Mozilla Foundation Seeking Switch Success Stories 537
maggeth writes "mozillaZine has a story about how the Mozilla Foundation is looking to know if any organizations have switched to Mozilla products. Is your organization among them?" Can anyone point out an example of a library system switching? Lots of public libraries use PCs set up as kiosks running a web interface to their catalogs, and they all seem to use IE -- so, no tabbed browsing.
Unfamilliarity (Score:2, Insightful)
Locking down Mozilla? (Score:5, Insightful)
Libraries (Score:5, Insightful)
Having just been looking into setting up one of those library kiosks, I can tell you that's it's because all the easy-install products are built with IE. There are lots of websites about how to set Mozilla up in a kiosk mode, but they invariably involve hacking JavaScript and messing with lots of configs. That takes too much time for anyone but the largest library systems. It's much easier to buy a $30 product like Fortres or Cybrary.
We need an easy download and install kiosk Mozilla, preferably also with an OS lock-down tool to make the catalog PCs as maintainence-free as possible.
Re:The Switch has been Made (Score:5, Insightful)
Each time you convert someone you're bringing Firefox one step closer to being the dominant browser. Then what?
A small success (Score:3, Insightful)
It's an apples and oranges comparison, because the Mac users are a bit more the geek than Windows users; they are capable of understanding a browser interface and I don't have to walk them through the most basic end user tasks. Not a blanket endorsement of Mac, simply because those users are (as previously stated) a bit more the geek.
I'm trying to get all the applications we develop web-standardized so I can eventually ditch the whole MS schtick -- accessible from compliant browsers an linked to open formats.
It ain't easy Ringo, but I'm trying.
Re:Unfamilliarity (Score:2, Insightful)
I very much disagree that IE is more usable than Moz or Fox. Most people I've converted don't even know they're using a different browser, and on a kiosk the user isn't going to have to worry about the differences like downloading or configuration because they will probably just be surfing anyway. Is it work trading security for a tiny bit of perceived usability?
Re:Tabbed Browsing for Libraries? (Score:1, Insightful)
the switch (Score:5, Insightful)
This is probably an evil way of doing things, but people are set in their ways, once they switch they like it, but getting them to not just use their same old browser is difficult.
Re:We're all success stories (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Tabbed Browsing for Libraries? (Score:5, Insightful)
Hook them on the popup-blocking and tabs, then sheer numbers will force web designers to shift to supporting standards.
Re:Unfamilliarity (Score:5, Insightful)
Point and click is point and click. Most people don't do anything else with a web browser at all. Anyone who can point and click in IE can definitely do the same in mozilla/firefox/opera/whatever the hell lets you click on a url.
Re:The Switch has been Made (Score:5, Insightful)
Then I can finally design sites with proper CSS and transparent PNGs, without hacks/workarounds.
Re:Courtesy of Ellen Feiss (Score:2, Insightful)
$ rm -rf ~/.cxoffice
Re:Library (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Library browser use (Score:3, Insightful)
Heh, perhaps, but it's not like using Firefox is any more complicated than using IE -- casual users may not use the extra features such as tabbed browsing (hey, most of them might not even notice that it's not IE), but the advantages of using Firefox will still be there (security, the extra features for those who knows the software, and most importantly, freedom. Libraries just seem like the most natural home for free software. Conversely, libraries dependent on proprietary software just seems...wrong, somehow).
Additionally, the majority of catalog lookups are single-item queries--I'm not convinced that throwing a better browser at them would significantly enhance their library experience.
Sure, but some people also use libraries as their only net connection (particularly for e-mail, I'd imagine). These people deserve a proper browser too.
Re:Problem with Mozilla ... (Score:4, Insightful)
I second that. Integrate Mozilla and Firefox with Active Directory and you'll start seeing large deployments on Windows networks. Currently I can easily change IE security settings on all computers on my network with a couple mouse clicks. And somewhat related, I can also install programs that provide Windows Installer (MSI) packages with a couple mouse clicks. Luckily MSI support is listed in Firefox's Bugzilla (and was almost made blocking for 1.0), so hopefully it'll be soon when an official Firefox MSI is released.
It's actually pretty easy to create an MSI yourself if you have Visual Studio.NET (and maybe WiX, but I haven't tried), but some administrative rollout tools would be nice to augment MSIs. What'd be really great is MSI transforms that install additional plugins, so I can for example install Firefox on every computer in a Windows network and install Adblock.
