They've already said here (if I understand correctly) that the future Firebug will be built on top of Firefox's own developer tools, rather than being a completely independent extension. I don't know whether I'll like the new Firebug or not, but I'm pretty sure it will continue to exist in some form.
I'm not so sanguine about all the other web-devel extensions I use in Firefox, however. I find it hard to believe that all those extension developers, almost none of whom have been paid a dime for all their hard work, will just accept having to throw out all their code and start all over again. I suspect that most of the power extensions for Firefox-based devel will cease to exist, and with it my main reason for using Firefox at all. Also, the Chrome extension environment, which Mozilla will apparently be adopting (just as they've adopted Chrome's simplified interface, for the most part) doesn't allow an extension to get down into the guts of the browser and make major changes. For example, look at the awkward interface that Chris Pederick was forced to use in Chrome for his great Web Developer Toolbar, compared to the much more elegant interface that the same extension has in Firefox. I expect nasty changes like that throughout -- in the name of "security" Firefox will be less configurable than before -- the main characteristic distinguishing it from other browsers in the first place. Already, FF is alerting (in both Mac and Windows) that ColorZilla is "not verified for use in Firefox," despite its claiming to be signed (and no response from the developer to inquiries). I think Firebug is probably the one devel extension that I'm fairly confident *will* continue to work -- but will it be as good, or hobbled by all Mozilla's new restrictions? And will Firebug alone be a sufficient reason to stick around? On Sat, Aug 22, 2015 at 4:43 PM, William Nerini <[email protected]> wrote: > Given that, according to this post > <https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2015/08/21/the-future-of-developing-firefox-add-ons/>, > it appears plugins that currently rely on the Add-on SDK will stop > functioning, as well as plugins using XUL, XBL and XPCOM. How will this > impact Firebug? I've looked, briefly at the Firebug.next project, but it's > not clear that's a response to these announced changes. > > At this time, Firebug is, literally, the *only *reason I still use > Firefox, and is irreplaceable in my development process; no other browser > had a tool remotely approaching Firebug's power and flexibility. So I'm > hoping to get some clarity on where you folks are, given the announced > changes. > > Thanks, > Will > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Firebug" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/firebug. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/firebug/6277c77a-934a-4fd0-8fcf-833b0dc0fd5b%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/firebug/6277c77a-934a-4fd0-8fcf-833b0dc0fd5b%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Lawrence San Business Writing: Santhology.com Cartoon Stories for Thoughtful People: Sanstudio.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Firebug" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/firebug. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/firebug/CAMoMLKim0SV%3DY99sxCYJV3TAyUKHo6xj3ZiB9N_j94euxj4RSA%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
