Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Firefox 66.0.4 is out, fixes disabled add-ons

ftp.mozilla.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

211–220 of 392 posts

Re: Firefox 66.0.4 is out, fixes disabled add-ons

#213

Post by michaelmrose »

rnd0 wrote: post #208
zapzupnz wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'll be several revisions' worth of security patches behind. For an application that is usually one's main means of accessing the rest of the internet, that would be a deal-breaker for me.

In this case, I was more insecure being subjected to advertising networks (and the malware carried on them) because of Firefox's mistake which meant I wasn't able to load ublock origin. I'm also not sure how many of those "security patches" are intended to make my browsing experience safer, or simply meant to implement bizarre policies that might blow up in my face at any time (as this certificate issue has). It's a…

It's a bad trade off. Every security related bug Firefox fixes is a how to guide for ruining waterfox users day for anywhere from weeks to years.

This will grow increasingly challenging if the code bases diverge in order to keep old school add-ons working given that waterfox has virtually no man power.

Re: Firefox 66.0.4 is out, fixes disabled add-ons

#217

Post by batiudrami »

baalimago wrote: post #82

About time. Embarrassing bug. The only reason i didn't permanently swap browser is because of the lack of alternatives since none has the functionality I apply through the addons.

I haven't Switched yet but I fired up my Vivaldi install and have been impressed. A lot of little annoyances that I got used to with the new extension restrictions aren't there because the functionality is built in (like mouse gestures and tabs on left).

I first started using Firefox as my default when I unzipped a version of Phoenix off a CD which came with a computer magazine.

Re: Firefox 66.0.4 is out, fixes disabled add-ons

#218

Post by floatingatoll »

Karunamon wrote: post #202
floatingatoll wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note that these statistics would, presumably, exclude all users who disable telemetry in Firefox. Since many of those outraged at the interruption to addons seem to overlap frequently with those who object to and disable telemetry and studies on principle, their departure over this incident could well have no impact whatsoever on the metrics you linked above. It must be a nightmare for the Firefox team to have a mino…

Who's fault is that, at the end of the day? Mozilla didn't have to structure their addon system in such a way that their (in)actions could disable the addons of every Firefox user on the planet . Mozilla did not have to abuse the studies mechanism (also on by default) to ship a workaround. Mozilla did not have to disable the option that would let me work around this problem by myself (which is going to cause me no en…

"Opt-out telemetry" creates precisely the scenario I describe, where the users who care most are least visible to Mozilla, at which point their needs would go unconsidered; no one knows they exist, how many of them there are, or why they're opting out. This remains true regardless of why, which negates your entire list of issues, replacing them with a simple question that is very difficult to answer:

How could Mozilla respect the needs of users who opt-out of Mozilla knowing they, and their needs, exist at all?

How could any creator of anything?

If you can't identify who your users are, you can't ask them questions, and you can't tell if they're "vocal 0.001%" or "vocal 40%" of your userbase — then what consideration could you give, as a software developer, for their needs?

You can refuse to change, and simply always offer the one thing you offer, and accept that you're the best option for a minority of users over time. You can continue developing to your own needs, and let them stay or go as they see fit. You can try to read the tea leaves of internet forum posts, but that comes with a huge penalty to significance. You can try new things and try to tell from the howls of outrage whether it's a wording error or a direction error or simply "change is bad, I hate you all".

Opting out is not free. Opting out comes at a price to you. Your needs will be less likely to be considered, and your solutions may change in ways that are not to your liking. You have every right to opt out, but is the price of that acceptable to you?

ps. If you can solve how to let users of something influence its creator in a fair and just manner, such that all users have equal influence, while opting out of being known to that creator to exist at all, you will be a billionaire within five years.

Re: Firefox 66.0.4 is out, fixes disabled add-ons

#220

Post by codedokode »

bo1024 wrote: post #140
whatamidoingyo wrote: post #127

I've been waiting to see this. Just updated from 65.0 to 66.0.3. My addons are still disabled. Tried to install ublock origin, and it's not letting me. I'm getting a "Download failed. Please check your connection." This is crazy, and I'm really disappointed with Mozilla. I'd leave firefox right now, but I don't want to contribute to the destruction of one of the last good pieces of software not owned by Google.

I installed Opera yesterday. So far so good. Hope others will chime in with more alternatives

Opera is proprietary and it is unclear what kind of telemetry it has.
Post reply on HN