Firefox default proxy?

[William John Murray]

  Hello there,
             I would like to know why the default Firefox setting in
Fedora is "Direct connection to the internet". Is there a speed penalty
for "Auto detect proxy settings"?
   Changing this is hidden in prefences->advanced->network->settings
which is obscure for a new user. And when your browser does not work you
cannot google...
  So..could we either change the default, or change the 'unable to
connect' screen firefox displays to give instructions how to enable the
proxy?
   Thank you,
   Bill
   
-- 
________________________________________________________________
Dr William Murray       w.j.murray at rl.ac.uk      (44)-1235-446256
RAL, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0QX, UK