Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Fox Is in Microsoft's Henhouse (and Salivating)
NYT ^ | December 19, 2004 | RANDALL STROSS

Posted on 12/18/2004 6:19:26 AM PST by mathprof

FIREFOX is a classic overnight success, many years in the making.

Published by the Mozilla Foundation, a nonprofit group supporting open-source software that draws upon the skills of hundreds of volunteer programmers, Firefox is a Web browser that is fast and filled with features that Microsoft's stodgy Internet Explorer lacks. Firefox installs in a snap, and it's free.

Firefox 1.0 was released on Nov. 9. Just over a month later, the foundation celebrated a remarkable milestone: 10 million downloads. Donations from Firefox's appreciative fans paid for a two-page advertisement in The New York Times on Thursday.

Until now, the Linux operating system was the best-known success among the hundreds of open-source projects that challenge Microsoft with technically strong, free software that improves as the population of bug-reporting and bug-fixing users grows. But unless you oversee purchases for a corporate data center, it's unlikely that you've felt the need to try Linux yourself.

With Firefox, open-source software moves from back-office obscurity to your home, and to your parents', too. (Your children in college are already using it.) It is polished, as easy to use as Internet Explorer and, most compelling, much better defended against viruses, worms and snoops.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: firefox
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 201-220221-240241-260261-262 last
To: edchambers

Wasn't GEM also used as OS on some old Atari (Mega ST+)?


261 posted on 12/19/2004 11:18:54 PM PST by K. Smirnov (Do not let the sands of time get into your lunch)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 201 | View Replies]

To: KwasiOwusu
But seriously, Firefox is a piece of garbage.

Care to actually quantify how its garbage?

Most viruses and spyware etc etc are written for IE, because IE is King.

When netscape was king it was not virus ridden software. IE is virus riddent because its engineers did a piss poor job. Its hooked too deeply into the operating system. This kind of crap engineering is par for the course with MS, even wordpad can be used to execute arbitrary code..

That has far more effect on the American economy then some garbage browser from open source commies and anarchists.

Yup that about sums it up your a blind OS bigot....

262 posted on 12/20/2004 9:31:30 AM PST by N3WBI3
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 235 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 201-220221-240241-260261-262 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson