On 2016-05-18 7:38 AM, Tobias B. Besemer wrote:
N00b question:
Is this really a discussion if Firefox should support CPUs older then 13-15
years ??
Right now Firefox supports users on platforms their creators have long
abandoned - WinXP, pre-SSE2 CPUs, OSX 10.6-8, older Android. Firefox is
the _only_ choice people on those platforms have for a safe, modern web
browser, and ending support for them will have real consequences for
real people.
We can't support everyone on every platform forever, obviously, and
being the dominant browser on a set of obsolete or dying platforms isn't
a compelling long-term investment of our resources. But it's a good bet
that people using those systems can't easily upgrade, so ending support
for a platform inevitably means exposing those users to unknown risks.
So it's not a decision people who care about their users' safety and
security should make casually, without careful deliberation and the best
data available.
So to answer your question: Yeah, sort of. This is kind of a discussion
about whether Firefox should support 15-year-old CPUs, but it's really
about the costs, benefits and trade-offs involved in deploying scarce
engineering resources in a complex environment, and how to best support
our users and advance Mozilla's mission in that context.
For what it's worth I think our users deserve to know we take these
questions seriously, whatever the final decisions, and I'm glad we do.
- mhoye
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