> (folks whining about how their incredibly-niche use-case isn't supported anymore which breaks their workflow etc.)
If these complaints come up every release, then perhaps they aren't "incredibly-niche" after all. At least not what they represent in aggregate.
Browsers remind me a lot of superstores and why successful ones go out of their way to stock low-volume specialty items despite them having low profit margins, costing more to handle and stock, and having a very small subset of their customers care enough to buy them:
1. Customers will usually go to a store that's further away from them if it has 100% of the items they want even when your store is much closer but only has 95%.
2. Cut enough of those low-volume items and you'll become that 95% store for most of you customers.
What the team steering firefox need to understand is that the average user is a myth. The average user does not exist. Every user is unique and has their own set of peculiarities. If you remove enough functionality based on telemetry or your own limited perception of what "niche" is (hello, gnome!), everyone will eventually be affected.
I think most of Firefox's hemorrhaging of users today is because Firefox became a 95% browser for most developers and users.
If these complaints come up every release, then perhaps they aren't "incredibly-niche" after all. At least not what they represent in aggregate.
Browsers remind me a lot of superstores and why successful ones go out of their way to stock low-volume specialty items despite them having low profit margins, costing more to handle and stock, and having a very small subset of their customers care enough to buy them:
1. Customers will usually go to a store that's further away from them if it has 100% of the items they want even when your store is much closer but only has 95%.
2. Cut enough of those low-volume items and you'll become that 95% store for most of you customers.
What the team steering firefox need to understand is that the average user is a myth. The average user does not exist. Every user is unique and has their own set of peculiarities. If you remove enough functionality based on telemetry or your own limited perception of what "niche" is (hello, gnome!), everyone will eventually be affected.
I think most of Firefox's hemorrhaging of users today is because Firefox became a 95% browser for most developers and users.