MX Linux Forum

I'm quite content with FF88, so what is the point of "upgrading" to a version which appears to be worse (dumbed down for smartphones?) ?

well I'm using 89 on windows and its fantastic so far. the UI changes alone are compelling. it takes up a litle less room on my screen. I didn't notice any dumbing down. indeed, some items that used to be buried in settings menus are more exposed.

one other thing...sticking with 88, which is not an ESR release, means going without future security patches, which is never a good idea in a web browser.

dolphin_oracle wrote: Thu Jun 03, 2021 12:04 pm well I'm using 89 on windows and its fantastic so far. the UI changes alone are compelling. it takes up a litle less room on my screen. I didn't notice any dumbing down. indeed, some items that used to be buried in settings menus are more exposed.

one other thing...sticking with 88, which is not an ESR release, means going without future security patches, which is never a good idea in a web browser.

+1

It is an abrupt change of appearance but after browsing a few tabs I really started to like it, it follows your user theme quite intelligently and attractively on it's own.

Maybe it's just me but I don't see any major differences in appearance between 89 and 88. 89 seems a bit faster too.

GuiGuy wrote: Thu Jun 03, 2021 11:33 am I'm quite content with FF88, so what is the point of "upgrading" to a version which appears to be worse (dumbed down for smartphones?) ?

The purpose? Continuous improvement, bug fixes and security issues fixed.

Thanks, guys.
Using 89 now .

Meh. Wasted space on oversized tabs and thick address bar. I'm tired of everything getting bigger all the time.

I'm seeing a problem with FF89 in Fluxbox in Arch, similar to what's discussed here: https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/commen ... w_updates/

I get no window buttons. The Firefox window isn't full screen like I want, and I see no way to move the window. I also have Xfce on that installation, and when I login with Xfce, Firefox looks normal. I used the about:config tweaks mentioned in the above thread; appears to be an okay workaround and puts everything back. [gfx.webrender.all set to false and gfx.webrender.force-disabled set to true]

I'm not getting those problems on MX and fluxbox. I get both window buttons in the firefox window and the window buttons on the fluxbox frame. I didn't even know you could be frameless on fluxbox.

one other thing: make sure your theme supports gtk3.

By "theme" do you mean the Fluxbox style (I'm using bora_black)?

Anyway, thought I'd mention it in case this comes up for MX Fluxbox users. The Restart Fluxbox function also puts the FF 89 window back to normal, but only for that session, looks like. Interesting.

Found this on the BunsenLabs forum, have not tried it I'm using ESR.

https://github.com/black7375/Firefox-UI-Fix

Hello, Shifu.

Shifu wrote: Fri Jun 04, 2021 8:39 amMeh. Wasted space on oversized tabs and thick address bar. I'm tired of everything getting bigger all the time.

At least on Firefox 89.0 you may revert the most obvious visual changes, which the new Photon UI brings along, with the help of about:config, where you add the following parameters:
+ browser.proton.enabled=false # old tab design
+ browser.compactmode.show=true # re-enable compact mode
Actually, these 2 modifications bring the new Photon UI close enough to the old Proton UI for my taste.
In case this does not apply to you, then you might be interested in this FF 89.0 UI fixup perhaps: Firefox-UI-Fix. ... oops, jeffreyC in his post above me had already shared the same link.

Best regards,
Karl

Firefox ESR in MX was just updated for security reasons I'm sure. It's not like they will ignore it. 89/the current version gets more updates because it's constantly changing gui or feature set, not specifically because of security updates. I would say that the more they change and add, the more it can be insecured and therefore in need of more 'security' updates. I want it long time? ESR all the way. Remember the web isn't changing as much as is the gui flavor of the month configuration. Less is more and always will be, imo. It's really just a balancing act. The kicker for me is that all the same plugins I would use in 89 work in 78.

karlchen wrote: Sat Jun 05, 2021 8:15 pm Hello, Shifu.

