Nearly every time we write about Firefox the issue of memory use and leaks comes up in the comments. Well, now it's time to do more than just complain: the Mozilla community is currently looking for additional volunteers to help reduce memory usage and fix any memory leaks in the browser.
Jesse Ruderman, a Firefox programmer, has put out a call for help on his blog and also lists a number of fixes that have already been rolled into the coming Firefox 3 (see our recent review of the latest alpha build).
Not a programmer? That's okay, you can still help. Ruderman says that even ordinary users can contribute to the effort by grabbing a nightly build that's “wrapped in a script that calls leak-gauge.pl when Firefox exits.” If the script finds documents or windows that have leaked memory, it will let you know and then you can try to figure out how to reproduce the leak and file a bug report. For more details and instructions see Ruderman's blog post.
The goal of the project is to not just fix leaks, but also reduce the overall memory usage in Firefox 3. The team already claims that Firefox 3 uses significantly less memory than the current Firefox 2, but they'd like to reduce it even more. They also have some new features planned (like an about:memory page showing a breakdown of Firefox's memory use) so if you have the time, lend them a hand.
See Also:
- Firefox 3 Still Stuck In Alpha Phase
- Slim Firefox's Memory Use By Disabling Problematic Add-ons
- Firefox Update Patches Quicktime Flaw
- An Inside Look At Firefox 3's Improved Download Manager
- Mozilla Gets Fuzzy: New Tools Help Hackers Test Firefox Security
- Mac Users: Give Firefox Developers A Piece Of Your Mind
