A Tribute to Firefox on its Second Billionth Addon Download

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was one of the great leaders who played a prominent role in the Independence of India. One of the many famous things about him is this quotation, "Give me blood and I will give you freedom", basically fight with me and I will assure your freedom. Talking about a freedom fighter at the beginning of a firefox article doesn't seem to be the expected start but if you think about it, Firefox has always been like a leader, fighting for the Internet Freedom, with a similar motto, "Surf with me and I will show you Freedom".

No doubt, Microsoft's Internet Explorer was the first and the most prominent web browser to bring the world of Internet to people but Firefox was the one who acquainted them with true web experience. If I were to tell the one biggest difference between an IE and Firefox user, it would probably be that only a Firefox user has heard and understands the power of the word "Web Browser".

I have seen a lot of IE users and no matter how much time they spend on Internet, all they know is that there are some very cool and beautiful websites out there. They don't even have the slightest hint that there is something so powerful sitting between them and the web. A firefox user knows it and respects it.

You can even try it out, go to an IE user and tell him about Firefox, its capabilities, features and ofcourse the amazing cuztomization power provided by its huge addon family. Now, just look at his face. It is a feeling of surprise cum happiness cum regret to what he has been missing this whole time. It doesn't sound like the freedom I have been talking about, but is definitely an essence of it.

Firefox is not just about the web experience or Internet Freedom, it has shown this world, the power of an open source software brought to glory by its hard working developers and amazing community. It is fair to say that Firefox is the most popular cross-platform FOSS of all time.

Around a month ago, I wrote about the dawn of Firefox's era but when I read about the two billion addons downloaded, all I was thinking how stupid I could be to question its future.

Lately, Firefox has been accused of falling behind other browsers in terms of performance and speed but just look at its customization capabilities. It is by far the most flexible browser out there. And with the upcoming version, the "falling behind" won't be an issue anymore.

Firefox has always been for its users and something with such a large community behind it is not going anywhere. So, lets give a salute to this brilliant software which has shown and given us the best  web experience we could ever imagine.