Firefox Fables

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• Crap, I meant: Criticism of Firefox
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• Crap, I meant: Firefox Gripes
• Hey look, I can link to myself!
• Internet Explorer handles 99.9% of webpages properly
• Firefox is insecure like Internet Explorer!
• Explorer Exposed!
• Crap, I meant: Open Source Oopsies
• Totally not my weblog
• Firefox Myths thread at Ars Technica
• Why I Love Internet Explorer

• Asa Dotzler
• Ashley Kyd
• Cory Olsen
• DamienG
• David Hammond
• Jason Norwood-Young
• Jeff Evans
• jinexile
• Mark Gilbert
• nforbes
• Robert Accettura
• Rowan Lewis
• Scott Young
• Svip
• Thomas
• Trevor
• Will Langford

Trivia: The Firefox Myths page had this section removed because the author could only find four blogs that agreed with his page and each one had clear factual rebuttles in the comments. Facts are bad, so bye bye section.

"I didn't really read your article, but the title fits nicely into my preestablished mindset. Excellent work." - Fan B.

"This has to be one of the best, most balanced articles I have ever read in my life. The author is truly brilliant and also very sexy." - David H.

"I have always used Windows to download the Internet and I thought maybe I would see what this 'Firefox' Internet is, but thanks to your article I am now informed enough to know to stay with my current Internet." - Dunce

"I'm a web developer and I once tried to get my site to work in Firefox and it was so much work. I don't know why Firefox has such trouble with my FrontPage-generated table layouts that rely on quirks mode and/or Internet Explorer bugs that will probably be fixed in IE7, thus horribly breaking my sites in all browsers. But since I read your article, I'm now convinced that it's actually Firefox's fault and not my utter incompetence." - Amat R.

"Nothing can be perfect... Great paper. ...when I saw that the first time I was amazed." - Tim Berners-Lee about something else

"...I am lying..." - Part of a sentence from Andrew K. taken totally out of context

"I'll start a website to make sure people spread myths..." - Another Andrew K. quote taken out of context

"I think ... Firefox is ... better than ... Internet Explorer... in ... every ...way." - Cut and pasted from various Andrew K. quotes

Lead Programmer

Fable - "Firefox was Designed and Programmed Primarily by Gandhi" - Example

Reality - Mahatma Gandhi had absolutely no involvement in the development of Firefox. In fact, Gandhi died in 1948, 56 years before Firefox 1.0 was released. All of those Firefox fanboys that say otherwise are just making it up, which shows that you can't trust Firefox users. Meanwhile, Microsoft has been developing Internet Explorer since 1995, much closer to when Gandhi was alive. - Source

Update - As it turns out, it has now been confirmed that Gandhi is a program manager on the Internet Explorer 7 team. - Source

Interoperable

Fable - "Firefox will Run on Any System" - Example

Reality - Firefox can only run on a tiny fraction of Systems. Some Systems it can't run on include: U.S. court System, X Multimedia System (XMMS), System of a Down tracks, and Dewey Decimal System. It should be noted that Internet Explorer and Opera (now 100% free) will run on any properly set up piece of hardware. - Source

Open Source

Fable - "Firefox is Open Source" - Example

Reality - Firefox is anything but Open Source with multiple project details hidden from the public. "There also plans for enhanced security, blacklisting and anti-phishing measures to be fitted to the new version. However, no details of what they might be have been released yet." - Source

Attractive

Fable - "Using Firefox will make you Attractive" - Example

Reality - I hear this one all the time, but it's simply not true. In fact, some organizations, such as BeautifulPeople.net, have determined that Firefox users are actually very unattractive, as can be inferred from their site's notice: "BeautifulPeople.net is only supported by Internet Explorer. You are currently using version: Netscape 5.0. To be able to use. BeautifulPeople you need to update to a newer version of Internet Explorer." - Source

Rich

Fable - "Using Firefox will make you Rich" - Example

Reality - Another outright lie. Most of the Firefox developers, who probably use Firefox more than anyone else, don't even make money for their work. On the other hand, Internet Explorer developers work for Microsoft, the richest company in the world. This sample clearly suggests that Internet Explorer users are much more wealthy than Firefox users. - Source

Market Share

Fable - "Firefox Achieved 10% Market Share in 2005" - Example

Reality - "According to WebSideStory, a San Diego-based Web analytics provider, Mozilla's Firefox closed 2005 with 8.9% of the browser market, while Microsoft's Internet Explorer wrapped up the year with 87.6%." In other news, since every other major Web analytics firm has reported higher Firefox usage figures than WebSideStory, they are all biased Firefox fanboys. - Source - Source 2 - Source 3

