Why Did Google Abandon Firefox?

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326 Comments

Ant7, on 09/03/2008, -13/+516Google just renewed their contract with Mozilla to be their default search engine, I don't really think they have abandoned them. Also, how long do you think it will take before Chrome has any significant market share?

Besides, do we care as long as long as when the dust settles we get a better browsing experience?

BTW - this post done via Chrome
MrTankJump, on 09/03/2008, -11/+254Because adblock plus is one of the most popular plugins?
Pandatot, on 09/03/2008, -7/+213They didn't.

Feel better?
orlyfactor, on 09/03/2008, -14/+150OMG there are ads on digg??
dizzy113, on 09/03/2008, -4/+84Chrome is open source so maybe it's more of a demo of how new features will work and light a fire under the firefox team to incorporate them in.
slsashrk, on 09/03/2008, -10/+83Chrome seems nice and all, but Firefox will continue to be my weapon of choice.
doctechnical, on 09/03/2008, -9/+73"The release begs the question"

No, it doesn't. It "raises" the question.
michaelyurechko, on 09/03/2008, -1/+61I don't think they abandoned Mozilla/Firefox at all. Google created a side project with elements of Firefox and Apple's webkit which is open source and will help all future browser development.

If anything, Google is helping Mozilla quite a bit by providing a new, more advanced, platform to integrate within Firefox or other web browsers.
Eezyville, on 09/03/2008, -4/+58All I want is more innovation from the open source community so I can have better, more efficient, programs to use and love.
bbqsalad, on 09/03/2008, -1/+50Competition only makes things better for us, the users.
UMDWei, on 09/03/2008, -1/+44Did you not read the Chrome comic? They think every other browser sucks and wanted to start from scratch. http://www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/
MrViklund, on 09/03/2008, -11/+53Marked as inaccurate.
Elranzer, on 09/03/2008, -11/+52Google wants you to use a browser where AdBlock is impossible to install. Plain and simple.
se7en11, on 09/03/2008, -3/+37lol - that's my #1 missing feature in Chrome
arjie, on 09/03/2008, -1/+30I'm posting via Crome too. I really like the user interface improvements it has with respect to Firefox. And it's so damned fast. I think it's a technology demonstrator of sorts, to go in a completely different direction.
roodammy44, on 09/03/2008, -1/+27Except for the fact it's open source and allows plugins....
Corrosionx, on 09/03/2008, -4/+30Cause it's taking 1.5 gigs of ram these days?

Chrome is blazing fast, I just miss the web developer extensions...
sexybobo, on 09/03/2008, -0/+25I think that is what google wants. I think they are hoping to influince the web with this browser more then take market share from every one. I can't wait till i get firefox running V8
oceanplexian, on 09/03/2008, -1/+25Perhaps it is because Mozilla wouldn't adopt the superior WebKit engine, and Google wanted to build a faster browser...?
shutaro, on 09/03/2008, -0/+21"Do no evil" indeed... You know who else abandoned Firefox? That's right... Hitler.
estacado, on 09/03/2008, -7/+28When Chrome has extensions like FF, then it'll be my main browser. For now, it's still FF.
TehDoctor, on 09/03/2008, -1/+22It's very sad to see people burying your comment.
warkro, on 09/03/2008, -0/+19the direction Mozilla wants to go is different from Google's goals.
Corrosionx, on 09/03/2008, -1/+19I hope Firefox adopts the one process per tab mentality, I love it so far.
MrTea, on 09/03/2008, -0/+17Both communities can use code from Chrome as it uses the BSD license.
oldhick, on 09/03/2008, -3/+20Buried. They did not abandon Firefox.
Cappez, on 09/03/2008, -3/+20Of course there are commercial reasons behind this move. Don't forget that 'do no evil' Google is also oriented towards making money, but Google-style, not as blatantly obvious as Microsoft. They also need to keep the open-source programmers on their side - they need them! This contract renewal with Mozilla helps them to maintain their 'do no evil' image in the face of the speculation about their relationship with Mozilla due to Chrome.
linksus, on 09/03/2008, -4/+20That means google, Now owns your post.
Check teh Chrome EULA, Anything you post, upload etc will become the property of google. They can then redistribute, Edit etc and you give them permission.

