefox version which support is dead by next december in a 3 years SUPPORT distro ?

And at least, for your info, S = Support, not Stable in LTS.

Thanks for the tip there Fred. Glad you could visit our little corner of the forums here to point that out for me. That being said, I'll point out something for you sir:

1) Why install a beta version of a browser that was working just fine as a "Stable Release" as 2.0.0.14? Wait until FF3 goes Stable, then release it like all the versions before it. Reeks of M/$ tactics to me. My opinion there bud.

2) When the FF version does become outdated and support drops, THEN release FF3 for public use. NOT with a LTS version of an OS! That's absurd. Nothing works with it. What were we to do? Just blindly follow along with the game? Again, reeks of the stuff M/$ does. My opinion again bud.

3) Stable/Support to me and many others means the same thing...ready for public use as a Stable OS that's Supported by it's developers.

I use Linux for many reasons. Open Source which contributes to the developers who work hard to come out with the apps and stuff that we all use daily, Security in not having to worry near as much about what gremlin will infiltrate my system next, Ease of use with most all of the apps, programs and general offerings that come with the system itself, and more reasons than I have the time or space to add at this time.

Now, if you have any other words of wisdom that are constructive to the OP, fine. If not, well, you get my drift don't you?

No wonder so many folks still shy away from Linux with the holier-than-thou attitudes of people like you.

[crane]

LOL, nicely said. I felt he was being a bit demeaning in the way he "spoke" but I wasn't sure if it was just me. I think screaming long term support was a bit odd. Long term support to me would mean pretty much what you stated. It software goes obsolete during the support cycle then Ubuntu would support the upgrade and push it down to the OS.

[MerlinsLair]

I don't normally tend to go off like that but for him? I felt like accommodating.

I think a Beta version of anything should be an option, not an addon to an OS that will surely have it's own bugs to contend with. Evidently, I'm not alone in this way of thinking as others are saying the same lately.

[cyberdork33]

while I agree somewhat with the fact that something such as the default browser shouldn't be beta, I think you might have been a little harsh. I didn't see his comment as an attack or anything... and there is a big difference between "support" and "stable" You can support beta (usually not considered "stable") software... look at gmail.

That said, I haven't had many issues with FF3 for awhile, but I use a beta of foxmarks to sync my bookmarks and I really don't have many other addons (other than Adblock)

[MerlinsLair]

A difference of opinion then, I suppose. Either way, he came off to me as condescending and I replied back as "nicely" as possible.

I'm still learning Linux and Ubuntu and didn't take too kindly to his post. Evidently, he was a bit doubtful in it too as he said, and I quote:

Anyway, before getting my *ss kicked, just think about having a firefox version which support is dead by next december in a 3 years SUPPORT distro ?

[MerlinsLair]

After a clean install things are looking much better now. Still using FF2 to be able to keep my plugins and so on working. When they get FF3 stable, I'll consider switching to it next. But, for now I'll keep what's working for me.

[retrow]

There was quite an uproar among folks who had voluntarily installed Hardy as early as Feb when it was still in its Alpha stages. When I got alpha 2, FF3.0b3 was default. FF3 crashes were so frequent during alpha days that the bug report portal became unusable due to the traffic of people reporting/checking the bugs.

Apart from a few glitches (like choking on flash media), FF3 is actually quite efficient as compared to FF2 and it has far better compatibility with w3c standards. It scores some 15+ points more than FF2 on Acid3 test.

Taking a philosophical view on the issue, it seems that by upgrading/installing 8.04 we take on the challenge to test-drive the upcoming Mozilla browser among other things. LTS is supposed to work outta box, be stable, et al. but considering it is LTS, the upcoming 8.04.1 will have things patched up and it will still be at the very beginning of the life cycle of Hardy.

[tryxl]

As a tech support guy, I may can shed some light on the Firefox issue.

A long term support version of a distribution should include software that is expected to be supported by the individual developers of that software for the term of the expected support.

Firefox 3 was also included due to some security issues in Firefox 2. Those issues are more critical in a windows environment than Linux, but they are still there.

All that being said, I understand the frustration of having a beta version of software forced on you without your consent. I do not know precisely why the developers included it, but I suspect my reasons are similar to theirs.

As far as the plug in issues... good luck.... I am having problems with them in FF3 as well. One solution that has helped me is that I run IE in wine. some sites are much more friendly to IE than FF. I disagre with this method f web deisgn, I think sites should be completely browser neutral, but that is not always the case.

Other upgrade issues--- be careful if you are running envy in 7.X, it causes issues in the upgrade, be certain to use the envy tool to remove your drivers then completely remove envy from your machine before the upgrade. Failure to do so has hosed 3 machines for us at my office. completely removing Envy though has allowed 4 successful upgrades.

[MerlinsLair]

I've gotten FF2 to work flawlessly now since reinstalling 8.04 from scratch as a clean install. The upgrade route just didn't work out too well for me this time. FF2 will now open from a clicked link in an email again (such as the one I got when this post was updated) and all my plugins/addons are working as before too.

FF3b is sitting there still until the dev's get the bugs out of it. I'll give it a try then. 8^)