Re: Linux and Software Freedom

What it has to do with it is very simple: this is one of a series of unpopular decisions made by Mozilla over the objections of the community. In a broader sense, it isn't so much the exclusion of the version number itself. Rather, it's Mozilla making Firefox self-contained rather than something that could be shipped in a distro by a package manager. It has to do with pushing updates on users unawares rather than having them pull them at their will. There should be a clear overt message that "Firefox X.Y is updating to Firefox Z.A."

That people have no idea what "version" of cloud apps they are using is a terrible thing since they have no way of knowing what changes occurred. Firefox need not copy that. Firefox should set an example for software freedom and transparency of information. Proudly display versioning information, proudly use a pull model for updates. Let users be free by default.