Help us take back the web.

Blake · Post by **Blake** » October 19th, 2004, 5:07 am

On November 9th, Firefox 1.0 will take back the web. We want the world to know it. Join us over at <a href="http://www.spreadfirefox.com/">Spread Firefox</a> as we raise funds for the most ambitious launch campaign in open source history. A portion of each donation will go towards taking out a full-page ad in the New York Times celebrating the release. All donors will be listed in the ad, the signatories of a declaration of independence from a monopolized and stagnant web. Will you be a part of the open source legacy?

TheOneKEA · Post by **TheOneKEA** » October 19th, 2004, 5:51 am

I'm too shy to be in a newspaper!

But I'd gladly donate, when I can.

EDIT:

How much of the donations will be going towards the ad? Many cynical folks on Slashdot are curious as to what the money will be spent on.

Up North · Post by **Up North** » October 20th, 2004, 5:00 am

http://www.telegraaf.nl/i-mail/14896501 ... pagne.html

Sorry dutch news, because I emailed them: http://www.spreadfirefox.com/?q=blog/22026

Enews was alread reported...

Old cpemma · Post by **Old cpemma** » October 21st, 2004, 1:43 am

Anyone else amused to see that spreadfirefox.com (like many others) - renders better in Internet Explorer than it does in Firefox??

Look at the "Daily Top 5 Companies" on the right - where the names wrap, they don't line up properly with the lines. On IE, they're perfect.

I've been using Firefox daily for months now - and this sort of thing happens on many sites. Quite a lot of sites are much worse, and aren't really usable - so I have to fire up IE several times a day.

We're always told it's the sloppy coding of web sites that causes this - but on this evidence, perhaps not....

Until the open source community sorts this sort of thing out - I don't think Firefox will keep MS awake at night - no matter how many ads they buy.

Shame really - the tabbed browsing is fantastic.

makaiguy · Post by **makaiguy** » October 21st, 2004, 6:32 am

I love and use FFox for everything except updating Windows. But I don't really think it's ready for this level of exposure.

As someone who tries to help here in the forums with newbie questions, it is quite staggering to see the number of problems people have. Some of them are due to complete ineptitude on their part, true, but many/most of them are due to the programmers' strange choices for default behaviour, non-intuitive menu structure, or lack of information provided when installing the package.

It's no wonder we see lots of helpful people establish a significant presence here on MozillaZine and then disappear. They just plain burn out.

When we see the same old problems and questions repeated hundreds and hundreds of times it is clear that attention needs to be paid to making FFox run as people expect right out of the box.

I cringe at the thought of what these forums will look like after this big publicity push ...

rtmjr50 · Post by **rtmjr50** » October 21st, 2004, 10:56 am

makaiguy wrote:I love and use FFox for everything except updating Windows. But I don't really think it's ready for this level of exposure.

As someone who tries to help here in the forums with newbie questions, it is quite staggering to see the number of problems people have. Some of them are due to complete ineptitude on their part, true, but many/most of them are due to the programmers' strange choices for default behaviour, non-intuitive menu structure, or lack of information provided when installing the package.

It's no wonder we see lots of helpful people establish a significant presence here on MozillaZine and then disappear. They just plain burn out.

When we see the same old problems and questions repeated hundreds and hundreds of times it is clear that attention needs to be paid to making FFox run as people expect right out of the box.

I cringe at the thought of what these forums will look like after this big publicity push ...

I agree up to a point ... but I thing a lot of user are just to damn lazy to use the search or the knowledge base ..... also feel that a lot of this could be stop if firefox program help actually help you ... the help info leaves much ....

and I do hope that someone is working on updating the help resources online ... much of it is outofdate or in error and is really hard to find without looking ....

later, Richard

makaiguy · Post by **makaiguy** » October 21st, 2004, 4:01 pm

rtmjr50 wrote:I agree up to a point ... but I thing a lot of user are just to damn lazy to use the search or the knowledge base .....

This is certainly true. But it is NOT going to change, and when we get an even larger influx of the more general public they'll be even less representative of the technical adapters and thus even less likely to try to find stuff on their own.

I doubt that ANYBODY notices the low key "knowlege base" link until some helpful soul posts a message that graphically tells us all to look OVER THERE ---->, I'm pretty sure I didn't.

MaDFox · Post by **MaDFox** » October 21st, 2004, 7:25 pm

I know lots of people who barely know what a Internet browser is....that is one reason because I don't install it to customers, Does "Mozilla Firefox" give you any hint of what it is or does??...I think not

makaiguy · Post by **makaiguy** » October 21st, 2004, 8:40 pm

I take it you then don't install or recommend Outlook or Outlook Express for email?

Up North · Post by **Up North** » October 21st, 2004, 8:44 pm

On my work I installed it and put it on the desktop as Firefox Internet just like Explorer Internet...

My Left Hand · Post by **My Left Hand** » October 22nd, 2004, 11:17 am

MaDFox wrote:I know lots of people who barely know what a Internet browser is....that is one reason because I don't install it to customers, Does "Mozilla Firefox" give you any hint of what it is or does??...I think not

neither does "Safari" but people learn, give them some time.

paul1892 · Post by **paul1892** » October 22nd, 2004, 9:30 pm

I've run IE since v5 (I think)...applied the updates, fixes, etc.. even upgraded to V5.5 then 6, and it all worked -BUT- with Firefox each time I change .8 to .9 to .93 to .10 etc... things just break! whether it's a theme or an extension....is this instability likely to change? if not I can't see users sticking with something so fragile.

I don't think the 'begging cup' approach will pay off, it's not a good look

Up North · Post by **Up North** » October 22nd, 2004, 11:26 pm

Paul1892: Version IE 6 has many issues, and bugs will be fixed when the company (M$) will loose face and thus money. I am sure as in all big companies, this process is slow due to communication difficulties.

FF0.10.1 (or as a marketing tool Preview version of 1.0) is STILL a beta version. The fact that you are allowed to see its development is privilage. Its Open Source Software (OSS). You decide when and if it is for you. As for now even the Beta version is slowly starting a tremour in the Web.

Many have and are 'converting' to the belief that the OSS is a platform where issues will be discovered and fix fast. Issues always come up, it is how to deal with it.

The sole reason that Miscosoft (and thus IE) is so big and widely used is strategic marketing. Marketing increased revenue etc... Firefox is a free product, and showing the world that people are willing to pay for something they already have because the like it, is just marketing. I really would not call this begging. When you ask, you will gain. When you stay silent, who would know your problem?

The goal is just different; the WWW is for all of us. Code should be standard so we can all use it. IE-based only websites comply to a company. Why? WWW is not company owned.

In that respect OSS is the way forward...

Post by **BenBasson** » October 23rd, 2004, 6:18 am

Donated the full $30, even though I'm a student. I like the idea, I hope it's taken up by enough people! Can I get someone to buy the paper and airmail it to me in England? I'll cover the costs (via Paypal).

SteelyDon · Post by **SteelyDon** » October 23rd, 2004, 1:59 pm

As much as I like and appreciate Firefox and OS, I have no interest in the world discovering it. When it gets popular enough, the criminal element will start using and attacking it more. Let IE take the abuse.

As regards 'taking back the www,' I don't mind Microsoft dominating it. I mostly ignore MS. What I
object to are the criminals who indulge in spam, viruses, hacking, stealing copyright stuff, scams, etc..
THOSE things, I would pay money to stop.

Help us take back the web.

Help us take back the web.

And hits also the news