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Gorhill pulls uBlock Origin Lite from Firefox store

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Re: Gorhill pulls uBlock Origin Lite from Firefox store

#191

Post by EasyMark »

sunaookami wrote: post #75

It's very annoying you have to submit your extension to gatekeepers to even distribute them to normal users. As gorhill said on GitHub it took days for a self-hosted version to be approved - that's unacceptable. Imagine you would need approval from Microsoft to distribute software. Not even Android is this closed. Enforcing signatures and removing XUL were the worst things Mozilla has ever done. And yes, Google does…

What?You can install extensions in Firefox easily without going through the Firefox extension store. XUL had to go.

Re: Gorhill pulls uBlock Origin Lite from Firefox store

#192

Post by EasyMark »

lol768 wrote: post #52

Why does this extension even exist on AMO? The article says it's the "Lite/Manifest v3 version" - why would you ever install the inferior edition meant for legacy browsers, instead of the one that blocks ads properly that's meant for Firefox?

It’s faster and has less security implications. I accept that UBO is more powerful even if it has a slightly less secure footprint, but that’s a decision, others may choose for more security per V3

Re: Gorhill pulls uBlock Origin Lite from Firefox store

#193

Post by politelemon »

4bpp wrote: post #53

If I understand the timeline correctly here, it seems that gorhill overreacted, and I say that as someone who is usually harshly critical of everything Mozilla has done in the past 5+ years. It's hardly practical for Mozilla to manually review every add-on revision for safety in a timely manner, so they had the choice between automation and delays that would make add-on development a slog; automation though inevitabl…

I don't think the author has overreacted, but your first paragraph doesn't seem to match the timeline, so maybe the article didn't portray it correctly. For a better understanding have a look at the Github issue: https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBOL-home/issues/197

It was not an automated review, it was a manual review, poorly done. The author then explains that they don't want to deal with the stress (there are also some extra explanations of what's involved in the AMO review process), and also that they left a somewhat harmful version of the plugin up. Not wanting to deal with stress is a perfectly understandable reaction.

Re: Gorhill pulls uBlock Origin Lite from Firefox store

#194

Post by politelemon »

ilrwbwrkhv wrote: post #171
open-paren wrote: post #117

I manage a medium-sized browser extension at work. We also offer(ed) it on Firefox. But I have spent the past year struggling to get back into Mozilla store after a manual review. As far as I can tell, there are maybe two reviewers that are based in Europe (Romania?). The turn around time is long when I am in the US, and it has been rife with this same kind of "simple mistake" that takes 2 weeks to resolve. "You need…

That's not just mozilla. Google's review team all are in India and they cannot write clear English. It's a mess.

Also Apple and Meta. It's awful dealing with infallible gatekeepers.

Re: Gorhill pulls uBlock Origin Lite from Firefox store

#195

Post by EasyMark »

trustno2 wrote: post #178
lol768 wrote: post #52

Why does this extension even exist on AMO? The article says it's the "Lite/Manifest v3 version" - why would you ever install the inferior edition meant for legacy browsers, instead of the one that blocks ads properly that's meant for Firefox?

manifest v3 is actually not a bad idea at all. it's more efficient, more private.

It’s bad though in that it reduces your power over your browsing experience. We should get a choice on that. uBO is a good actor and I trust them. Also good crippled storage for lists in v3 while Firefox did not. Clearly it’s to limit size of Adblock lists on google’s part to make the adblockers more irrelevant and in their interest to put as many ads in your face as possible.

Re: Gorhill pulls uBlock Origin Lite from Firefox store

#196

Post by shadowgovt »

munch117 wrote: post #114
yojo wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it’s reasonable to expect that one of Firefox’s most popular extension publishers gets a higher tier of review service. Gorhill (and other top extension devs) are providing real value to Firefox, and have demonstrated good behavior for years. This doesn’t mean they should get to publish whatever they want, but if a reviewer is about to reject a high profile plugin, they should get a second set of eyes on it.…

But this is not about a high profile plugin. The high profile plugin is "uBlock Origin", and this is about "uBlock Origin Lite", which is a big thing for Chrome, but not for Firefox. Why would anyone want to use uBOL, when they have the option to use uBO? Perhaps Mozilla does have a higher tier of review, but it's for specific plugins, not for specific authors.

If it is, indeed, the case that they don't bump the entire account to a higher tier of service if one of their products justifies it, they've fundamentally conflated the technology with the humanity of the system and this is a predictable consequence.

They're the browser with 2% market share.

They're lucky he didn't also pull uBlock Origin because he felt insulted and let users figure it out. He doesn't owe Mozilla their tent-pole of "We make it harder for third-parties to track you", the tent-pole he set up for them for free.

Re: Gorhill pulls uBlock Origin Lite from Firefox store

#197

Post by neilv »

Gorhill's full uBlock Origin might be the only remaining selling point for Firefox.

With the outrageous sum of money that the Mozilla top executive was recently taking for themself, they could've instead staffed an entire team of first-rate people, with the sole mission of doing whatever Mr. Gorhill needed.

Re: Gorhill pulls uBlock Origin Lite from Firefox store

#198

Post by yojo »

munch117 wrote: post #114
yojo wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it’s reasonable to expect that one of Firefox’s most popular extension publishers gets a higher tier of review service. Gorhill (and other top extension devs) are providing real value to Firefox, and have demonstrated good behavior for years. This doesn’t mean they should get to publish whatever they want, but if a reviewer is about to reject a high profile plugin, they should get a second set of eyes on it.…

But this is not about a high profile plugin. The high profile plugin is "uBlock Origin", and this is about "uBlock Origin Lite", which is a big thing for Chrome, but not for Firefox. Why would anyone want to use uBOL, when they have the option to use uBO? Perhaps Mozilla does have a higher tier of review, but it's for specific plugins, not for specific authors.

Generally, anything published by the guy who maintains your most-installed plugin is by definition high profile. That’s why we’re talking about this case on HN.

If Mozilla is providing tiered support by plugin rather than publisher, this latest kerfuffle is evidence that they should reconsider the approach. But if I were betting, I’d guess there’s no one at Mozilla whose job responsibilities include keeping their marquee plugin authors happy.

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