Safer

Fable - "You are Safer using Firefox" - Example

Reality - Using Firefox will not reduce your risk of food poisoning, heart disease, or cancer. Anyone who claims that Firefox can make you safer either isn't aware of these risks or is lying. - Source

No Vulnerabilities

Fable - "Firefox has never had a Security Vulnerability" - Example

Reality - Mozilla claims this all the time, but Firefox has had MANY security vulnerabilities. Don't be fooled by the "never had a security vulnerability" statements all over mozilla.com and the developers' weblogs. Firefox has had an insanely huge number of security vulnerabilities in the past and still in the present. But Opera (now 100% free) has had a negligible vulnerability count. If you compare Firefox and Opera (now 100% free), Opera (now 100% free) is much safer. All you need is one vulnerability to be unsafe, and since unsafe is unsafe, Internet Explorer is just as safe as Opera (now 100% free). Therefore, Firefox is the most insecure browser. - Source

Downloads

Fable - "Virus.exe is safe when you download it with Firefox" - Example (Squint hard enough and it looks like the same claim)

Reality - This Fable appears on message boards every day. Someone asks if it's safe to run virus.exe and someone else replies, "Sure, just download it with Firefox!" I'm sorry to spoil the party for all of you Firefox fanboys, but running the virus.exe that you downloaded in Firefox is still completely unsafe. On the other hand, it's possible to run a virus.exe that you downloaded in Internet Explorer and experience no ill effects. - Source

Ad Blocking

Fable - "Firefox Blocks all Advertisements" - Example

Reality - Firefox does not block all online ads. - Source - Source 2 - Source 3 - Source 4 - Source 5 - Source 6 - Source 7 - Source 8 - Source 9 - Source 10 - Source 11 - Source 12 - Source 13 - Source 14 - Source 15 - Source 16 - Source 17 - Source 18 - Source 19 - Source 20 - Source 21 - Source 22 - Source 23

RSS

Fable - "The Firefox RSS icon was stolen by Microsoft for IE7" - Example

Reality - Oh yes, the Firefox community was up in arms when news came out that IE7 was going to take Firefox's RSS icon idea. Just take a look at the accusations people made about this. Well the truth is, it was adopted with permission. IE7 isn't stealing anything from Firefox. Not icons, not market share, nothing! - Source

Tabbed Browsing IE

Fable - "Firefox supports Tabbed Browsing and Internet Explorer does not" - Example

Reality - I claim that Firefox can't block all popup ads on the premise that the AdBlock extension is not natively built into the browser, yet at the same time I'm going to claim that Internet Explorer supports tabbed browsing even though it requires a browser plugin. Double standards, you say? I call it "brutally honest". - Source

W3C Standards

Fable - "Firefox fully support W3C Standards" - Example

Reality - Firefox has incomplete support of many W3C standards including HTML 4.01, XHTML 1.1, CSS 2.1 and CSS 3, and has no support for XHTML 2.0, XHTML 3.0, FutureML 9.0, or ApocalypseScript. Okay, so technically the last six, including CSS 2.1 and CSS 3, aren't web standards yet, and I won't comment on whether or not any other browser supports these specifications even as well as Firefox, but I will mention in an undisputably objective and factual statement that Internet Explorer has very good support for the most important web standard. That's right, Internet Explorer is shining with its marvellous 83% support for HTML 4.01, compared to Firefox's pathetic 94%. And remember, I'm not making a comparison here; Internet Explorer was totally the subject of this Fable. - Source

Update - The link here has changed so you get a non-biased view of the Source. The owner of this Source had tried to redirect visitors coming from this site to specially created warning pages. And by specially created warning pages, of course I mean the exact same page, but with a biased message added at the top. And by biased, of course I mean completely factual and undisputably true, as you could see by reading the W3C specifications. And yes, I realize that these warnings were only temporary while additional information was being added to the tables and that providing a direct link would no longer be an issue, but it better suits my personal grudge to just leave this message here.

Warning - When viewing his website in Internet Explorer you will receive deceptive warnings saying: "There is a Problem with your Web Browser" which links to his "IE is Dangerous" propaganda page. Wait, you aren't seeing it? Oh no, I didn't mean THAT site, I meant his OTHER site, the one I DIDN'T refer to in this article. Duh. Anyway, his page presents information designed specifically to make people question the quality of their browser. Totally different from what I'm doing here. He is also well aware some of his web pages break in Internet Explorer but deliberately refuses to fix them out of clear bias: "Do I dislike Internet Explorer? Yes. Do I wish Internet Explorer would just go away? Yes. Do I intentionally lie to get people to switch? No." - David Hammond. Oops, scratch that third part, it makes him sound more reasonable than I'm trying to make him appear. And no, the statement doesn't refer to the fact that Internet Explorer is a pain in the rear to develop for, as even the Internet Explorer development team has openly recognized; it's totally unfounded bias. No really, trust me on that. It should be noted that I will never resort to such dishonest tactics. I'll just misquote people and spam a hundred sites under a dozen different names claiming to be different people.

