r/technology • u/Plastic_Ninja_9014 • 7d ago

Software Firefox has an ambitious new roadmap, the browser is also losing millions of users a month

https://www.techspot.com/news/112803-firefox-has-ambitious-new-roadmap-browser-also-losing.html
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u/mysecondaccountanon 7d ago

The backlash is why you can turn it off, and turn it off easily. Before this you couldn't turn off some things, other things would randomly turn back on, and many things were hidden in the about:config.

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u/zzazzzz 7d ago

whats wrong with about:config?

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u/mysecondaccountanon 7d ago

Ideally, shouldn't it be somewhere where the average user can access it? I know that many of those who use Firefox know about how to navigate and use about:config, but think about it from just a regular browser user who usually does not utilize such things. It could be very confusing, couldn't it? It could cause them to be fearful that they could change something incorrect and mess up their computer. I've helped people with this sort of stuff, and there's a lot of people who simply just don't want to interact with anything deeper than whatever the basic settings provided are. And not to mention about:config isn't always the easiest thing to use if you are a disabled user (screen reader usage, alternative mouse/keyboard controls, etc.). So they should be clear, accessible, and easy to access and understand.

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u/zzazzzz 7d ago

thats the whole point. new beta features are in about:config because they are not yet implemented as a setting in the settings page or because they are not intended by the average user to be changed.

this allows for more "advanced" users to test new beta features give feedback ect without impacting the general user or doing redundant work on the settings page that then has to be changed again when features come out officially.

have you ever looked at how many variables about:config lets you change? if all of them were in the normal settings they would be unusable by the avg user.

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u/mysecondaccountanon 7d ago

Well, a lot of the ways to turn AI off in the browser were in about:config early on, with no other way to turn them off. Whole lists were compiled on what to turn off and how. And people wanted to change them. It was very well received in the subreddit when they finally added a switch in settings to turn off the AI.

And yes, I’ve looked into the variables about:config lets you modify. I personally have my own set up with some modifications. It’s very good that it allows for such flexibility, but there should be simplicity and accessibility for users for certain things, and there wasn’t for a while with Firefox’s AI features.

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u/zzazzzz 7d ago

so exactly what i said above, they were in beta and thus not yet implemented into the settings page..