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by kelnos 752 days ago
I've been a Firefox user forever (I used Chrome for a while, but switched back to Firefox many years ago), and I am still continually baffled that anyone "in the know" uses Chrome. But they do. And I doubt this change will cause any kind of Chrome exodus, if nothing else Google has done up to this point has triggered that.
2 comments
Tanoc 751 days ago
I started using Chrome in 2011. Went back to Firefox in 2014 once Chrome became a massive RAM glutton. I keep telling others to move to Firefox, but they won't because "Everyone develops for Chrome so I just test in Chrome," or "But I don't feel like moving all my passwords and bookmarks." This, despite me proving time and again how much better Firefox has been for a decade now.
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jauntywundrkind 751 days ago
Firefox tagged along after Safari put out an insulting piece trumpeting how much better they were for not implementing a bunch of web APIs. Lacking good links so far but here's this, https://usefulangle.com/web-updates/post/80/firefox-decines-...

It really struck a bad chord for me. Rather than update your permissions model or consider how best to implement, being a browser that simply won't do WebUSB or WebMIDI or half the sensor APIs is an awful thing to me. I know a lot of people don't feel like those add value to them personally, but as someone who likes and believes in the web, the hard-line we're-against-it bandwagon-joining stance was disgusting to see, from a company I had until then trusted & thought was able to navigate complex situations.

Firefox has most of these implemented now. Which is great. As a Linux user, I used to never be able to update most of my consumer devices. But because of WebUSB, a good number now have web updaters, and I also am not scared these companies are installing a bunch of spyware/adware just to update the appliance firmware.

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lxgr 751 days ago
WebUSB and WebBluetooth really are amazing, and are one of the few reasons I occasionally fire up Chrome.

I don't get the objection either: Unlike for e.g. notification access (which is frequently abused and which Firefox does implement!), I can't imagine websites demanding USB access in exchange for, I don't know – discount codes?

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