Re: No plans to change the version number scheme

"Ron Hunter" <[email protected]> wrote in message 
news:[email protected]...
> On 8/26/2011 12:26 AM, Desiree wrote:
>> "JohnQPublic"<[email protected]>  wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>> "Alex Faaborg"<[email protected]>  wrote in message
>>> news:[email protected]...
>>>
>>> That's bad news about the version number scheme and flies in the face of
>>> long tradition. Version numbers should be proportional to the 
>>> significance
>>> and extent of changes, so Firefox should probably be somewhere in the
>>> 3.7-4.2 range at present. The rapidfire 4-5-6-7-8... sequence is
>>> unpopular,
>>> creates false expectations, and causes various problems.
>>> --
>>> JQP
>>
>> Plus, it just causes Fx lovers to go to SeaMonkey where this insanity 
>> with
>> rapid versions is not happening. I hadn't used SeaMonkey since 2009 and I
>> just dusted it off and upgraded it to the latest version ( a nice 2.3.1). 
>> I
>> like it but I am missing a couple of Fx extensions that are not 
>> compatible
>> with this latest version.  I realize SeaMonkey will be keeping pace with 
>> the
>> 6 week Fx updates but the version numbers will be traditional ones.  I 
>> did
>> have to disable SeaMonkey from identifying itself in UA as Firefox as it 
>> is
>> not Fx and should not identify as such.
>>
>> As for Fx, I remain on 4.01 and have no intention of upgrading until Fx
>> reaches major, significant change. Then and only then will I upgrade...no
>> more than once or twice a year. Upcoming 7.0 (or is it 8?) where the 
>> memory
>> problems in 4 appear corrected, if true, will get me to upgrade but not 
>> for
>> any other reason as I haven't had 4 that long. SeaMonkey may issue minor
>> upgrades every six weeks to match Fx but I will ignore those also and 
>> wait
>> for a major upgrade which should only take place about once a year.
>>
>>
> Why, in your mind, is updating new features only once a year a good thing?
> And is the concept of adding new features, and bug fixes, and security 
> fixes as often as feasible NOT a good thing in your mind?  Why is 2.3.1 
> better than 3 or 4 or 5?
> The good thing is that you do have the option to turn off the updates in 
> Firefox/TB if it makes you more comfortable, but the downside is that you 
> aren't protected against security exploits for up to a year. Check the 
> release notes, and you will see about 2000 bug fixes, feature adds, and 
> security fixes between FF5 and FF7.  If you sit at 4, then there are over 
> 2000 fixes you don't have, until you decide to update.
> Consider the pro and con.
>
A bit of history is needed so you understand where I am coming from. I 
started out with Netscape back in the late 90's (seldom used IE) on my first 
computer. Then in 2001, someone convinced me to try tabbed browsing in 
Mozilla browser (which I had not used before). I hated it. But I had agreed 
to try it exclusively for three weeks before making a final decision. I was 
hooked in 10 days.  Mozilla had Tabbed Browser Extensions back then and that 
extension became my all time favorite extension even to this day. I got 
Phoenix browser also way back and somewhere along the way (don't remember 
exactly what version) TBE became available for Phoenix/Firebird. So, I used 
both those browsers and at Fx 1.5, I stopped upgrading because TBE did not 
work well in Fx2. I had Fx2 on a virtual machine, and with the help of 
someone at the old Extensions Mirror site, I was able to force TBE to work 
on Fx2 with only a couple of errors at startup and some occasional crashing. 
I didn't like Fx2 because of privacy issues on it that were not on 1.5. So, 
I kept 1.5 on my Host machine and I did not stop using 1.5 (which I still 
consider the best ever version of Fx) until I got Fx4 in March. (I kept Fx 
1.5 and sometimes I still use it).  I had to give up my beloved nView 
Desktop manager software to be able to use Fx4. Horrific incompatibility 
between them with almost constant crashing of Fx4 until I turned off nView 
which meant I had to give up a great deal of functionality of my video card 
but Piro's Tree Style Tabs worked in Fx4 great and I wanted that more than I 
wanted Desktop Manager.

I tried Fx3 on another virtual machine and TBE, which Piro had finally 
gotten rewritten for Fx3, worked only so-so and tree style tabs really had 
problems. So, the reason I got Fx4 was because Piro said that the rewritten 
TBE, in particular, Tree Style Tabs, worked well on Fx4.  I was quite 
disappointed to find that TBE for SeaMonkey was disabled on this latest 
version. Plus, the second most important extension, IMO, for both Fx and 
SeaMonkey was also disabled on this latest SeaMonkey version. I was able to 
get Mel's MR Tech to work good enough on Fx4 but it appears on SeaMonkey the 
only way to get a disabled extension to work is to manually bump the maximum 
version number which I have not done yet. Without MR Tech, I can't easily 
force Tree Style Tabs to work on the latest SeaMonkey.

Remember I got Mozilla browser originally many years ago and made it default 
purely because I fell in love with TBE. To me, it's a crime to have 
SeaMonkey not work now with the greatest extension ever written and that was 
originally written for Mozilla browser. I don't care about security issues, 
or new stuff in a browser, unless I decide I need that new stuff and much of 
it is of little interest to me. I have never had a virus in all these years. 
I have excellent security programs. I run XP Pro SP2 by choice and even with 
no Microsoft security patches in over a year, I don't worry. I use a local 
proxy called the Proxomitron, a classic HIPS, and I run as Admin but I 
follow strict rules for security and never violate them. So, upgrading for 
security reasons is not a huge issue for me.  Other issues have priority.