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Unknown Mozilla dev addon "Looking Glass 1.0.3" on browser

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Re: Unknown Mozilla dev addon "Looking Glass 1.0.3" on browser

#341

Post by thanatropism »

feelin_googley wrote: post #324
zie wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have fun in Lynx. that's probably the only browser that wouldn't do something like this. Well maybe Safari, not because Apple wouldn't, but because they just don't care enough about ad revenue. Chrome: They leech everything they can get away with, granted it goes only to Google, but you know it's just to feed their never-ending ad-revenue goal. MS: They bypassed IE only ads, and went on to build ads into the entire O…

The truth is that there have been other text-only browsers both before and after lynx. I have tried every one I could ever find, since the 1990s. Some of them seem to have been forgotten. IMO, whatever is in todays package collections is not a true representation of all text-only browsers ever written. Most times when someone cites "lynx", as is common on HN, I interpret this as a signal they are not too familiar wit…

Beside elinks, something newer?

Re: Unknown Mozilla dev addon "Looking Glass 1.0.3" on browser

#342

Post by takeda »

mynewtb wrote: post #199
teddyfrozevelt wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Going through your browser settings really is quite the hoop.

How are you supposed to do turn the defaults to a reasonable level of privacy without launching Firefox once though?

I remember it was asking if I want participate in studies when I installed FF for the first time.

Re: Unknown Mozilla dev addon "Looking Glass 1.0.3" on browser

#343

Post by heroprotagonist »

I don't remember if this is opt-in or not, but I do not have it in my Firefox. Maybe I just removed it myself immediately after first install, when I went through to update all of the privacy and other browser settings.

I agree that it seems like a crappy extension, and people should be upset about things being preloaded to their browser.

But there's a point here to be made, that if you're concerned about privacy at all today, you need to look at the settings of any software after you install it. It doesn't matter how much previous trust you have for the developers. This should just be default behavior so that any surprise is met immediately, and not after any damage it could perform has been done.

Re: Unknown Mozilla dev addon "Looking Glass 1.0.3" on browser

#344

Post by WhitneyLand »

skymt wrote: post #181
blauditore wrote: post #170

Many people seem to be shocked because Mozilla installed an add-on automatically. In my opinion, it doesn't really matter since the code is coming from Mozilla - they're building the whole browser, so they could introduce functionality anywhere. If someone distrusts their add-ons, why trust their browser at all? The main question is what behavior is being introduced. I haven't researched deeply, but apparently the ad…

Speaking for myself here, but I'm not concerned that Mozilla might push malware into Firefox installations. I'm concerned about the lack of judgement in pushing an extension with a vague, scary-sounding name and description simply for a cross-marketing tie-in, and I'm worried that it could have damaged the trust ordinary users have in Firefox.

I don’t see the harm in a good organization contributing lot of value to this world having a little fun.

Some of the comments are mentioning IT managers banning firefox, those will be the same IT managers doing all the other pennywise/pound foolish things that make you try not to work on their team in the first place.

Maybe it’s actually good to put something scary sounding in there to raise awareness. It could help people understand that scary phrases are not the most common sign of foul play. When the real hackers come for you, they usually dont look scary at all.

Re: Unknown Mozilla dev addon "Looking Glass 1.0.3" on browser

#345

Post by TooFastIndeed »

TheRealPomax wrote: post #301
UmmNope wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well it is - one could expect this sort of crap pushed by marketing/bizdev via management but the fact that Mozilla engineers actively collaborated on this is a sign of deep normative inadequacy among the people who are supposed to be the last line of defense against this sort of thing.

You seem to either not understand or ignore that even in a company like Mozilla, there are decisions made by marketing that end up having to be implemented by engineers. It might be a non-profit, but it's a non-profit corporation with salaried employees, not a loose assembly of people purely in it for the love of a browser. If the incredibly high up people say X needs to happen, you make X happen.

I understand it all too well, but when Mozilla is posing as a public benefit company with the "good of the Internet" as its mission this kind of stuff is inexcusable and should be called out all the louder.

