The Secrets of Firefox about:config

jcatcw writes "While Firefox is very customizable, many of its settings aren't in the Options. Each setting is named and stored as a string, integer, or Boolean in a file called prefs.js and accessed via about:config from the nav bar. Computerworld provides instructions on 20 tweaks for speeding up page loads, making tabs behave, reducing memory drain, and generally making the interface act the way you want it to. Customization also comes through the must-have FF extensions (but be sure to skip these)."

While it's nice..

[microbee]

Do not tune stuff that is hidden unless you know what you are doing.

Extensions to Avoid?

[CharAznable]

I thought we agreed that ComputerWorld article was mostly crap...

Which option to make the Firehose work again?

[Anonymous Coward]

Using Firefox on FC6, the Slashdot firehose stopped working for me a while back.

The thumbs-up/down thingies don't do anything anymore. I tried turning off the NoScript extension, but that didn't seem to help. I also have Adblock+ installed.

Any clues?

Re:While it's nice..

[Anonymous Coward]

Do not tune stuff that is hidden unless you know what you are doing.

Is this comment really needed for a website full of Linux geeks? It is not as if this is the Microsoft Bob forum.

What is the worst that could happen? With Firefox, nothing major.

A bigger question

[DoofusOfDeath]

Is why useful tweaks are hidden behind and obscure and risky-to-use interface like about:config. If the tweaks are worth doing, shouldn't they have first-class support in the main configuration GUI?

Why aren't these real options?

[Sigma 7]

Some of these tweaks cut down on memory usage. Given that there are still plenty of computers with 512MB of ram (e.g. notebook computers), you don't want applications pinning 100% CPU or memory as it slows down the rest of the system. This is more important with notebook computers, since a second lost through CPU usage or hard drive thrashing is a second lost from battery charge.

The notebook I'm using right now has this amount of memory, and was easily available in stores 1 year ago. Last time I checked, a web browser should never require the absolute latest system for day-to-day operations (which include having another application in the background, such as a word processor or even MSVC 2005.)

kdawson...

[TiCL]

KDawson is the new Zonk? Given the quality of the articles he is approving these days, he would soon surpass Zonk in crap-o-meter.

Hacking Firefox

[Dominare]

Gah. Why is it that these people insist on calling anything not found on the main options page "hacking"? As for the above questions - usually the reason things like that are 'hidden' is to stop people fiddling with them. A good example is the old 'coolbits' entry in the registry for nVidia cards - the overclocking functionality was there, but you had to do something non-standard to enable it. That way, the company's ass is covered if you melt your card; you can't pretend you enabled the options accidentally. Since Firefox is free and nobody is paying tech-support, I'm not sure why these things aren't available - but the fact of the matter is, anyone messing around with fundamental parameters should _not_ be the kind of person who lets random articles on the internet tell them what to change.

Re:link to one page article

[thc69]

Who modded that offtopic? maj1k posted the "print this article" link so we didn't have to wait seven times for ad-ridden pages to load.

Re:While it's nice..

[MrNaz]

If it's valid behavior according to the protocol, and it's faster, and it's not bad nettiquette, then why, pray tell, isn't it on by default?

Re: A bigger question

[Black Parrot]

Is why useful tweaks are hidden behind and obscure and risky-to-use interface like about:config. If the tweaks are worth doing, shouldn't they have first-class support in the main configuration GUI?

One philosophy is to nanny the unwashed masses away from "advanced" options. A second is that there's not a lot of reasons to support every possible option in a UI, especially if some of them are rarely used.

FWIW, I used to change some stuff and it would be back to the default next time I started the broweser. Ditto if I changed it in the config file. It finally took when I changed it in the GNOME configuration manager; I guess it was masking the application-specific configs.

Re:While it's nice..

[hahafaha]

So if these options really make pages load faster, offer less memory drain, and even feed the dog, why aren't they a part of the settings to begin with?

