Seems due to some bugs in its auto-update/installer programs, Mozilla is discontinuing the distribution of .zip file versions of its software. You can still get .zipped versions in the nightlies, but official releases will only be available as an installer.

OK, this is the biggest reason I haven’t converted completely to Firefox. First, they decide to switch the default theme in version 0.9 (way too close to a final release) and now this (and believe me there are alot more examples in between). For Pete’s sake! Is this a community project or not? Mozilla is slowly showing their true colors, they don’t ask for community input on much of anything (unless they need help testing THEIR code), and expect others to just cope with design decisions. And what’s really annoying is that instead of actually fixing a problem, they just do the easy thing and stop making .zip builds.

Check out some of the comments on that posting; little did they apparently plan for the fact that a number of people can’t run installer files on their PCs, due to security restrictions at work, school, etc. I’ve ranted about this ‘do first, think later’ mentality, and lack of attention to their community. I predict right now they will not reach their goals for penetration into IE’s lead, due to things like this that start annoying the pants off of hardcore or more savvy users. THESE are the people that are at the foundation of the movement. Whether it be them downloading, or influencing businesses, family members, etc. Check out the Opera forums, they are alot more caring about their users over there, and not so ‘commericial’. That’s right, commerical, Mozilla has all the qualities outside of charging for their product; they worry more about marketing and getting market share overall rather than building good community rapport and experience.