Re: Unknown Mozilla dev addon "Looking Glass 1.0.3" on browser

#346

Post by scott_karana »

napsterbr wrote: post #166
edibleEnergy wrote: post #25

Somewhat tangential to this particular issue, but this is a good lesson for developers in why you should be dry and explicit in your writing. Sure `alert("FFFUUU WHY U NO WORK");` keeps you entertained for 5 minutes while you debug a problem but when that accidentally gets to prod...

I see you, but your example outlines a problem with the process/workflow, not with the developer.

GP meant the style of writing English, not code. Funny messages almost always end up causing problems at the end of the day.

Re: Unknown Mozilla dev addon "Looking Glass 1.0.3" on browser

#347

Post by TooFastIndeed »

callahad wrote: post #299
UmmNope wrote: post #211

Mozilla takes in about half a billion dollars per year, has anyone considered the consideration for which this money is being paid ?

That's FUD. Mozilla is a 501(c)3 non-profit, and our audited financial statements and IRS Form 990 can be found at https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/foundation/annualreport/

From the link you posted:

" The majority of Mozilla Corporation’s revenue is from royalties earned through Firefox web browser search partnerships and distribution deals around the world. Mozilla Corporation’s revenue and income support for CY 2016 was $506M, as compared to $414M in CY 2015. "

Let's assume that "browser search partnerships" is what google/yahoo paid for having their search engine be the default in the search bar - "distribution deals" sounds just the sort of thing this thread is concerned with.

So: half a billion figure - check, shady consideration for the money - check until proven otherwise. FUD you.

Re: Unknown Mozilla dev addon "Looking Glass 1.0.3" on browser

#348

Post by hutzlibu »

ubernostrum wrote: post #310
TAForObvReasons wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If this were the first incident, and they quickly backtracked on it, then maybe we can give them a pass. But this isn't the first case of somewhat shady behavior. Remember the "user-enhancing" sponsored tiles a few years ago? https://twitter.com/dherman76/status/433320156496789504 > Excited to share the launch of @mozilla @firefox Tiles program, the first of our user-enhancing programs The problem there wasn't just t…

There are things I don't agree with that Mozilla does, but I will stand up for that one. The idea behind the "tiles" was to try to figure out a way to do privacy-respecting ads. And if you look at how it actually worked... it was actually a really good plan for how that could happen. Mozilla's job is to find ways to push the web forward in ways that respect humans, and ads are, well, how the web mostly gets funded. S…

Maybe if that was actually the goal, it might have been a good thing. But all I received was marketing blabla to tell ads are enhancement.

And if Mozilla really are different, then they should communicate different - honest.

Re: Unknown Mozilla dev addon "Looking Glass 1.0.3" on browser

#349

Post by thanatropism »

hjek wrote: post #285
benbenolson wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What browser are you going to use instead?

Links2. http://links.twibright.com No, it doesn't show PDFs or videos, but does that belong in the browser anyway?

I wonder if Links2 or lynx can be ported as Chrome add-ons.

Re: Unknown Mozilla dev addon "Looking Glass 1.0.3" on browser

#350

Post by pavel_lishin »

WhitneyLand wrote: post #344
skymt wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking for myself here, but I'm not concerned that Mozilla might push malware into Firefox installations. I'm concerned about the lack of judgement in pushing an extension with a vague, scary-sounding name and description simply for a cross-marketing tie-in, and I'm worried that it could have damaged the trust ordinary users have in Firefox.

I don’t see the harm in a good organization contributing lot of value to this world having a little fun. Some of the comments are mentioning IT managers banning firefox, those will be the same IT managers doing all the other pennywise/pound foolish things that make you try not to work on their team in the first place. Maybe it’s actually good to put something scary sounding in there to raise awareness. It could help…

> I don’t see the harm in a good organization contributing lot of value to this world having a little fun.

One potential downside is that now people might not pay close attention to the installed addons. "Oh, must be some Mozilla thing", as GoldenDwarf quietly consumes user CPU cycles to mine cryptocurrency for someone else.

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