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by Pxtl 3256 days ago
The problem is that when you get more and more tabs going, Firefox's single-threadedness becomes more and more painful. When one misbehaving tab locks up (or crashes) the whole browser, that's bad.
5 comments
callahad 3256 days ago
This has been fixed. Firefox is now fully multi-process on all release channels.
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jetpacktuxedo 3256 days ago
Unless you have an add on that isn't compatible, like the one that ubuntu for some reason bundles with the browser out of the box.
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pmontra 3256 days ago
It looks like the development of that extension stopped in 2014 but it's still bundled with Firefox in Ubuntu https://packages.ubuntu.com/search?keywords=xul-ext-ubufox

That could explain why it doesn't support multiprocessing. I disabled it because it doesn't do much. This is a list of its functionality from https://ubuntu-mate.community/t/what-are-the-ubuntu-firefox-...

* Enable searching for missing plugins from Ubuntu software catalog

* Add the following options to the Help menu

Get help on-line

Help translating Firefox

Ubuntu Release Notes

* Set homepage to Ubuntu Start Page

* Display a restart notification after upgrading Firefox

* Add ask.com to the search engines. You can uninstall this if you prefer to use a pristine Firefox install.

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j605 3256 days ago
I hate it when people who know how to disable them don't do it and complain about it. It is really Ubuntu's fault for bundling an addon that is not compatible with multiprocesses.
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kleiba 3256 days ago
I have lots of tabs open all the time, it's not really an issue for me most of the time. But it's true that every now and then it happens that something goes wrong and CPU consumption in Firefox stays way up. (I blame plugins/extensions though.) In such a case, I don't mind killing the process and restarting Firefox to remedy that.
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krzyk 3256 days ago
It is similar to Chromes memory usage, add one tab after another and you will hit memory wall pretty fast (100 tabs?), with firefox 1000 tabs is not a problem.

That's why I switched back from Chrome after using it for a month few years ago.

Now I would switch because Chrome is the new IE, some developers don't test on Firefox, they say "just use Chrome", no WAY.

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pcwalton 3256 days ago
Firefox is now a multiprocess browser.
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ionised 3254 days ago
Firefox is multiprocess now.

I find it uses probably 50% of the memory that Chrome does in my typical use-cases as well (4-5 windows open with around 10-20 tabs in each).

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