Firefox Bug Fixed… After 21 Years
A browser bug took more than 20 years to fix
A bug in the Firefox web browser that was first reported in 2002 has finally been fixed.
The glitch was basically an irritating display error that occurred when users switched focus to a new app.
“If I mouseover a toolbar link, and wait for a second, a little yellow box with the description of the link appears,” reads the original bug report, that was posted on June 2, 2002.
“If I now use command-tab to move Mozilla [Firefox] to the background, the little yellow box stays there, in the foreground. The only way to get rid of it is to put Mozilla in the foreground again, and move the mouse off the toolbar.”
The bug report attracted many supportive comments over the years, with other users reporting the same problem. Although it was originally reported as an error on Macs, early commenters reported seeing the same bug in Windows 98. Others say it existed in other Mozilla products, such as the Thunderbird mail client.
“It’s been driving me nuts for years,” said one commenter, writing in 2010. “Most definitely not fixed.”
Well, it has been now.
Firefox Fixed
Without any fanfare, Mozilla marked the bug as resolved about a month ago, leading to an outbreak of celebrations on social media in the past few days.
“FINALLY,” commented a user, who spotted the bug fix on Mastodon.
“That bug has been a pain for HALF MY LIFE,” commented another user.
As one other commenter noted, the person who provided the commit to fix the bug had only had their account for four days before it was remedied, leading another Mastodon user to remark: “Maybe they experienced the bug as a child, it annoyed them to their core, they went to university to learn coding, then graduated, made an account, and fixed it. Life goals complete.”
Source: www.forbes.com