This is bad! Read it.
ethana2, on 09/03/2008, -3/+18'closed source community'? What's that?
Farik, on 09/03/2008, -2/+16Care to elaborate on the specifics regarding AdBlock being impossible? If you are referring to the current iteration, fair enough, but we are in day two of the beta -- I'm sure an AdBlock-type plug-in is coming soon.
HiddenCanuck, on 09/03/2008, -3/+17No mention of ads?

1. Google's empire is built on the web ad.
2. Firefox can block all web ads with a couple of clicks.

Seems fairly obvious answer as to why Google would want a browser that supports it's chief revenue stream rather than blocks it.
IphtashuFitz, on 09/03/2008, -2/+15Firefox is open source as well (as are all Mozilla projects), so Google could have just implemented any features directly in it. You can grab the sources from here: http://developer.mozilla.org/en/Download_Mozilla_S ...
doctordbx, on 09/03/2008, -9/+22I guess it doesn't support inline spelling.
nalen33, on 09/03/2008, -1/+14They're contractually obligated to not abandon them for another 3 years.
sexybobo, on 09/03/2008, -1/+14they could have changed firefox but i think this will light a fire under safari and IE's ass more then just fixing firefox would. They want to change the web the same way they changed webmail with gmail I am sure you all remember the days of 10meg free webmail
mutesounds, on 09/03/2008, -0/+13That's the point. Read pages 36-37 of the comic book for Chrome. It states "Since its open source, other browser developers can take what they want out of it."
mk3k, on 09/03/2008, -2/+14http://tapthehive.com/discuss/This_Post_Not_Made_I ...
inactive, on 09/03/2008, -1/+13Seeing how Google renewed their sugar daddy contract with Mozilla it seems like Google did not abandon Firefox.

BTW Gig's comments got spammed into oblivion. Fix the comment system, then bitch about Google.
gilbes, on 09/03/2008, -1/+13Google just invented a new way of forking. Just hire the lead engineer of a project you would like to fork and create an entirely new project to compete with it.

Open Source loves the unity created by forking.
Eisim, on 09/03/2008, -7/+19Chrome is opensource damnit!!! Extensions will come. Jesus people. Chill with this negativity towards google. What has google done wrong??
renegadeafk, on 09/03/2008, -1/+12How are they going to stop anyone, it's open source.
Samosama, on 09/03/2008, -2/+13What $?
doctordbx, on 09/03/2008, -1/+12Safari < Firefox
amire80, on 09/03/2008, -0/+10Why? Don't expect to find a real answer in the article.

It just asks the questions and vaguely mentions former Mozilla developers that now work for Google. And THAT'S IT. Not worth your click and the time that it will take you to read it.

Buried as inaccurate, although the better word would be "misleading".
se7en11, on 09/03/2008, -3/+13@Farik Not impossible to make, I just don't see Google allowing it since ads are one of their main revenues. If they would allow one that would block all ads except Google ads, I'd be happy. I just want to block those flash ads that eat up my CPU.
evildeadman, on 09/03/2008, -1/+11Didn't read TFA, just the description. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question -- for those who care.
jsg7, on 09/03/2008, -1/+10Google isn't abandoning Mozilla. They just want to have control of their own browser for Android phones. Plus, it may be easier to shrink a webkit browser down (as Apple did) to a handheld device than it is to rewrite the core of Firefox to allow it to do so.
charliebucketts, on 09/03/2008, -0/+9Chrome is open source right? So why can't adblockers be added?
laserdog, on 09/03/2008, -0/+9Google had some ideas for making browsers better, so they implemented them.

It's open source, so Firefox can adopt them if people like them, and since it's a BSD license so can IE for that matter.

If this is a statement of anything, I'd say it is a warning shot across the bow of Microsoft, to either start adopting standards (e.g. SVG rendering) for free, or get drawn into a costly browser war.

That, and the fact that if they released a linux version of this browser, and made a laptop that could just boot up and run this app, you'd have the makings of a pretty fully featured "Google OS".
jjustin01, on 09/03/2008, -2/+11Have you not seen the assload of stories saying that Google and Mozilla have renewed their relationship for another 3 years. Where's the abandonment in that?

Buried as inaccurate and definitely for the writer, and those who dugg this up, being too damn lazy to even glance at news feeds on the Internet since Monday.
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