So... Not too much has happened lately. I got a new chair after my old one
broke in a way I couldn't fix, but this time I got one without arms, which fits
me much better. I've also been gathering a lot of period tech-focused ebooks on
my iPad to try and work on things for my MacBook. Since it runs Snow Leopard,
things are a *bit* outdated in comparison to what Google and DDG are willing to
show me, but I've been getting by.
In my searches though, I ran into a book that really made my mood sink:
"Learning Firefox Application Development" by Tanay Pant[0]. It made my mood
drop because I *loved* FirefoxOS. I still have my LG Fx0 sitting on my desk,
and it actually made me want to get into development at the time. Not just for
apps, but for the OS itself. Then Mozilla legit pulled the rug out from under
*everyone's* feet by ripping away the repo early with virtually no warning,
and pretty much leaving a sour taste in the mouths of everyone who supported
the platform. And honestly, that's something Mozilla's become an expert at:
pissing people off, burning bridges with users and partners alike, and ruining
their own reputation.
And yet, I'd still take Firefox over most of the competition, because all of
them have little in the way of trustworthiness at this point. I just miss the
platform as a whole. XUL was fun, XUL apps like Instantbird and Songbird were
great, FirefoxOS was a great experience. Modern Firefox is just like modern
OSes for me: it sucks, and I only begrudgingly use it on my gaming rig because
I hate it the least out of the options given.
Meanwhile, on my MacBook, I'm using ArcticFox[1], trying to learn how to make
an extension to help with a few itches. Also kinda want to get into the code
and start making changes of my own, just to kinda learn how everything works.
I used to watch "The Joy of Coding" on AirMozilla to help with that goal in
Firefox development, but I haven't even looked at that series since the FxOS
debacle. Maybe that's for the best, but it makes me wonder how different things
might have been if the whole Brendan Eich thing never went down.
Also among the books I grabbed were "Programming Firefox" by Kenneth C.
Feldt[2], as well as "Beginning Mac OS X Tiger Dashboard Widget Development" by
Fred Terry[3]. The former I downloaded just out of curiosity, since it has info
on XUL development, but the latter I ended up getting because I do have some
interest in Dashboard widget development, especially now that the feature is
gone in modern versions of the OS. The convenience of the Dashboard is a
feature I enjoyed in Windows with the Sidebar in Vista and Seven, and even with
Yahoo!'s old "Konfabulator"[4] widgets for Windows XP, and I'd like to continue
using it on my MacBook as well.
Oh, I also got "Programmer's Guide to nCurses" by Dan Gookin[5], just because
I kinda want to try making a few things with nCurses at some point, and I've
been hacking on wordgrinder every so often. Having a reference I can use
offline will be nice.
For now, I let my laptop charge (it's down to about 50% as I type this), and
get some something to eat and drink. It's 07:30, and I've had a rough night.
Chronic anxiety is hell.
[0]: ISBN 978-1-78398-940-9
[1]: Pale Moon-based browser roughly on par with Firefox 52.9.
[2]: ISBN 978-0-596-10243-2
[3]: ISBN 978-0-471-77825-7
[4]: A name which I somehow remembered and spelled right first try.
[5]: ISBN 978-0-470-10759-1
