Firefox 66.0.4 is out, fixes disabled add-ons

Post by diegoperini » Mon, May 06, 2019, 9:16 AM UTC

sam_goody wrote: post #302

f4stjack wrote: post #261

Good move, congrats on surviving the second armag-add-on finally BUT I won't be moving from chromium until Firefox (or Mozilla) explains: - why am I opted-in to a Studies program in Firefox's default state? (With no explicit information about what it is) - what does app.normandy.enabled switch do and why is its default value is True and doesn't change to false when I explicitly state I don't want to be in the Studies…

Chromium is definitely worse. While these deserve an explanation, you should not wait to move. Chrome is spyware that does web browsing. It's parent company also shows ads, all the time. Chrome's auto update not only allows them to silently update or change your browser, it allows them to silently install other software on your computer. Firefox is a browser. It can auto-update in a way that may be questionable, but…

Post by zapzupnz » Mon, May 06, 2019, 9:23 AM UTC

dorgo wrote: post #278

michaelmrose wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

One solution would be to have a dedicated computer which is considered compromised from the start. Don't store importent stuff there, don't do money related activities etc. This way you have a convenient browser for 99% of the time - without stupid restrictions and Mozilla control. In case of infection, restore from image. edit: replaced spyware with control.

Post by ntp85 » Mon, May 06, 2019, 9:33 AM UTC

f4stjack wrote: post #273

ntp85 wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This might be a stupid question, but have you asked them through their support or social media channels yet?

I did from twitter, no answer yet. And I think this is an answer owed to all of the users - not just me.

Post by genghizkhan » Mon, May 06, 2019, 9:36 AM UTC

bald42 wrote: post #309

alskdj21 wrote: post #190

I'm really worried about the average users not knowing what happened here. At least an email should be sent informing about the issue. But I guess many of those average users don't have a single extension installed, no problems for them.

Why would Mozilla have my/average users email-address?

Post by Crinus » Mon, May 06, 2019, 9:46 AM UTC

scarejunba wrote: post #114

badsectoracula wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It isn't A/B testing that is bad, it is running and/or modifying stuff in the user's computer without their knowledge that is bad. If a site modifies some part of their layout or whatever isn't bad, but a browser installing addons or changing settings to see if it will crash is bad.

Wait, so running and modifying stuff on all users' computers is good, but a random sample isn't? That's what A/B testing deals with. The discussion isn't "modify stuff" vs. "don't modify stuff". The discussion is "some users" vs. "all users". And obviously if you have an auto-update mechanism you're modifying stuff on the user's computer. Chrome updates are near invisible on modern machines. That's a good thing. It k…