Firefox

jksuperstar · Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2004 10:26 am Post subject: Firefox

This may be seemingly unrelated to electro-music, but it is related to using this site. I can't seem to get the Firefox browser to permenantly associate .pch2 files with the G2 editor. I have to choose the editor every time I click on a pch2 link. In fact, I can't seem to associate .mp3 with anything other than quicktime also (which means it's difficult to browse while listening to a link). This is a pain in the @ss, and I'd hate to revert to using IE.

Anyone else have this problem? Maybe it's because I carried over settings from Mozilla, and I'm just having generic problems creating/changing MIME types/file associations.

I've already spent a few hours diving through the Mozilla site, which is ugly (akin to searching through Google for something very specific...you always get 10,000 hits). Anyway, I know there's some users of Firefox here, so I'm curious if you've solved the problem, or even seen it yet.

Thanks for any help...

mosc · Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2004 10:34 am Post subject:

I have similar problems. When I click on the Download link on a pch2 file it always pops up a window asking me to 1) use the default application, 2) browse for an application, 3) save to disk. Fortunately, the G2 Editor is the default application on my system for .pch2 files so the patch is loaded with must one unnecessary click. Rolling Eyes

I scanned the Mozilla site and found someone who said it is a known bug that files served with php don't work properly. This seems like a very serious bug for Firefox which is otherways is a much superior browser. The menu for controlling helper applications seems to be less flexible than Mozilla 1.7. This is a surprise to me, but I expect they'll improve things with another release.

As for the mp3 files, I have QuickTIme loaded so I don't mind it using it. In fact, I like the poor man's streaming. If I want to continue listening to the song while browsing the web, I just hit cntl-T and use another tab.

jksuperstar · Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2004 2:12 pm Post subject:

Even though my default app for pch2 is the editor, Firefox doesn't recognize even that...ie-I have to *choose* the editor every time!

I'll try deleting my user setup info this evening, and see if it re-creates something that's usable. "about:config" hasn't helped me much in fixing this for some reason.

Repeatpeak · Joined: Dec 25, 2003 Posts: 46 Location: Boston, MA, USA

Just yesterday I gave Firefox a spin and tried my own Flash websites that work flawlessly in IE. Firefox however srews them up big time and that weird behaviour certainly shouldn't be due to my HTML or Actionscript code.

Philip

mosc · Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2004 11:24 am Post subject:

zynthetix · Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2004 1:13 pm Post subject:

potential pch2 solution:
1)Save file you are downloading to disk
2) a prompt should appear that the files have finsihed downloading. Click this to open the download manager
3) select the "open" command for the desired file in the download manager.

When I do it this round about way, I don't have to tell firefox that pch2 files are associated with the G2 editor. However, I have the same problem you described when I merely try to "open" the file I am about to download.

I have seen some pages get pretty mangled in firefox. I seriously debate the purpose of using it over IE.

mosc · Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2004 1:51 pm Post subject:

Finding all these problems with FireFox is pretty disappointing. Maybe it isn't yet ready for prime time. I really like the tabs, as for developing web pages there is an excellent developers tools extension. In time, because of the open architecture for the extensions, FireFox will become compelling. In the meantime, if you are a web developer I think it makes good sense to make sure your web site works with FireFox, just as you must for IE, Mozilla, and Safari. Give them feedback. I've found open source developers to be much more responsive than people who work for profit.

Repeatpeak · Joined: Dec 25, 2003 Posts: 46 Location: Boston, MA, USA

The Mozilla/Firefox clique is still pretty small and IE dominates the browser market by, what, 95% or so by now. The rest is probably divided between Netscape users and other browsers (like Mozilla). Unless a web developer is working on a project with a very specific target audience it doesn't seem critical to me to make sites Mozilla compatable.

Of course that's just my take on the whole cross browser thingy.

Phil

mosc · Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2004 5:21 pm Post subject:

jksuperstar · Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2004 7:17 pm Post subject:

I guess that's what W3C HTML is all about. Standards are a good thing, which is why I shy away from Micro$oft, they have a long history of breaking standards *just* enough to make things work on their system only. Ever try using MS Java? That's a joke.