Re:Locking down Mozilla? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:The Switch has been Made (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Unfamilliarity (Score:5, Insightful)
Couldn't you just skin firefox... (Score:4, Insightful)
MARK PARENT as TROLL -1 (Score:2, Insightful)
Mozilla is bloatware (Score:3, Insightful)
Mozilla started out as a free Netscape, with ALL the browsers features. That was the big mistake. Noone can wait 15 seconds to load a page, or fork out $$$ for more memory to run a simple browser, IE stayed a little closer to the 'balance' during this time, making itself more palatable to the ex-Netscape crowd.
Then came along Opera. They understood the game, and sold exactly what the public needed. During these days of running highly bloated spyware-infested applications on ever-faster CPUs, opera was a refresher. Everyone took notice.
And now, the team whose products I hated for so long blew my mind.
First I installed it on windows. It worked. It took little memory and never froze. Thats not like Netscape or IE at all. Then I installed it in Linux. It just worked. I didnt even have to wrestle with the source code. It even allowed flash plugins designed for netscape/mozilla.
That gave me the idea I could possibly put my sun Ultra5 and RS/6000 to good use, both of which lacked a good browser for basic usability. Thats when I realized the Mozilla Foundation has put its house back in order. They've produced a fast efficient and secure browser that compiles and runs anywhere, and only uses the CPU cycles it needs (almost). Just what all software should be like.
It has taken almost a decade for the software producing world to realize Bloat=Bad=No Profits. N A free piece o code like firefox will set a trend, hopefully even with Microsoft, whose Win98 is still used around because its smaller and faster than WinXP.Now why was that so difficult?
Re:The Switch has been Made (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Unfamilliarity (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:The Switch has been Made (Score:2, Insightful)
No matter how sooner or later it happens, there is no time to waste as Microsoft most likely did with IE 6.
Re:Exactly: Arcane processes equal frustrated user (Score:3, Insightful)
Well, had to do things like that once to get a FF extension written by some Windows user who hasn't heard of file permissions installed.
But can you name me just one feature available in IE (apart from rendering non-W3C compliant pages) that isn't available in Mozilla/FireFox without hacking a
IMHO, having to edit a
Re:Courtesy of Ellen Feiss (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Courtesy of Ellen Feiss (Score:4, Insightful)
But seriously, if your girlfriend won't let you look at porn you need to make a choice, her or porn and give up the other.
I love my SO very much, and would rather not loose her. Especially not over something as trivial as my browsing habits. That said I consider my browsing as something personal. My SO rarely touches any of my computers, and when she does she has her own login, which kind of eliminates all cache/history/privacy issues. I also maintain a diary in my home directory which I'd rather not have her read. With all these privacy issues out of the way I could browse all the porn I'd like to without her ever knowing about it.
It seems to me that we are still individual creatures even though we share a relationship. There are things which are mine alone, and things which are hers alone. Neither of us see any reason to try and change that. While we share a lot of things, some things are still private. That is the way it should be. Let me have my porn in peace. While my porn needs dwindled conciderably when I met my SO they are still mine, and I would like to keep them among the things she does not interfere with. Browsing habits, personal diary, are among the things I'd like to keep personal, YMMV.
But seriously, if my girlfriend sets up any kind of ultimatum where she asks me to choose between her and something (anything) whe better be prepared to loose me. She is basically saying that our relationship isn't more important than my [browsing habits, nose picking, whatever]. If she thinks so little of our relationship that she is willing to compare it to [browsing habits, nose picking, whatever] then the relationship is going downhill fast anyway.
"IE Only", so I had to spoof it too. (Score:2, Insightful)
So let's pretend that Mozilla/Firefox/Opera all together get 75% share, but 90% of them are cloaking as IE. To the folks gathering statistics, Mozilla/Firefox/Opera will still appear to have a paltry 6-7% market share, not worth messing with. IE will still appear to dominate.
The same argument is made about WINE, and was made about WinOS2.
Re:Courtesy of Ellen Feiss (Score:4, Insightful)
Make sure you don't put the cache folder on the USB key, or it will dramatically shorten its life (since it's flash technology with limited erase/write cycles).
Re:We CAN'T switch - FIX THE CALENDAR (Score:1, Insightful)
Um, no. It's not cross-platform (meaning, "my Windows users can't use it").
More significantly, I've never found a Free server-based calendar-sharing tool that's not web-based. Schedule+ was wonderful (except that it tended to break a lot) for our uses. Outlook would be pretty good if it didn't require the Exchange server. All I want is a Schedule+ replacement, and the OS community just hasn't delivered. (Like an earlier poster said, I wish I was an uber-programmer so I could create this app.)