Revisiting the "Firefox Myths" Part 4

Please read my earlier post "Revisiting the "Firefox Myths" Part 2, the Tangent" for background information on where these quotes came from and what the heck is going on.

September 18, 2007 1:49 PM

Myth - "Firefox and Mozilla are the same thing"

It is clearly a Myth if people believe it and it has been debunked. "Value of a web browser" has nothing to do with my page, it is about Firefox Myths. I can see you are starting off as if my page is some attempt to convince people what to use, it is not, it is to stop the spread of Myths about Firefox, period. I don't care what browser you use.

The very first Myth was one where I admitted Andrew K was right. I took issue with the use of the term "Myth" to refer to the confusion, but I admitted Andrew K's response was correct.

I'm amused by the sentence "I can see you are starting off as if my page is some attempt to convince people what to use, it is not, it is to stop the spread of Myths about Firefox, period." when a tangible anti-Firefox hostility permeates the Firefox Myths page. I recommend the reader not take my or Andrew K's word about the intention and bias of the Firefox Myths page. Read it for yourself and decide what you think Andrew K is trying to do.

Myth - "Firefox is spelled 'FireFox' and abbreviated FF"

This is still a Myth and as you can tell a largely believed one, regardless it is clearly debunked.

Again, I made it clear in my original article that Andrew K was correct on this Myth.

Myth - "Firefox is not a Religion"

I have since clarified this one much better with sources I should have used from the begining, my intent was never that Firefox is an organized religion but as the definition I clearly provided says:

"A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion."

In my experience which goes back over 15 years and I have been online since 1996, I have never seen more fanboys then those who mindlessly endorse Firefox. I provide overwhelming evidence for this and thus the Myth is debunked.

Oh, he's been online since 1996?

Give the little newbie a cookie. I'm glad his wee little virgin mind has never encountered an obsession greater than that of the fringe Firefox Zealots. If he truly has "never seen more fanboys then those who mindlessly endorse Firefox" then I have to say he's just not looking. I decided to take a look at the updated section, and did indeed see a few new links.

Explorer Destroyer - This link is more of a guide on how to abuse Google's ad system than anything else. Oddly, the "Level 3" script to block all IE users from a site sounds a lot like the "Why Firefox is Blocked" site that originally lead me to the "Firefox Myths" page.

Kill Bill's Browser - I don't see the point in including obvious and outrageous humor links.

Block IE - How is this different from whyfirefoxisblocked.com?

IE is Evil! - Again, a humor link, and it's a "I hate Microsoft" zealot, not a Pro-Firefox Zealot. I call shenanigans. Andrew K misfiled this Zealot.

God Chooses Firefox - If Andrew K counts every random humor piece involving Linux as "proof" of "Firefox being a Religion" then I can use The Onion as a source.

Firefox Crop Circle - Again, he misfiled his Zealots. There are hobbyists who make crop circles for FUN. Besides, after reading the site I have to conclude these are Linux Zealots.

Firefox Sidewalk Firefox Balloon - The linked site seems to be down, but they're just links to the same guys who did the Firefox Crop Circle. Besides, these Tetris Zealots have them beat hands down.

Firefox Bus - Including this as "proof" of Firefox being a religion is downright misleading. I read the text, and there's no evidence the artist who painted the bus even knew it was the Firefox logo. Besides, Firefox has a For Profit corporate arm, which means this could very well have been an advertisement.

Andrew K is determined to view the Firefox Zealots as being more extreme than ANY other group. Fine, I won't burst his little bubble.

Why should he face the fact that, for example, Cosplay alone makes Firefox zealots look downright mundane. They routinely spend thousands of dollars on costumes to look like their favorite anime characters. What's the most extreme thing Andrew K found? Oh, right, a Firefox themed crop circle.

Then there's the guy with the Zune tattoo.

And my personal favorite, the Catbus Bus from Burning Man.

The bottom line is, a little online hunting will turn of Zealots and lunatics for just about any topic you can think of. I'm not defending Firefox Zealots by any means. My point is, Andrew K is giving the Firefox Zealots far more credit than they deserve for outright lunacy.