Mozilla Firefox knows only one god- satisfaction of the end user
The Firefox web browsing software application focuses on only one aspect- satisfaction of the requirements of the end user. At no point of time are any extraneous factors or circumstances considered during the development of web browsing software application.
Each and every feature of the Firefox web browsing software application has been included in the web browser only after it has passed the taste of practicality and utility. If any feature has utility for the end users, the same shall be incorporated into the web browsing software application.
If any feature does not have utility for the end users, the same shall be discarded irrespective of the popularity of the feature. Of course, when I speak of the utility of the feature, I speak of utility of the feature for the maximum number of end user of the web browsing software application.
A feature that has utility for the maximum end users of the web browsing software application shall be incorporated into the Firefox web browser as a default feature. Other features are not included by default. Rather, the end user is encouraged to incorporate the feature in the form of Firefox extension.
One example of the commitment of the developers of the Firefox web browsing software application towards this rule is the question of incorporation of the parental control feature in the web browsing software application.
Now, each and every parent would like the web browsing software application to contain parental control features that can be used to restrict the end users of the web browsing software application from accessing unsuitable content.
In case of the Internet Explorer web browsing software application, this feature is prominently highlighted and the parents are encouraged to block web sites on the basis of the key words.
However, the feature is not very productive as there are many instances of harmless websites being blocked by mistake or harmful web sites are being allowed by mistake.
The end result is that the parental control feature in the web browsing software application is not very successful in achieving its ultimate goal- that of ensuring that the children do not view unsuitable content on the World Wide Web.
The net savvy children can easily bypass the rudimentary parental control feature incorporated into the Internet Explorer web browsing software application. The developers of the Firefox web browsing software application decided that they would not resort to symbolism and tokenism.
Rather than incorporating a feature that serves no productive use whatsoever, the developers decided to skip the feature altogether. That is the reason why there is no parental control feature in the Firefox web browsing software application.
While the absence of this feature is often utilized by the critics to point out the flaws and defects in the Firefox web browsing software application and is used to prove that the developers of the Firefox web browser are not aware of their social responsibilities, the ground reality is very different.
The absence of this feature ensures that the parents make alternate arrangements to protect the children from unsuitable content. While the end users of the Internet Explorer web browsing software application may be of the opinion that they have successfully restricted unsuitable content on the World Wide Web, the truth is something different.
The developers of the Firefox web browsing software application prefer to remove a feature that creates a false sense of a security amongst the end users. In my opinion, this approach of the developers of the Firefox web browsing software application is the correct one. This pragmatic approach is what endears the Firefox web browser to the end user.
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