Notice - The author of the standards support resource has been caught in numerous lies. He recently posted the following message in a discussion forum:

You're an absolute riot, you know that? "No, you misquoted me! I said Internet Explorer had better support, not superior support!" "In a completely different website, you told your visitors that Internet Explorer is bad. That clearly proves that anything in your resource suggesting that Internet Explorer isn't better than Firefox is completely biased." "You used the same sources as me, but you didn't have a fat link labeled 'Source'. That clearly shows that your article is biased, meant to mislead, AND your intentions are clear." "I never said these things you're pretending to quote. I can't tell when you're obviously paraphrasing to point out the faults in my logic, and so I will just call everything you say a LIE." (Source)

I never said any of those things. Do not trust anything he says or does. But, um... I'll still use his website as a source anyway.

XHTML

Fable - "Webpages can be written in XHTML" - Example

Reality - XHTML is mentioned nowhere in the definition of a webpage.

Webpage (Definition) - "A document on the World Wide Web, consisting of an HTML file and any related files for scripts and graphics, and often hyperlinked to other documents on the Web." - Source

Acid 2 Browser Test

Fable - "Firefox fully supports the most important W3C Standards" - Example

Reality - As we all know, there is a clear line between an important W3C Standard and an unimportant W3C Standard. And of course, I'm sure the Acid 2 Browser Test tests everything on the important side and nothing on the unimportant side (you know, dispite the fact that some of the most renowned Web professionals and developers of all major browsers have said otherwise), so I'm sure the Acid 2 Browser Test will give an accurate and undisputable black-and-white idea of what browsers support "the most important W3C Standards". This test clearly shows Firefox does not fully support the most important web standards. - Source

Oops, sorry, that was Internet Explorer 6. Let's try again.

No no, that's the Internet Explorer 7 beta 2 preview. Let's see...

Nope, that was Opera 8.5, the most recently released version. Aha, here's Firefox 1.5:

Notes - A technical preview of features that may or may not be added to an unreleased future version of Opera (now 100% free) offers the best Acid2 Browser Test Results in Windows, disregarding technical previews of all other browsers and currently released user agents that I choose to ignore.

And for all of you who have e-mailed me to point out that internal builds of Firefox now pass the Acid2 test, I have marked your messages as spam and deleted them. Stop trying to correct me.

Google AdSense

Fable - "Google's AdSense Terms and Conditions allow for a single webpage to mix AdSense ads and targetted ads from other providers" - Example

Reality - ...oh sh*t. - Source

These Myths originated from various sources on the World Wide Web in local/second-hand news articles, Blogs, pet-related forums and on various other pages. The World Wide Web is a very large place with trillions billions millions of pages and forums. What is known in one corner, may never be heard in another. So readers of this page may have only heard of one, many or even none of these Myths. It all depends on where you go and what you read. It is quite possible for many more Firefox Myths to exist out there that are unknown to this page. As they are discovered, or as I come up with new crap I can find a vague reference to somewhere, they will be added and debunked with lies random quotes from people with no authority misquotes and misrepresentation of data from legitimate sources Facts and Sources as the rest have been here. Making the argument that no knowledgeable individual would say these things is obvious. I am not a knowledgeable individual. Myths are not created by knowledgeable individuals. It is the lack of knowledge in the first place that leads to my their creation. Simply using a search engine to find the origins of all of the Myths presented here will lead to inconclusive results since a search engine was never used in this manner by this author. The human imagination is the greatest search engine. Search engines rely on exact wording and having the ability to search all known sources. The Myths presented here are not always worded exactly the same way since the originals either had sources to back them up or or were worded so that a moron could see the guy's clueless or joking and not all sites allow search engines to crawl them. The reasoning for not linking to the origins is simple, God told me not to aliens told me not to some other bizarre excuse that makes absolutely no sense I will not unleash the full wrath of the Firefox fanboys on anyone - I am human. However I have added some search engine located examples as additional proof. Keep in mind these are the not the "origins" but a simple demonstration that these Myths do exist even if one or two don't actually make anything close to the claims I'm pretending to debunk. Each Myth has been heard enough times to constitute it being a Myth (once).

