Sunday, October 28, 2007

Firefox (2 and possibly 3) are unusable on Linux

This will be a short entry but Firefox on Linux is not doing the Linux community any favors. Firefox is really buggy software. At first I thought maybe I was doing something wrong like visiting websites (you know, typical web browsing tasks) but after yet another memory upgrade and yet another Ubuntu release, I am convinced there is something seriously wrong with the Firefox/Mozilla engine on the linux platform. Maybe the FF community grew too fast and the FF group were unable to adequately handle the demands of the modern web user.

There are a couple of problems that plaque my internet use. Slow startup (at least with FF2). Heavy javascript oriented pages wreak havoc on FF and the operating system.

Don't you find it a little odd that Ubuntu just recently upgraded to Firefox 2.0.0.8 only 2 weeks (or so) after the Gutsy (Ubuntu 7.10) release. I bet it was yet another Firefox memory fix or something along those lines. The worst part, as far as I can tell it works fine on the win32 platforms. Never have a problem with it. But once I start using FF on a Linux platform, I start praying to the gods I can do basic tasks like check my email or visit one of the three sites I frequently visit. It is really tragic.

My Solutions

I am trying my best to move away from FF, at least FF2. I am currently writing this blog entry under Firefox Granparadiso (FF3). But it is kind of difficult when you have been using some variation of Firefox for so long. Firefox on windows. Firefox on Redhat. Also, FF shares so many properties with Internet Explorer. I use the latest Opera on occassion and so far it seems to be very stable.

Plugins: Some articles on the web mention that Firefox doesn't work well with various plugins. I only really use Firebug and the non-commercial Flash plugin.

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