Why should you use Firefox?











Michael Kohler

Mozilla Rep, Mozilla Switzerland
2015-06-03

About me - Michael Kohler

  • Volunteering for Mozilla since 2008
  • Mozilla Rep
  • Co-coordinator Mozilla Switzerland
  • Co-coordinator Mozilla German-speaking community
  • Web Developer @ netcase.ch
  • mkohler.dev

Firefox is a trusted brand …

Firefox

Firefox is a trusted brand

Mozilla is non-profit

The Mozilla Corporation is owned by the Foundation

Firefox is the independent choice!

Stakeholders are the users

Mozilla's mission

The Internet is a an integral part of modern life

The Internet is a public resource that must remain open and accessible

Individuals’ security and privacy on the Internet are fundamental and must not be treated as optional.

Individuals must have the ability to shape the Internet and their own experiences on it.

Transparent community-based processes promote participation, accountability and trust.

For more points please see: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/manifesto/

It's Open Source …

Open Source

Firefox is not only the "Mozilla Corporation"

Thousands of volunteers!

You'll find Mozilla volunteers in every country

Get in contact with them if you need any information

Mozilla Switzerland …

Mozilla Switzerland

@MozillaCH on Twitter

Regular meetups in Zurich

Open Web Meetup Group in Bern (just started)

We're looking for you!

Privacy …

Privacy

Every user should have the possibility to decide what (s)he want's to share

Do Not Track

Work on Tracking Protection

TOR middle relays

Accepting patches from TOR directly upstream in Firefox

Forget button

Sponsored Tiles …

Sponsored Tiles

This is not the normal ads you see!

The user is the most important thing to consider

No tracking!

Firefox evaluates the tiles locally

Ad companies only get a report from Mozilla, no user data

Careful, non-business driven development …

Non-business driven development

Careful consideration of new features -> what actually does benefit the user?

Romansh: no other browser has a localization, but Firefox does!

Search engines: whatever works best in the specific country (for example Yandex in Russia)

Non-business driven development

Many companies to build on Mozilla source code: TOR for example

Not all of them might reflect everything from the Mozilla Manifesto

But that's what Open Source is! (and that's a good thing!)

New features …

Search Panel

Firefox Hello

Reader View

Moved windows to in-content

Pocket Integration

.. and more to come

more ES6 features (yeah, even more!)

probably more updates to Firefox Hello

more work on Privacy

Web Standards …

Web Standards

Mozilla is a W3C and WHATWG member

Mozilla brings forward a lot of standardization

Mozilla is an important part regarding implementation of new JavaScript standards and is considered one of the main implementations


Unfortunately, Mozilla can't prevent bad things to happen to the Web if the "big players" want it

One example is DRM in the HTML5 standard: http://www.w3.org/TR/encrypted-media/

Mozilla had two options: not implemented it and user can't use Netflix (or other streaming services) or implement it in the best possible way

Many WebAPIs are standardized from Firefox OS

navigator.vibrate([50, 100, 150]);
                

Other examples: Battery Status API, Contacts API, Mouse Lock API, Web Activities, Web Apps, WebFM API, WebPayments API

Customize it without fear …

Preferences

There are a lot of preferences where you can opt-out of new features.

Most important preferences are always exposed in the "Preferences" window

check about:config

As we said, user choice is the most important thing for us

WebApps …

WebApps

Firefox OS is based on WebApps

A WebApp is a website with a Manifest file

Installable also on Desktop and Android, if Firefox is installed

Cross plattform has never been easier (well, forget about iOS for now)

Get Open Web Apps from marketplace.firefox.com

Not only Desktop …

How can I contribute?

Contribute

Promote Mozilla's mission

Ideas

File bugs at bugzilla.mozilla.org if you encounter anything that might be a bug

Code

Design / UX

Addons

Localization..

Marketing

...

friends.mozilla.org

foxyeah.com

DevTools …

Questions?

Thank you!

mkohler@picobudget.com

Twitter @KohlerSolutions
Reps reps.mozilla.org/u/michaelkohler/
MozillaCH twitter.com/MozillaCH
MozillaCH meetup.com/Mozilla-Meetup-Switzerland/