[ale] AARG Firefox devs delete several important UI options

Ron Frazier (ALE) atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com
Thu Aug 8 10:56:30 EDT 2013 

Hi Michael T,

I'm sorry you didn't like the post.  I have no desire to offend anyone here and never have.  However, firefox usage among readers here is probably almost as ubiquitous as linux usage.  There are hundreds, if not thousands of readers of the list which don't post here.  The content is indexed on google and echoed in other places.  I'm sure some, if not many, would be interested in the topic of this thread.  Many of those people are not familiar with the under the hood workings of firefox, so I think the info would be useful to them.

Aside from that, I'm getting real world info to help me solve my computer configuration problem more efficiently, some of which you posted, for which I am appreciative.

Sincerely,

Ron



Michael Trausch <mbt at naunetcorp.com> wrote:

>You do get that software does this on a fairly regular rate, yes?
>
>And yes the config settings will be on about:config. You just have to
>find them. 
>
>Maybe you should start a list dedicated to the undesirable lack of
>inertia in software... Honestly if you're going to write a book every
>time something changes you don't like I would seriously recommend that
>or a blog. That's the style you write in anyway, and at least them
>people (presumably) are interested.
>
>This just isn't that place. Or if it is, then it is I who no longer
>fits. 
>
>Sent from my iPhone
>
>On Aug 7, 2013, at 9:54 PM, "Ron Frazier (ALE)"
><atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com> wrote:
>
>> Yes, I know that's an option.  Some of the things I mentioned can be
>fixed that way.  Some others cannot.  The main problem is that the UI
>controls were there and they were easy to use.  Now they're gone and it
>takes me substantially longer to configure the same setup as before.
>> 
>> Sincerely,
>> 
>> Ron
>> 
>> 
>> On 8/7/2013 9:31 PM, Sparr wrote:
>>> 
>>> Firefox has always had thousands of configuration options that
>aren't in the preferences panel. If you want to be a power user, use
>about:config
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Wed, Aug 7, 2013 at 9:11 PM, Ron Frazier (ALE)
><atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com> wrote:
>>>> Hi all,
>>>> 
>>>> Just thought I'd pass this along.  The Firefox dev team has deleted
>several UI options in Firefox 23 that they think are unimportant but
>that I and a number of people commenting on blogs etc. think are
>important.  This article lists most of them:
>>>> 
>>>>
>http://www.askvg.com/mozilla-to-remove-several-unnecessary-options-from-firefox-preferences-window
>>>> 
>>>> Some of them impact the way I have my Firefox's set up and some of
>them change user defaults even after the user had intentionally
>modified them.  If you care about any of these, you can temporarily
>turn off auto updates on ff 22 (if you even still have ff 22) and look
>at the menus to see where things have changed.  I spent several hours
>last night researching how to undo what the dev team has done.  I've
>found alternate ways of setting or workarounds for almost all.  I'm
>going to have to spend more hours reconfiguring all my ff
>installations, pc's, logins, vm's, after they upgrade to 23.  This will
>take a large and annoying amount of time.  When I'm done, I should
>still have the system configured the way I want but will still be able
>to do auto updates.  As has been stated here before by others, you
>don't want to leave auto updates off if you can avoid it.  I hope to
>post detailed instructions on how to override the changes in a separate
>post.  Posting the details now would!
>>>>   take a good bit of time.
>>>> 
>>>> Here's what they've changed:
>>>> 
>>>> A) Tabs on top checkbox is gone - I hate this feature.  I want the
>menu on top, then the address bar / nav bar, then the tabs.  Some may
>like it, but the point is, you need to be able to change it.  This is
>fixable.
>>>> 
>>>> B) Load images automatically checkbox / exception list is gone - I
>and many people use this periodically when they don't want to load
>images, for speed or bandwidth considerations or data caps, etc. 
>Fixable.
>>>> 
>>>> C) Enable javascript checkbox / advanced javascript configuration
>is gone.  This is something that's security related and something I set
>on every installation I do for myself.  What really burns me is that
>they've not only deleted the controls, but have altered the default
>settings I already had.  I keep javacript turned on here and let
>noscript control it on a site by site basis.  However, the advanced
>screen would let you disallow scripts moving or resizing windows,
>raising or lowering windows, or changing or replacing context menus.  I
>had all these features turned off and that's the way I wanted them. 
>Now, the dev team has changed the defaults that I HAD ALREADY SET to be
>the opposite in two of the three cases.  As a consequence, I have to go
>to every pc, vm, and login I have and use a very kludgy method that
>takes 5X longer to configure, and put the systems back the way I had
>it.  But, it's fixable.
>>>> 
>>>> D) The dialog to override automatic cache management is supposedly
>gone, but I think it may still be there, at least for the moment.  I
>don't know if that's fixable if they remove it.  I've never used it.
>>>> 
>>>> While I'm here (in the options / preferences, advanced, network
>menu) you should know that html 5 websites can potentially store many
>MB of data for offline use on your system.  There are a couple of
>dialogs in this menu to control and monitor that, as well as a checkbox
>to "Tell me when a website wants to store data for offline use".  I'd
>leave that checked.
>>>> 
>>>> E) Options to turn off or on SSL3 or TLS1 are gone.  The entire
>certificate management interface is supposed to be gone, but I think
>it's still there.  I've never used the first options.  I occasionally
>have to tinker with security certificate exceptions.  I don't know if
>the SSL TLS things are fixable or if they need to be.
>>>> 
>>>> F) The option to turn off the nav toolbar is gone supposedly, but
>it still looks like it's in the view menu.  I don't know if that's
>fixable if they remove it.  Many people like to eliminate tabs and the
>nav bar and just have a small window with information displaying in it,
>like weather.
>>>> 
>>>> G) The always show the tab bar option is gone.  Conversely, is the
>easy option to hide it.  Logic for why people want this is the same as
>for the nav bar.  This is fixable.
>>>> 
>>>> That's it for now.  I hope to be posting detailed instructions to
>implement the fixes, but that email will take me a while to type and I
>have to find time for it.  If anyone has specific questions, feel free
>to ask.
>>>> 
>>>> HTH
>>>> 
>>>> Sincerely,
>>>> 
>>>> Ron
>> 
>> 
>> -- 
>> 
>> (PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want
>to
>> call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate
>energy
>> mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new email messages very
>quickly.)
>> 
>> Ron Frazier
>> 770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
>> linuxdude AT techstarship.com
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--

Sent from my Android Acer A500 tablet with bluetooth keyboard and K-9 Mail.
Please excuse my potential brevity if I'm typing on the touch screen.

(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new email messages very quickly.)

Ron Frazier
770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
linuxdude AT techstarship.com
Litecoin: LZzAJu9rZEWzALxDhAHnWLRvybVAVgwTh3
Bitcoin: 15s3aLVsxm8EuQvT8gUDw3RWqvuY9hPGUU

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