Mozilla Briefly Considers Faster Firefox Release Schedule
Mozilla batted around the idea of implementing an even faster release schedule for its Firefox browser, one that would kick it's already rapid release schedule into overdrive. Mozilla Engineering Manager Josh Aas initiated the discussion last week when he proposed reducing the time in between browser builds from six weeks to five weeks.
"There is more than enough carping about the six week cycle being too short. It might be better to wait a while until people become convinced that every update isn't going to break all their extensions, plugins, and themes, and change the UI beyond recognition (as FF3 to FF4 did)," one of the developers wrote in response to the proposal.
It's important to note that discussions like this take place all the time with regards to Firefox, so how seriously Mr. Aas wanted to shave a week off the release cycle isn't really known. However, it's fair to say that most developers were against the idea for one reason or another, including the "risk of burnout."
As it stands, Mozilla's six week release schedule already has some users complaining, though on the flip side, Mozilla risks losing browser market share to Google Chrome if it sits on the sideline for too long. According to Net Applications, Firefox currently holds a 22.6 percent share of the desktop browser market, compared to Chrome's 15.5 percent.
"There is more than enough carping about the six week cycle being too short. It might be better to wait a while until people become convinced that every update isn't going to break all their extensions, plugins, and themes, and change the UI beyond recognition (as FF3 to FF4 did)," one of the developers wrote in response to the proposal.
It's important to note that discussions like this take place all the time with regards to Firefox, so how seriously Mr. Aas wanted to shave a week off the release cycle isn't really known. However, it's fair to say that most developers were against the idea for one reason or another, including the "risk of burnout."
As it stands, Mozilla's six week release schedule already has some users complaining, though on the flip side, Mozilla risks losing browser market share to Google Chrome if it sits on the sideline for too long. According to Net Applications, Firefox currently holds a 22.6 percent share of the desktop browser market, compared to Chrome's 15.5 percent.
