Concerning Mozilla

Jack made a post in an earlier thread about a Mozilla security problem. I am glad that he made that post because it gives me a chance to make a point about Mozilla. It is important to remember that Mozilla is an open-source web browser that is constantly in build.

The last two problems with Mozilla have concerned Privacy issues. This last problem was serious. All versions up to and including 1.1 was showing the URL that you were surfing to - to the last visited site! It's a kind of reverse referral problem. The other concerned a cookie problem.

There is a point to be made here that deserves careful consideration on the difference between two ways of building a browser. It is, I think, very important to have a web browser project underway that is being developed with nightly builds that is able to respond quickly to any problem whatsoever.

That's a big difference than how IE security problems are dealt with.

With the closed approach of IE it can sometimes take months before somebody accidentally stumbles across a security problem that may have already been used as an exploit by a hacker. With closed software, security holes can be used for a good long while before even being discovered. With open-source code constantly scrutinized by many people, security holes, bugs, etc. are usually found quickly and dealt with swiftly.

Mozilla is a most needed project. In essense, it is a constant build for that "perfect browser." I think they are doing a remarkable job. The sideline Phoenix browser is also worth looking at. It's also a work-in-progress but shows great progress as a fast, basic browser.

Kudos to Mozilla.

Have a good weekend!!!

John
Luv2BSecure

 

That is a very good point John. I never looked at it like that.
When it settles down in another version or two, I will download it and use it for a backup to Opera for those rare cases where I need ActiveX and want to live dangerously.