Mozilla has gone nuts with their release version numbering. In a span of two – three months we get FF 5 and 6! Too good to be true? Yeah right. They say that it is just a number but these “just number” upgrade breaks extensions. At the time of writing this article Firebug was still broken in FF6.

Below I have pasted some interesting comments on this subject by other vexed FF users. (Src: http://hacks.mozilla.org/2011/08/firefox6/)

1. Luis Elizondo wrote on August 16th, 2011at 9:16 am:
   

   Not enough changes for a mayor version release. I don’t want to be using Firefox 3569 next year!

2. louisremi wrote on August 17th, 2011 at 12:37 am:
   

   We’ve changed our release cycles: http://hacks.mozilla.org/2011/04/aurora/
   Version numbers are just numbers, what matters is that we deliver features faster to you, Firefox users and Web developers.

3. Jose wrote on August 17th, 2011 at 4:16 am:
   

   Considering that “just numbers” break extensions and make it just plain difficult for admins…

4. Alex wrote on August 17th, 2011 at 6:19 am:
   

   Couldn’t agree more, Jose. Another new version…half my extensions no longer work. What’s the point? Using Firefox is no longer ‘fun’.

   And, rapid updates is one of the reasons why Chrome is unsupported at work…now Firefox? You’re pretty much pushing companies back to IE. Heck, we’re still on IE8 at work, probably won’t go to IE9 until next year. Whether it’s right or wrong, companies move at a slower pace, because they need to continuously support the internal software that keeps the place going. These rapid changes just mean that Firefox won’t be supported anymore. The extensions we need for day to day work keep breaking every few weeks now. It’s not good.

5. Logan wrote on August 17th, 2011 at 6:45 am:
   

   I agree, this new versioning is ridiculous. If they’re just numbers, what’s wrong with “just numbering” them 4.1 and 4.2? Save the whole versions for releases that are actually a big deal.

6. austin wrote on August 17th, 2011 at 7:05 am:
   

   i have to agree the version numbering is going too high too fast, and soon you will be at very large numbers that start to get ridiculous (as his “firefox 3569″ alludes to) people can handle small numbers even weird decimals(i say weird because 3.5.26 is not a real decimal but kinda looks like one. its made of a series of small numbers that are easy on the eye)

7. Luis Elizondo wrote on August 17th, 2011 at 7:47 am:
   

   This is already ridiculous. This change to the release cycle is one of the stupidest decisions I’ve ever seen in an Open Source Project. What are you trying to achieve Mozilla? Really. You’re breaking extensions every two months or less, you’re making it really hard for developers to keep up to date with your changes, and remember, those developers are working for free, on their free time. Remember the expectation of Firefox 3 and Firefox 4? Millions of downloads in hours, even a Guinness World Record, and now with 5 and 6 you’re just loosing momentum against other browsers, when will you get another ‘Firefox party’ to celebrate the next release of the “Greatest Browser Ever”? When you reach Firefox 1000? Or maybe Firefox 2000? Again, this is stupid. You can still make really fast updates without moving to a major version and making big efforts to not break extensions.

   I will still use Firefox because of Firebug, but the moment you break it with one of your “mayor” versions, I’m done with you. There’s no reason to keep using a browser like Firefox when I have other options. This is not year 2000 when we have only two options.

8. Jose wrote on August 16th, 2011 at 2:22 pm:
   

   Thank you for breaking my extensions once again. Whats up with the number jumps????

9. Luis Elizondo wrote on August 17th, 2011at 7:51 am:
   

   Ohh, don’t worry, developers will fix them just about a week before they launch Firefox 7 and the history will continue.

10. Andy M wrote on August 17th, 2011at 6:53 am:
    

    I don’t mind the new features but why does each new version have to break so many plugins and add-ons?

    It’s damn annoying to lose functionality that works perfectly well, just because a few new features have been added.

11. raj wrote on August 17th, 2011 at 8:32 am:
    

    version no’s can be 1 thru 100000. by the time we reach 1000 the product itself will become obsolete. we dont have netscape anymore right. same way. of couse firefox is the new avatar of netscape. so by the time firefox reaches 1000 it will be rechristined firebox LOL

12. Joe Luhman wrote on August 17th, 2011 at 10:07 am:
    

    Thank you for breaking my extensions for the second time in as many months. How long is this insanity going to continue? Please stop breaking the extensions for every major release, or please re-think this silly move to a six week ‘major’ release cycle.

I just hope, Mozilla come to senses before the users run out of patience.