Shifu wrote: Fri Jun 04, 2021 8:39 amMeh. Wasted space on oversized tabs and thick address bar. I'm tired of everything getting bigger all the time.

At least on Firefox 89.0 you may revert the most obvious visual changes, which the new Photon UI brings along, with the help of about:config, where you add the following parameters:
+ browser.proton.enabled=false # old tab design
+ browser.compactmode.show=true # re-enable compact mode
Actually, these 2 modifications bring the new Photon UI close enough to the old Proton UI for my taste.
In case this does not apply to you, then you might be interested in this FF 89.0 UI fixup perhaps: Firefox-UI-Fix. ... oops, jeffreyC in his post above me had already shared the same link.

Best regards,
Karl

Here's a helpful page: https://www.askvg.com/tip-restore-compa ... ze-window/

Note that users can also switch to compact mode with the following about:config tweak:

browser.uidensity = 0 -- change to 1 (for "compact mode")

Well, this new Firefox is crash happy for me. Several times now. Recovers beautifully but goes down like lead balloon. Repeatedly.

Shifu wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 7:45 am Well, this new Firefox is crash happy for me. Several times now. Recovers beautifully but goes down like lead balloon. Repeatedly.

I have to concur here. I have upgraded to FF89 and I have had it crash on me now 3 times in 2 days. I am watching a youtube video and suddenly it freezes but the sound is still going until it stops too. I can force it closed by the WM close button which gives you the option to wait or force the application to close. If there is a way to revert back to 88 without losing all my settings, I too would like to know it.. This is a pisser.

dolphin_oracle wrote: Thu Jun 03, 2021 12:04 pm well I'm using 89 on windows and its fantastic so far. the UI changes alone are compelling. it takes up a litle less room on my screen. I didn't notice any dumbing down. indeed, some items that used to be buried in settings menus are more exposed.

one other thing...sticking with 88, which is not an ESR release, means going without future security patches, which is never a good idea in a web browser.

I don't like the new tabs, they waste a lot of space around the text. It takes up more room on the screen (1024x768) although this is made a little better by going into about:config and setting the "browser.compactmode.show" to true, and then selecting "Compact Mode (unsupported)" from the customize window.
To be honest the GUI has been going downhill starting from Firefox 4.0 ever since they started the stupid "rapid release" nonsense. But it's not like they actually listen to their users or anything.

What a great thread. Thanks everyone for the directions about restoring compact mode and the older gui. FF is looking much better for me now.

Hi, Shifu.

Shifu wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 7:45 amWell, this new Firefox is crash happy for me. Several times now. Recovers beautifully but goes down like lead balloon. Repeatedly.

Only this morning, my MX Linux 19.4 received the bugfix version Firefox 89.0.1 through the MX Updater.
Firefox 89.0.1 holds some bugfixes specifically addressing problems, experienced on Linux. So hope is Firefox 89.0.1 will cure the crashes, which you experience.
Firefox 89.0.1 Release Notes

Regards,
Karl

karlchen wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 9:18 am Hi, Shifu.

Shifu wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 7:45 amWell, this new Firefox is crash happy for me. Several times now. Recovers beautifully but goes down like lead balloon. Repeatedly.

Only this morning, my MX Linux 19.4 received the bugfix version Firefox 89.0.1 through the MX Updater.
Firefox 89.0.1 holds some bugfixes specifically addressing problems, experienced on Linux. So hope is Firefox 89.0.1 will cure the crashes, which you experience.
Firefox 89.0.1 Release Notes

Regards,
Karl

Huh!? Funny I just posted my own thread on this issue as well! Ok good! I hope this IS a bug fix cause darn it, the crashing at random reminds me of the old versions that had the dreaded memory leaks. I just updated my FF along with some other files so fingers crossed.

And 5 minutes AFTER I wrote the above?! CRASH!! It is NOT SOLVED! I need a way to roll back to 88..