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JSON formatter Chrome plugin now closed and injecting adware

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Re: JSON formatter Chrome plugin now closed and injecting adware

#101

Post by benatkin »

xslvrxslwt wrote: post #89
drunkendog wrote: post #67

From the author on HN a couple years ago: > FWIW, and since a few of you probably use it… I own the JSON Formatter extension [0], which I created and open-sourced 12 years ago and have maintained [1] ever since, with 2 million users today. And I solemnly swear that I will never add any code that sends any data anywhere, nor let it fall into the hands of anyone else who would. I’ve been emailed several tempting cash o…

Good for him.

If he was doing what he said in the README, perhaps. But the sort of monetization he's doing is a lot slimier than that. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47724010

Re: JSON formatter Chrome plugin now closed and injecting adware

#102

Post by insin »

This was added in January:

https://github.com/callumlocke/json-formatter/commit/caa213d...

Someone on Twitter noticed it pretty quickly, considering:

https://twitter.com/devinsays/status/2012195612586914143?mx=...

Extensions which ask for all URLs should really be subjected to more thorough reviews.

Re: JSON formatter Chrome plugin now closed and injecting adware

#103

Post by grishka »

jimrandomh wrote: post #60

I think the main problem here is the ideology of software updating. Updates represent a tradeoff: On one hand there might be security vulnerabilities that need an update to fix, and developers don't want to receive bug reports or maintain server infrastructure for obsolete versions. On the other hand, the developer might make decisions users don't want, or turn even temporarily (as in a supply chain attack) or perman…

For me, the solution is simple: anything you download and run locally should not auto-update ever, period. Installing an update (or refusing one) should always be a conscious user action. Otherwise it's just a socially-accepted RCE backdoor.

Re: JSON formatter Chrome plugin now closed and injecting adware

#104

Post by nreece »

pnw wrote: post #82

They responded on the Chrome store. Hey William, thanks for flagging this! We were experimenting with analytics to help us identify crashes and improve stability. We've rolled this back in v2.1.17, which is now live and being rolled out. Going forward, we'll ensure any analytics collection is clearly disclosed. Thanks again! https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/json-formatter/gpmo...

That is not the same extension OP is referencing/discussing: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/json-formatter/bcji...

Re: JSON formatter Chrome plugin now closed and injecting adware

#105

Post by lofaszvanitt »

drunkendog wrote: post #67

From the author on HN a couple years ago: > FWIW, and since a few of you probably use it… I own the JSON Formatter extension [0], which I created and open-sourced 12 years ago and have maintained [1] ever since, with 2 million users today. And I solemnly swear that I will never add any code that sends any data anywhere, nor let it fall into the hands of anyone else who would. I’ve been emailed several tempting cash o…

That was the sales pitch. And it worked.

Well, all the big tech corps done the same. Nothing to see here. OSS needs proper funding infrastructure. Which all the big players shit on. So, I can't judge him on that. His work, his time.

Re: JSON formatter Chrome plugin now closed and injecting adware

#107

Post by oefrha »

lofaszvanitt wrote: post #105
drunkendog wrote: post #67

From the author on HN a couple years ago: > FWIW, and since a few of you probably use it… I own the JSON Formatter extension [0], which I created and open-sourced 12 years ago and have maintained [1] ever since, with 2 million users today. And I solemnly swear that I will never add any code that sends any data anywhere, nor let it fall into the hands of anyone else who would. I’ve been emailed several tempting cash o…

That was the sales pitch. And it worked. Well, all the big tech corps done the same. Nothing to see here. OSS needs proper funding infrastructure. Which all the big players shit on. So, I can't judge him on that. His work, his time.

I’ve made quite popular FOSS dev tools and FOSS gaming companion tools. I don’t nag for donations in any case. Rather ironically, I found that dev tools generated close to zero donations while gaming companion tools generated decent donations (still nowhere close to time I put in if I go by consulting rate, but that wasn’t the goal). Devs just take other devs’ free work for granted. And bitch the most when you try to make money off free work too (not that I ever added or will add ads to any of my hobby work).

Re: JSON formatter Chrome plugin now closed and injecting adware

#108

Post by IncreasePosts »

arcanemachiner wrote: post #81
drunkendog wrote: post #67

From the author on HN a couple years ago: > FWIW, and since a few of you probably use it… I own the JSON Formatter extension [0], which I created and open-sourced 12 years ago and have maintained [1] ever since, with 2 million users today. And I solemnly swear that I will never add any code that sends any data anywhere, nor let it fall into the hands of anyone else who would. I’ve been emailed several tempting cash o…

You either die a hero, or live long enough to become a villain.

Or he just got hacked

Re: JSON formatter Chrome plugin now closed and injecting adware

#109

Post by beej71 »

I use FF, but it seems like something Claude should be able to whip up... There we go. Took two attempts, but I basically told it to make something like FF's JSON formatter, and it did.

I won't share it because I'm sure it leaves much to be desired (and you can recreate it in 2 minutes), but it makes me wonder how much room there is for rugpulls like this when people can just replace the tech with something that doesn't have adrot.

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