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Thread: Firefox changing add-ons over to WebExtensions

  1. #1

    Firefox changing add-ons over to WebExtensions

    If you have Firefox and don't follow every update and "new innovation" then you may not know about this, if you use add-ons, they may (probably won't work once/if you update to Firefox 57 in November. I have a handful, but I care about 1, Classic Theme Restorer.... I can't stand that Chrome ripoff version of Firefox.

    It's been talked about for awhile, but now it's happening.

    Here's some Official info from them......

    https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb...gy-modernizing

    Firefox add-on technology is modernizing

    Add-ons allow you to add extra features and functionality to Firefox, modify the Firefox user interface and change its appearance. There are several types of add-ons but extensions are the most common. Anyone can create an extension and make it available for download.
    What's happening?

    In the past, extensions often stopped working each time a new version of Firefox was released, because developers had to update them every six weeks to keep them compatible. Since extensions could also modify Firefox internal code directly, it was possible for bad actors to include malicious code in an innocent-looking extension.

    To address these issues, and as part of broader efforts to modernize Firefox as a whole, we’ve transitioned to a new framework for developing Firefox extensions. Outside of rare instances, extensions created with the new standard won’t break in new Firefox releases. You can still personalize Firefox with extensions the same way you do now, except they won’t break in new Firefox releases.
    Note: Starting in Firefox 57, which will be released in November 2017, only extensions built with this new technology will work in Firefox. These are indicated by the "Compatible with Firefox 57+" label on addons.mozilla.org (AMO). Extensions built with the old technology are labeled "Legacy" in the Add-on Manager (about:addons) tab.
    FJB



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  3. #2
    Have you tried Brave?

    Mozilla Joins George Soros’s Efforts In Launching A Strike Against “Fake News”

    http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...93Fake-News%94
    "He's talkin' to his gut like it's a person!!" -me
    "dumpster diving isn't professional." - angelatc
    "You don't need a medical degree to spot obvious bullshit, that's actually a separate skill." -Scott Adams
    "When you are divided, and angry, and controlled, you target those 'different' from you, not those responsible [controllers]" -Q

    "Each of us must choose which course of action we should take: education, conventional political action, or even peaceful civil disobedience to bring about necessary changes. But let it not be said that we did nothing." - Ron Paul

    "Paul said "the wave of the future" is a coalition of anti-authoritarian progressive Democrats and libertarian Republicans in Congress opposed to domestic surveillance, opposed to starting new wars and in favor of ending the so-called War on Drugs."

  4. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by dannno View Post
    Have you tried Brave?

    Mozilla Joins George Soros’s Efforts In Launching A Strike Against “Fake News”

    http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...93Fake-News%94
    Thanks for the reference, downloading, mine as well start weaning myself off FF, have been with them since 2002, they didn't even have a version 1, yet.... just like all people in some kind of power they start off as freedom-fighters and as they grow, turn into self-righteous dictators.... political correctness is like a cancer.
    FJB

  5. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Mach View Post
    Thanks for the reference, downloading, mine as well start weaning myself off FF, have been with them since 2002, they didn't even have a version 1, yet.... just like all people in some kind of power they start off as freedom-fighters and as they grow, turn into self-righteous dictators.... political correctness is like a cancer.
    I quit them when they ousted the poor bastard whodonated $100 to a santictity of marriage cause. Brave keeps going wonky on me. But every now and then I DL it again.

  6. #5
    dupe
    Last edited by kahless; 10-29-2017 at 11:17 AM.

  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Mach View Post
    If you have Firefox and don't follow every update and "new innovation" then you may not know about this, if you use add-ons, they may (probably won't work once/if you update to Firefox 57 in November. I have a handful, but I care about 1, Classic Theme Restorer.... I can't stand that Chrome ripoff version of Firefox.

    It's been talked about for awhile, but now it's happening.

    Here's some Official info from them......

    https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb...gy-modernizing
    For general browsing 57 is fast but I use allot of the legacy add-ons for web development so I had to switch to the Firefox fork, Palemoon to maintain access to them. I just wish they would copy all the addons to their site instead of linking to them since eventually Mozilla will probably delete all the old add-ons.

    If you use Firebug and Firebug add-ons they say the Firefox Developer Edition can replace it. But I found it slow and lacking, so pretty much sticking with Palemoon for now.

  8. #7
    Opera and Vivaldi are both quality browsers. Perhaps chrome for backup, with certain support, but never firefox - at least not for me.