Man, I really need to stock up on white-out.

The deceitful biased unlawful trolling eye-opening nature of this page has caused some controversy. Strangely, when some people are presented with an article that contains misquotes, biased sources, mispresented sources, and half-truths in an obvious mission to create controversy in order to maximize profits on ads and promote a pro-proprietary software agenda, and is spammed on countless website by over a dozen allegedly different people who claim to be unaffiliated with the article but are all later proven to be the author himself, their first reaction is to doubt the legitimacy of the article. Weird, isn't it? Anyway, my rampant abuse of the Web has led to a few "rebuttals" to this page. In each and every case they are merely filled with facts taken directly from authoritative standards bodies, developers of the respective applications, and cold hard logic. All have been thoroughly and easily ignored by me and simply dismissed as fanboyism. I have noticed most to be by the very sources I use on this article, which are hardly trustworthy. These experts have no business talking about this page, since it isn't meant to target technologically competent audiences; it is clearly intended to fuel IE fanboys and mislead the ignorant masses and hopefully earn me quite a bit of cash along the way. Lots of people even openly admit that Internet Explorer's vulnerabilities have affected them - hardly reputable sources to dispute anything! - Again please read carefully and look at the fact that I have sources (but don't read them in too much depth or look at any other sources, because then you might see that I'm presenting a totally skewed picture of the situation). Oh, and click on some of my ads too.

Update - Grrr.. David H., stop posting comments on my weblog - er, I mean the weblog of the OTHER Andrew who I claim is different from Andrew K. because I'm tangled in a thick web of lies - spouting your lame links to relevant and legitimate sources which contradict my narrow-sighted claims. Flame (Definition) - Any statement which I disagree with. All flaming will be removed.

Update - Grrr... Hey fanboy patrol, stop lying about knowing what my IP address is. Obviously I haven't been to enough public discussion forums for you to have a record on my IP address. I don't care what proof you have, I still call it lies!

Fanboy Spammers

Here is a list of known people who will Spam this page in any discussion:

• Andrew AKA Andrew K.
• David Dobsen AKA Andrew K.
• David H. (not to be confused with the real David Hammond) AKA Andrew K.
• Drew AKA Andrew K.
• FFeLEET AKA Andrew K.
• GeneralAres AKA Andrew K.
• Jim AKA Andrew K.
• Joe Somebody AKA Andrew K.
• Mastertech AKA Andrew K.
• Mike G. AKA Andrew K.
• MT AKA Andrew K.
• NewsHound AKA Andrew K.
• Realist AKA Andrew K.
• TheHardTruth AKA Andrew K.
• Thor AKA Andrew K.
• Vincent AKA Andrew K.

Some people just can't handle the truth, which is what I blame for the fact that I've been banned from the following websites:

• 3dgpu
• Anandtech
• BetaNews
• digg
• Forum bX
• Geeks to Go
• IntelZone
• Lunarsoft.net
• Microsuck
• MozillaZine
• Nanobox
• Neowin
• PCMechanic
• TechSpot
• Urban Anarchy
• Warp2Search
• Web Devout

(Sites with Netcraft site rank under 2000 are in bold.)

This page will be revised as new Fables are confirmed and added. Feel free to submit suggestions or comments to nanobot@gmail.com. If your comment doesn't bash Firefox, I will dismiss you as a Firefox fanboy and probably misquote you under the Testimonials section.

Make sure you click on my ads before opining.

Many have accused me of bias asked what I recommend and use. I recommend and use Avant Browser, the best of all worlds. Of course, I'm not endorsing anything, as I explained at the top. This is a recommendation, not an endorsement. Totally different things.

Oh yeah, and I regularly use Opera too (in fact, moreso according to several site logs). But I'll try to hide that because then it makes it obvious that I'm advertising Opera every chance I get.

Avant Browser

A custom Internet Explorer based browser that utilizes the Internet Explorer Engine for complete compatibility with all websites hacked to death in order to ensure that they work in it. Ignore the fact that many of these pages will likely break in IE7 that's coming out in a few months. It also features all the new features of Firefox and Opera (now 100% free). Well, except the extension system, arguably Firefox's biggest selling point. Oh, and it actually doesn't support a lot of Opera (now 100% free)'s features. But hey, it supports ActiveX, a technology being phased out across the industry. Use of Internet Explorer based web browsers also ensures that web developers will continue to use only old IE-compatible technology on their websites, wasting a significant amount of their time and money just to accommodate for your outdated and crippled browser.

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