Fans of Firefox of good news, that any storm in a glass of water on the version numbers are removed from Firefox on the dialog box was, apparently, a misunderstanding. Firefox will continue to register its version number in the dialog box in the foreseeable future.
The problem began when Asa Dotzler, Director of Firefox, has filed a bug that would remove the version number of the on the dialog box. Dotzler think that the experienced users of Mozilla team had already taken the decision, but it turns out that they did not.
Alex Faaborg, a designer main on Firefox and the head of the UX team, jumped into the controversy surrounding the version numbers that disappear to say that, for now, Firefox would not bumping the version number in the dialog box. He then has to address the real issue, why anyone concerned if Firefox has a version number at all:
I think that the reason for which that this debate has become so emotional that some want to modify the software side client behave as Web (where the user has no control over the version), and some people simply not comfortable with this model. The existence of version numbers is functionally kind of devices in this debate, but nevertheless served as a lightning rod effective for a growing storm of controversy.
Indeed few users, even those against the proposed amendment, really care if the version number is in the About dialog box or elsewhere, the real vitriol was realized in the idea that Firefox could have a version number at all.
The software for a software model works well for web applications like Gmail or Facebook, but most people seem uncomfortable with the same idea applied to desktop as Firefox. After all, nobody control the web - nobody cares what version of Gmail, they use because no one has any control anyway. Office software on the other hand has always been something users can control and removing the feels version number to many as remove some of this control.
Web developers have in particular see the idea of a Firefox software. One of the easier ways to track down problems that Firefox users might have when they access your Web site is to begin by asking what version of Firefox they use. Without this information it can be difficult, if not impossible, to reproduce and resolve the problem.
Couple that with the fact that the new rapid release cycle is causing considerable pain for users by breaking frequently modules, and it is clear that Mozilla is caught between the hammer and the anvil. On the one hand, the new model of rapid release means version numbers are struck every few weeks, sometimes break the Add-ons. On the other hand, remove the version number of the equation makes life more difficult for web developers (and developers add-on and any other person who seeks to help users of Firefox and must be aware of the version numbers).
The simple answer seems to double. First Firefox needs rework its complementary system with the bosses of version numbers do not interrupt the modules (this was partially solved for Add-ons hosted by Mozilla). While Firefox has need of a more appropriate version number system, perhaps, as Faaborg indicates in his position, something based on dates. In this scenario, the next Firefox 7, scheduled for September, would be Firefox 2011.9 or something similar.
While a real solution to all the problems created by the transition from Firefox to the rapid release cycle remains difficult to achieve, at least for the moment those upset by the loss of the version numbers can rest easy.
