I didn't scream FAIL. I just said it was down. Anyway, if you're going to have a contest and you can't keep up with the load that's both good (contest is going well) and notable (cause you didn't have enough server capacity or whatever to keep it all up). - Robert Scoble

think about a world without Mozilla Firefox. Think about a world dominated by Internet Explorer. Think about closed instead of open. Who are we to judge them right now? They are doing a hell lot of more to make the Internet a better place than all these loudmouths out here! - Alexander van Elsas

Alexander: the loudmouths bring hype. Hype brings new users. It's all good. - Robert Scoble

Well I wasn't referring to you Robert ;-) But it is so typical. I love the browser and the dudes that are creating it together. If there isn't enough server capacity I can only hope it is because no one has ever even remotely tried to create such a shitload of downloads ;-) - Alexander van Elsas

Well said. - Russellreno

That's true Robert. - Alexander van Elsas

It's really easy to judge from the sideline, while at the same time MG Siegler and a few more are HAPPILY running their FF browser every day, thanking god and anyone else on their knees they don't have to use IE. I love choice, and choice is what Mozilla has brought us - Alexander van Elsas

well said, this wasn't planned well, but this is nothing like creating such a great web browser. - Hassan Ibraheem

I don't understand why nobody has put FF3 Release up on Bittorrent somewhere. I guess cuz it would affect the world record. - Rahsheen ™, Coach of FF

I'd like to think of a world where people think in terms of "usability" and "meets demand" than terms like "free" or "open." If I can't save the world, princess, cheerleader, and the internet from the evil clutches of Lex Luthor, Ganon, Sylar, and Microsoft because I can't download your stupid software (you know the one you keep telling me is better than sliced bread?), it's not my fault, it's yours. Make your stuff work (that includes your delivery mechanism), then worry about saving us from evil. - Mark Trapp

@Alexander - completely agree that FF3 is the best browser out there - but if somebody tries to very publicly break a world record and their infrastructure can't handle it - then that's newsworthy (at least in our small tech world) - FAIL is just the meme of the day to go with it - Frederic

What's ironic Mark, is that Microsoft would be able to handle day 1 downloads better than this. People are quick to defend what they like, even if what they like is failing. :) The truth hurts. - Bwana ☠

I'm thinking there is a whole army of volunteers trying to to their best, while we sit back and have a laugh. Sorry guys, I'm not with you on this one. Sure they "might" have done a better job. But it is their world record attitude that got us Firefox. We should appreciate that a bit more. - Alexander van Elsas

In the same breath we're calling fail, we're advocating and spreading the word to go get it. It's not as black and white as you may think. - Bwana ☠

too bad that the enthusiasm and massive numbers that a call to download a piece of software couldn't be directed to a continued pressure on some *real* social issues .. you know those things that social media claims to care about .. but I guess software is more important. - Steven Hodson

Mozilla isn't some small, poor open source project, it's a very wealthy company with an army of employees. If Mozilla blew Firefox 1's download day, I wouldn't have criticized them. Today they are a big company, making more profits than most Silicon Valley-startups combined. One can expect more professionality than that. So yes, we know where we would be without Firefox, but that's no excuse for poor management. (I expect high uptime from Google, too, even though the world would be worse without them.) - sebmos

I happily scream FAIL. i'm forgiving to startups, but if a company like mozilla purposefully sets out to have everyone download their software at the same exact time to get a record that doesn't exists and its crashes their servers, that is a FAIL. -- and for the record, I don't use FF everyday. I prefer Camino, also made by Mozilla. - MG Siegler

@Alexander van Elsas I don't think any of us fail to appreciate the value the that Firefox has brought the world. But look, they wanted to set a world record and they couldn't handle their own success. MG is pointing that out. I think you're seeing bogeymen where there are none. Also, FF has been nearly unusable on my Mac (and many other Macs) for years. Yeah, Camino, like what MG said. - Eric Eldon

Eric, we all know stories of athletes preparing years for the Olympic games only to fail during the trials, or even teh finals. Who are we to say FAIL. They know that already. All we can do is admire the incredible effort they put into it - Alexander van Elsas

Alexander, I'm a reporter so it's not my role to admire everyone who tries anything -- although I also think the human spirit is a great thing. My goal is to be honest with our readers about what's actually happening in the world. As we're also a blog, we include opinions. MG and I happen to be underwhelmed by Firefox's performance. I don't think we're doing anything wrong here by being critical. - Eric Eldon

Eric, being a reporter is fin, being critical as a reporter is fine too. I just happen to have a different opinion on this. I think Mozilla has done something no one has done before. They have successfully melted down their servers because so many people in the world want to have that browser (I hope so!). The execution might not be the best (who knows though how much traffic they are getting), but I like it ;-) - Alexander van Elsas

Yeah, I definitely see what you're saying. I'm happy for them, too, in that sense. - Eric Eldon