> I really just don't understand the obsession with Chrome, especially in hacker communities.

Chrome used to be very lightweight, fast and basically unseated IE as the top browser. It got that love because at the time Firefox was bloated and IE had a stranglehold. Chrome was also safer with a process per tab. Chrome made web browsing/dev pleasant like Firefox/Firebug did and it really took off being based on Webkit like Safari which also worked well on mobile. Chrome (and Safari) or Webkit pushed HTML5/Canvas/WebGL/SVG into real world use which changed the landscape of browsers.

Nowadays Chrome is bloated like Firefox was, has a stranglehold like IE did, is now pushing its own market standards and breaking existing open/market standards and generally being a forceful, non respecting to standards, web browser. It sure is unfortunate and another sign that bizdev/marketing/executives rule over engineers at Google now.

I feel the same. I keep Chrome around, though, because it seems to be the new IE in the sense that I frequently encounter sites that simply don't work properly in either WebKit- or Gecko-based browsers. It's also the new IE in the sense that I get incessant reminders about how I should be using Chrome when I access Google-administrated services, which feels like a surprisingly blatant if still implicit admission on their part that an open web simply isn't a concern or interest of theirs. I never really believed otherwise, but still.

Firefox just doesn’t have enough advantages yet that would convince someone comfortable with Chrome to switch over. While privacy is an ever growing concern, it isn’t a strong enough feature for most people.

I use Chromium on linux because Firefox doesn't have touch-screen support and smooth-scrolling feels a little rough. I wont hesitate to switch over if these changes are made though.

I know. Apple, too. Can't get more closed and locked-in (outside of Oracle).

Chrome is still the best performing browser (even if it's a resource hog).

I tried using Firefox for Linux for about 6 months last year, but had to give up. I got frustrated with the random UI pauses/latency, random crashes, and broken web rendering (not its fault). On the other hand, Chrome just works, and provides a very smooth, low latency experience on Linux. I don't like that I have to give up my privacy for a decent browsing experience on Linux, but that's the state of things.

The dev console is better than Firefox one. It's faster. Minimalistic interface is great. HOWEVER - Firefox console is catching up. Firefox is fast enough. Chrome is getting more and more bloated and interface is starting to suck compared to initial version of Chrome. Now they're trying to do stupid things and promote ads more and more. It gets worse every day and hopefully, they'll screw up to the point it dies. I loved Google before, now I'm disliking them as much as I do Facebook. I root for Firefox, but it's still not there yet.

Guys who maintain Firefox - thank you. I hope I'll join the FF users once more in the near future.

Most young devs use a mac. And from what I understand Firefox is slow on macOS.

Sorry Google, I feel "icky & gross" when you use me.

Most of my logins have been syncd via Chrome. Makes logging into a new computer a breeze, or if I need to borrow someone else's stuff really quick.

That's really how I feel about all browsers since Opera did a U-turn and re-made their product into a Chrome clone. Firefox can get quite close with a bunch of add-ons, but not enough.

The great dev tools and overall design is pleasing.

frankly, I love the UX and developer tools in Chrome more than FF... however, this would have me jumping back to FF as my daily driver.

It's a better browser. It's faster, more cutting-edge features.

Check their dev blog, they add cool features every couple of weeks:

https://www.youtube.com/user/ChromeDevelopers/videos

I think chromium devtool is still much better than firefox's ones.

tbh, nobody gives a shit what "hacker" communities think, that is precisely why Firefox exists

It's Chrome devtools really

I'm invested in the Google ecosystem, and have recently got myself a Pixel Slate that I carry everywhere as my primary computing/ media device (no more separate laptop and tablet). It would now be silly of me to use Firefox in place of Chrome. Moreover I have got nothing to hide, so all these privacy-fears don't concern me; in fact I often feel like they are being overblown.

It fast. That most important thing.

Icky, gross and violated.

I am pretty sure that most of the people using firefox right now are from the hacker communities though.