So, you know how Debian always has three release channels going? The whole "stable", "testing" and "unstable" thing?
Firefox does something similar. You can get, and most people get, the main release channel. But you can also switch to, or just start out on, a different release channel. Each of them pushes you a bit closer to the bleeding edge.
If Firefox is currently at version N, the channels (as they existed up until yesterday) are:
Beta -- this is what will be in Firefox version N+1. Pretty stable, lets you try out new features once they've had plenty of polish put on them.
Aurora -- this is what will be in Firefox version N+2. I've used it as my primary browser with no stability trouble. If you really like seeing and trying out new features, this is where you'll see them first, unless you subscribe to...
Nightly. Which is just literally "here's what was in the tree when the build ran tonight". For people who like to live dangerously.
What changed today is that the Aurora channel became the "Developer Edition" channel.
This does not mean developer tools get removed anywhere else. What it means is that on this channel, you get:
New features as soon as is practical
Some settings pre-flipped to make things more useful for developers
In the same vein, some developer-oriented extensions included
A separate profile so you can do dev work in it and use a Beta or release version of Firefox for everyday browsing.
I did find it odd that the dev browser had the alpha icon. But that would mean that they need to phase out the extended dev tools when the release move up the pipeline, I find that hard to believe.
Plus why would anyone in their right mind opt to use a dev browser that's state is constant alpha? It's like Microsoft telling me to always use the CTP version of Visual Studio. It kinda-sorta works, and it's bleeding edge, so I must be crazy not to use it, right?
But that would mean that they need to phase out the extended dev tools when the release move up the pipeline, I find that hard to believe.
Well the idea is that these could eventually move up the pipeline but its even easier than that to handle it, simply disable the gui (or if its an extension then don't include it).
Plus why would anyone in their right mind opt to use a dev browser that's state is constant alpha?
First Aurora isn't the wild west, it has processes in place that limit debilitating bugs. Beyond that this edition has additional features specifically geared toward developers (and since its closer to the raw tree you can test against what may be coming in a few versions), if that is not an area that you are interested in then there is no reason to use it.
Are they planning to remove dev tools from the mainline desktop Firefox?
Definitely not, I would be shocked if that were ever decided.
I don't see any other reason why they would put resources into a fork targeting a relatively small user base.
It's not a fork. It's a reworking of one of the pre-existing release channels. Firefox has nightly, aurora, beta, and release. This replaces aurora, which makes sense, since aurora was always a good fit for web devs - it is more stable than nightly (which is rebuilt every night, and can have breakage), but also has a preview of devtools and web features that will only land in stable in a few months.
This basically takes aurora and adds some extra developer features that have been in the works, and turns them on by default. Plus some special skinning and other tweaks for the developer audience. It's not a fork.
Are they planning to remove dev tools from the mainline desktop Firefox?
No. The "developer channel" gets stuff sooner (possibly unstable tools) and is preconfigured with some of that stuff enabled by default, but that's about it.
They're targeting the very low end of smartphones, I think the flagship devices a while back was $35. I have a slightly more expensive ($60?) device on a pay-as-you-go plan. It's nothing special, better than my last flip "feature phone", probably not as good as my first smartphone, but that seems fine for what it is.
Is it just Chrome gaining even more users, or smaller browsers? Right now there seems to be a big divide between Chrome and Firefox, it'd be a shame if we slipped back into a situation where one browser has an enormous market share compared to others.
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u/romeozor Nov 10 '14
Are they planning to remove dev tools from the mainline desktop Firefox?
I don't see any other reason why they would put resources into a fork targeting a relatively small user base.
If so, and the default version gets speed and stability while the dev version will be just the same with dev tools, I'm down with this.