Basically, because, although they may give more speed, they have drawbacks as well. Your question is like asking, ``If people can overclock their processors to so much faster, why isn't it overclocked by default?''

Re:While it's nice..

[RobertM1968]

Why? He's 100% right! Just follow the instructions and you are all set with no chance of there being problems. You see, the instructions on that web page clearly state in bold letters: "Keep a log of everything you change, or make backups."

So, either:

• Firefox acts weird or doesnt run at all, and you restore prefs.js from backup and have no problems
• or it worsens performance, and you restore from backup and have no problems
• or it improves performance and you happily surf away and have no problems

So, because he is correct, he's a fanboy? With IE, you run the possibility of having to do much more than restore a preferences file if you hose something. With Firefox, if you follow the instructions (and something goes wrong), it takes you a few extra seconds to restore the file to original state and "nothing major" happens (other than a wasted few minutes in total trying the tweaks).

So, if he's a fanboy, what does that make you? Just curious.

Re:While it's nice..

[bunratty]

Firefox, while better than IE7, is a fucking hog and getting worse by the release. Why should users, who are already iffy about switching to Firefox, have to go through archaic setup commands in order to have the browser work well?

Firefox works well with the default settings. If you have to go into about:config and twiddle parameters, there is something very wrong with your Firefox setup. Try creating a new profile and see if that fixes the problems. In reality, the settings suggested in the article can slow Firefox down (by setting the initial paint delay too low), cause sites not to display properly (by using pipelining with servers that don't understand it), and get you blocked from servers (by setting the maximum connections way up). You can avoid all that trouble by sticking with the defaults.

Re:The Art of Performance Tuning -- a Fable

[syousef]

YOU are the IT expert, not the end user. If they're not following instructions you're suppose to help them, not hang them out to dry or make them an object of ridicule. You have the professionalism and people skills of a grizzly bear.

Re:The Art of Performance Tuning -- a Fable

[syousef]

So that means when I have a problem with an aircraft requiring a service, I should go find an auto mechanic?

The guy's job was obviously to look at the performance of the system and help users out when they had problems. They might be IT users, but system performance isn't their area. In this context they are end users even if they are also programmers. They just aren't specialists in what this guy does, and it's not their job to do his specialised job on top of theirs.

Trust /. to mod me as troll for saying this. Right here, THIS is the reason why Linux isn't on every fucking destkop. Idiotic.

Re:While it's nice..

[Yoozer]

If you have to go into about:config and twiddle parameters, there is something very wrong with your Firefox setup.

• The "oomph" noise when you can't find something. Nowhere in the Windows sound scheme. Nowhere in the regular settings. Why?
• Old style tabs - I don't want closing buttons on every tab, I prefer the 1.5 way of handling things.
• 30+ tabs on a screen without having it absorb 'm in a list, I prefer the 1.5 way of handling things.
• (something I haven't killed yet) - the entirely superfluous usage of the apostrophe button to bring up another method of search. No, I don't care if it's handier for vi users.

If you're going to make design changes, give users the option to switch if they want to. Hiding it in about:config is like saying you can adjust it if you just looked in the poorly lit, derelict closet of the cellar with a door saying "Beware of the tiger".

Firefox off track

[tonicxt]

about:config is the worst method of changing preferences that I have ever seen.

about:config is evidence of feature creep, and hence evidence of Firefox turning into the Mozilla browser.

Past versions of Firefox have added additional features such as image resizing. And guess, what, users are not given the ability to disable this; they must enter into the cryptic about:config.

about:config is an HCI catastrophe.
 

Re:While it's nice..

[Zoxed]

> Do not tune stuff that is hidden unless you know what you are doing.

s/Insightful/Redundant/

This is Slashdot: we all think we know we are doing :-)

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:I just want

[jonasj]

If it can't find it in DNS, I want it to return a 404

404 is an HTTP status code. If firefox cannot find the server you want to connect to, where do you want that 404 to come from?