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Changes
→Changes in the tree vs. an extension
The first problem with doing things in the tree is that in order for you to distribute the local changes you've made, people will have to use your custom build of Firefox. While this might seem like a good idea the first time you build the browser, it isn't sustainable long term, and users will always want to get the browser from Mozilla for security fixes, new features, etc.
A logical alternative might be to try and get your change accepted into the tree. This involves filing a bug on https://bugzilla.mozilla.org and then creating and attaching a patch with your changes. The problem here is that even though you (and I) might think it is a good idea for tabs to be created in the way we've specified, the community may not--people have already put thought into the way things work now, users are accustomed to it, etc. In this case your bug will likely be marked '''WONTFIX''', which means that your patch won't make it into the tree.
What does this leave? You could [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fork_(software_development) fork] Firefox, as some people have done, and create your own version of the browser. Obviously this isn't what we'd like to do. Rather, what we need is a mechanism to insert a small change into the browser, and do so in such a way that users can choose to install our code or not. Mozilla provides such a mechanism in the form of Extensions.