    Gulag Chief:
    "Article 58-1a, twenty five years... What did you get it for?"
    Gulag Prisoner: "For nothing at all."
    Gulag Chief: "You're lying... The sentence for nothing at all is 10 years"



  9. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by angelatc View Post
    I quit them when they ousted the poor bastard whodonated $100 to a santictity of marriage cause. Brave keeps going wonky on me. But every now and then I DL it again.
    Brave was doing ok, until I Imported my bookmarks from FF, now it keeps freezing up.... probably some kind of info being bled from bookmarks.... spies everywhere.

    Quote Originally Posted by kahless View Post
    For general browsing 57 is fast but I use allot of the legacy add-ons for web development so I had to switch to the Firefox fork, Palemoon to maintain access to them. I just wish they would copy all the addons to their site instead of linking to them since eventually Mozilla will probably delete all the old add-ons.

    If you use Firebug and Firebug add-ons they say the Firefox Developer Edition can replace it. But I found it slow and lacking, so pretty much sticking with Palemoon for now.
    Have been reading around and Palemoon was another one I was going to check out.

    I have so much on this FF, that it's kind of like moving to a new house, chaotic.
    FJB



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  11. #9
    Will that improve or degrade already questionable security of firefox add ons?




    Browser Extensions Are a Privacy Nightmare: Stop Using So Many of Them

    by Chris Hoffman on August 14th, 2017

    Browser extensions are much more dangerous than most people realize. These small tools often have access to everything you do online, so they can capture your passwords, track your web browsing, insert advertisements into web pages you visit, and more. Popular browser extensions are often sold to shady companies or hijacked, and automatic updates can turn them into malware.

    We’ve written about how your browser extensions are spying on you in the past, but this problem hasn’t improved. There’s still a constant stream of extensions going bad.

    Why Browser Extensions Are So Dangerous

    RELATED ARTICLE

    Why Do Chrome Extensions Need “All Your Data on the Websites You Visit”?


    Browser extensions run in your web browser, and they often require the ability to read or change everything on web pages you visit.

    If an extension has access to all the web pages you visit, it can do practically anything. It could function as a keylogger to capture your passwords and credit card details, insert advertisements into the pages you view, redirect your search traffic elsewhere, track everything you do online—or all these things. If an extension needs to scan your for receipts or other small things, it probably has permission to scan your email for everything—which is extremely dangerous.
    That doesn’t mean that every extension is doing these things, but they can—and that should make you very, very wary.
    Modern web browsers like Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge have a permission system for extensions, but many extensions require access to everything so they can work properly. Even an extension that just requires access to one website could be dangerous, however. For example, an extension that modifies Google.com in some way will require access to everything on Google.com, and therefore have access to your Google account—including your email.
    These aren’t just cute, harmless little tools. They’re tiny programs with a huge level of access to your web browser, and that makes them dangerous. Even an extension that only does a minor thing to web pages you visit may require access to everything you do in your web browser.
    How Safe Extensions Can Transform Into Malware



    Modern web browsers like Google Chrome automatically update your installed browser extensions. If an extension requires new permissions, it will temporarily be deactivated until you allow it. But, otherwise, the new version of the extension will run with all the same permissions the previous version did. This leads to problems.
    In August 2017, the very popular and widely recommended Web Developer extension for Chrome was hijacked. The developer fell for a phishing attack, and the attacker uploaded a new version of the extension that inserted more advertisements into web pages. Over a million people who trusted the developer of this popular extension ended up getting the infected extension. As this is an extension for web developers, the attack could have been a lot worse—it doesn’t appear that the infected extension functioned as a keylogger, for example.

    In many other situations, someone develops an extension that gains a large amount of users, but doesn’t necessarily make any money. That developer is approached by a company that will pay a large amount of money to purchase the extension. If the developer accepts the purchase, the new company modifies the extension to insert advertisements and tracking, uploads it to the Chrome Web Store as an update, and all the existing users are now using the new company’s extension—with no warning.

    This happened to Particle for YouTube, a popular extension for customizing YouTube, in July 2017. The same thing has happened to many other extensions in the past. Chrome extension developers have claimed they constantly receive offers to buy their extensions. The developers of the Honey extension with over 700,000 users once ran an “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit, detailing the kind of offers they often receive.

    In addition to the hijacking and sale of extensions, it’s also possible that an extension is just bad news, and secretly tracks you when you install it in the first place.
    https://www.howtogeek.com/188346/why...tect-yourself/





    Related

    Defending against Firefox extensions


    https://www.computerworld.com/articl...py-on-you.html

  12. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by dannno View Post
    Have you tried Brave?
    I did recently, but ended up un-installing it as it did not seem ready for primetime yet. It is possible it was due to me not investing enough time to get used to it.

    To my surprise, I'm becoming a fan of IE lately.. with an optimistic assumption that microsoft developers would not be too ambitious to make it too intrusive for marketing crapware



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