I don't agree with making it work with IE only, and screw the rest. Though, just by avoiding most MS tools, you end up with something that is NOT IE specific.

While we are on the topic of web creation, anybody use nVu? I've been looking for an editor that's multi-paltform (windows/Linux or BSD), and came across it. The creator of Mozilla's Composer was hired by the guy at Lindows, to specifically create an open-sourced WYSIWYG editor...something on par with Dreamweaver, but free. I'd like to get some hardware projects I've been working on into the public domain, and just want to create a "home" for it. For the CVS end of things, I'll probably get space on sourceforge or opencores.org.

zynthetix · Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2004 8:01 pm Post subject:

Repeatpeak · Joined: Dec 25, 2003 Posts: 46 Location: Boston, MA, USA

I didn't point out the fact that when I was referring to web development I was really thinking of professional web development where someone makes a living by developing sites for specific clients with specific target audiences and thus specific site requirements.
In no way did I mean to imply that
1. IE is a great browser
2. It's OK to generally ignore communities that use other browsers

My statement was a purely practical opinion of someone who developes a bunch of sites all the time, where making a site error proof on browsers that won't be used by the target audience can take a lot of time and a lot of money.

And know that my own Flash websites have been out there for years. Going back to change the HTML they are embedded in in order to make them work with a newly developed flawed and mal functioning browser like Firefox is not an option for me when
1. The Firefox guys need to stick with established standards and build on them.
2. The browser that is mal functioning is being used by small one digit percentage of my site visitors.

All of this is a completely different thing when it comes to personal website development for oneself.

And again, these are purely practical considerations.

Philip

egw · Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2004 6:07 am Post subject:

Repeatpeak · Joined: Dec 25, 2003 Posts: 46 Location: Boston, MA, USA

Wow, the numbers have changed dramatically over just a few months. Any clue how Mozilla changed from 5% to almost 20% in such a short time? Did they cut a better deal with AOL or something? I'm very curious to know how they became so strong as I know how Microsoft monitors competitors and has its means to keep'em down.

Philip

Repeatpeak · Joined: Dec 25, 2003 Posts: 46 Location: Boston, MA, USA

Here is an interesting article regarding Mozilla gaining on IE:
http://news.com.com/Study+Firefox+still+gaining+on+Internet+Explorer/2100-1032_3-5435176.html

Very interesting read.
Very different percentages though than the dramatic www.w3schools.com statistics.

Phil

mosc · Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2004 9:09 am Post subject:

I can only speculate, but a lot of people I know are switching to Mozilla because of the superior email client. Outlook and Outlook Express are just to vulnerable to viruses. So, when you switch to Mozilla or Thunderbird, the browser comes along too.

There were some huge Mozilla recomendations from the conservative technology press lately as well. The Wall Street Journal's Mossbecker chimed in for FireFox recently. He is highly respected.

Repeatpeak · Joined: Dec 25, 2003 Posts: 46 Location: Boston, MA, USA

Interesting thought to link it to the email client! Outlook is scary when it comes to virus vulnerability. I got to check the email client in Mozilla or Firefox.

Philip

jamos · Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2004 11:18 am Post subject:

I switched to FireFox just because I was unable to remove all the pernicious adware that had infected my system, including something that kept changing my home page to a porn site. unfortunately, if and when FireFox gains prominence, the scum will then target that platform instead of IE.

mosc · Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2004 2:11 pm Post subject:

jksuperstar · Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2004 2:49 pm Post subject:

The BIG advantage that Firefox has over IE, is because windows integrated IE with the OS, so that they could bundle it for free and have a legal defense against people like Netscape. Because of that, it's inherently not as secure, since viruses get (easier) access to system resources.

Along with most *independent* security analysts, I think it's also more secure because it is open-source, and many people can view the source code, and fix security problems, before they "happen". And that's also why I think Firefox will be more successful...it will have spinoffs for more specific implementations (more secure, kiosks, etc), since the source is available to all. Whereas with MS products, the only people capable of changing IE can only react to the problems it's customers have.

mosc · Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2004 3:25 pm Post subject:

Yes, excellent reasons. Still, it would be nice if it could open attachements. Rolling Eyes