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Chrome killed my extension and won’t tell me why

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Re: Chrome killed my extension and won’t tell me why

#51

Post by danShumway »

dogma1138 wrote: post #35
danShumway wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this true? How would this be different than the Author's Guild negotiating ebook rates with libraries/Amazon? It seems like lots of industries have lobbying groups that represent multiple companies -- or is there an extra nuance here I'm missing?

Publishers need authors to make money, google doesn’t need extension developers.

> google doesn’t need extension developers.

If this were true, wouldn't that make it even less likely that an Extension Guild would fall foul of antitrust regulation?

Re: Chrome killed my extension and won’t tell me why

#52

Post by Tiltowait-- »

ThrustVectoring wrote: post #24
gwd wrote: post #12

What people seem to be missing is that this isn't a complaint -- it's a call to form effectively a union: Therefore, we are starting a group today for Chrome Extension developers to work together in check with CWS. It's not a technical support channel, nor a platform to get attention when CWS is unresponsive. It's a place for Chrome Extension developers to rally together and discuss improving the foundation we stand…

Note that Chrome Extension developers are not employees of Google, but rather disparate businesses, so it'll be difficult to both successfully put pressure on Google w.r.t. terms of business and not fall afoul of anti-trust laws.

Google has nothing to fear from anti-trust laws. They just got away scot-free with publicly colluding with NBC to...oh you mean the little guys would fall foul of anti-trust laws. Yeah that would be a problem.

Re: Chrome killed my extension and won’t tell me why

#53

Post by Tiltowait-- »

crazygringo wrote: post #2

It doesn't matter if you're dealing with a store run by Apple or Google (or presumably anyone else): the stories are all the same. Presumably because to make the economics work, review and approval are done by poorly trained contractors who don't have time to do a proper job and need to meet quotas. And with anything security related, there's an inherent bias toward not giving information on the exact violations beca…

I notice this a lot with tech companies - secret rules. They won't tell you what the rules are because they want to keep you dancing. Nobody knows where the borders are, so that gives the company a lot of power and leeway to ban anyone they don't like or that crosses them in any way. More than once, I've seen the "Nope, sorry. TOS! Hands are tied!" when a company dares speak out and gets cancelled.

Re: Chrome killed my extension and won’t tell me why

#54

Post by Tiltowait-- »

jennyyang wrote: post #15

This is the behavior of a monopolist, and Google needs to be broken up. Google and the various sub-entities get away with no customer support or completely inadequate support and they are a vital part of the Internet. If there were competition, then there's no way with Google not being able to answer urgent customer support tickets. Because they are a monopoly, they can get away with saving money on customer support.…

I remember back in the day, before Google went evil, getting a reply from an actual human with a name. How times have changed.

Re: Chrome killed my extension and won’t tell me why

#55

Post by Tiltowait-- »

LatteLazy wrote: post #19
jennyyang wrote: post #15

This is the behavior of a monopolist, and Google needs to be broken up. Google and the various sub-entities get away with no customer support or completely inadequate support and they are a vital part of the Internet. If there were competition, then there's no way with Google not being able to answer urgent customer support tickets. Because they are a monopoly, they can get away with saving money on customer support.…

So, I thought chrome was a loss making project, and the only reason it exists is because Google fund it for the data it generated and as part of their wider "use our stuff in exchange for your data" business model. So if you break up Google, chrome would have to cut its budget or stop existing. And either way, chrome extension Devs wouldn't be better supported than they are now would they? This is always my question…

"There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the notion that because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary to public interest. This strange doctrine is not supported by statute or common law. Neither individuals nor corporations have any right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back."

-- Robert Heinlein, 1939

Re: Chrome killed my extension and won’t tell me why

#56

Post by Tiltowait-- »

mikece wrote: post #41

Ironically, after complaining that Chrome Web Store killed their extension without saying why, the author doesn’t answer why either beyond “it was a mistake.” Pray tell: mistakenly hitting “deny,” mistakenly interpreting rules in an unfavorable way, someone marked the submission as “in their queue by accident and then forgot about it? I get that it was a mistake but it makes a difference whether it was a mistake of c…

You think Google told the reason beyond "it was a boo-boo"? Highly doubtful.

Re: Chrome killed my extension and won’t tell me why

#57

Post by sergeykish »

Dayshine wrote: post #49
sergeykish wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alternative! Software distributions - community maintained packages. As Arch Linux user if I found a software I like and want to help with distribution I can create package and push it to AUR [1]. This works as recipe - list of make and run dependencies, configuration, installation. Package is not safe and should be reviewed on installation. Popular package may be pulled to official repository [2], distributed in bin…

Then those users mess up dependencies, or simply forget to update the package for a few years. Then open source maintainers get spammed with angry users because of a poor user experience they can't control.

That is general problem with Open Source - people expect product and authors provide tools.

Free as "paid by data collection and advertisement" really messed peoples mind. Walking around, thinking "I am a product, my data is valuable". Not for me. The whole story is unfortunate. But there is also Pulse Audio and systemd with toxic responses on real problems, hard not to become angry.

Re: Chrome killed my extension and won’t tell me why

#58

Post by heavyset_go »

crazygringo wrote: post #42
yaktubi wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This seems like more a solution to open, transparent platforms. It’s a shame that we are going backwards: you used to be able to download software from the internet, direct from publishers with no limitations. Now everything’s all stupid requiring developers to beg the “powers that be” for access to distribute their work.

It's not stupid, though. Remember how when an older relative would complain about their computer slowing down, and you had to uninstall like 15 toolbars from their Internet Explorer? Protecting users from malware and spyware is a huge step forward. Most users can't protect themselves from it. Controlled distribution is a net good for society. The question is, how do we minimize the negatives it also brings along with…

That was vastly preferable to the current status quo where your older relative doesn't even complain about their computer slowing down, because they've been trained by 20 years of planned obsolescence and unupgradable hardware to just buy a new one when given the slightest hint of a problem.

Re: Chrome killed my extension and won’t tell me why

#59

Post by heavyset_go »

unethical_ban wrote: post #8
crispyporkbites wrote: post #5

This happened to an extension of mine as well, with 10k users. After repeatedly emailing them and getting back different snippets of the policy each time, I think there's some kind of AI or a very process-driven team that doesn't do any critical thinking handling each request. I've ignored them now and the extension is still up so let's see what happens. It's pretty clear that the walled garden approach will eventual…

This is why I like the hybrid approach that Android has for apps, at least as of 2020. That it has its walled garden, but it is possible to install from arbitrary sources (with sufficient warnings to users of those dangers). In iOS, you can't sideload at all.

The flow for installing apps outside of Google's approved method on Android breaks 3rd party app stores like F-Droid, such that automatic updates of apps installed via F-Droid, or updating several foreign apps at the same time, cannot work.

Re: Chrome killed my extension and won’t tell me why

#60

Post by LatteLazy »

Tiltowait-- wrote: post #55
LatteLazy wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, I thought chrome was a loss making project, and the only reason it exists is because Google fund it for the data it generated and as part of their wider "use our stuff in exchange for your data" business model. So if you break up Google, chrome would have to cut its budget or stop existing. And either way, chrome extension Devs wouldn't be better supported than they are now would they? This is always my question…

"There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the notion that because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary to public interest. This strange doctrine is not supported by statute or common law. Neither i…

That's not what I said. I just said chrome relies on Google for survival. No Google, no more chrome.
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