PSA: Firefox addons/extensions

Until Mozilla solve their screwup, you can go to about:config and change xpinstall.signatures.required to false. Your extensions will instantly reappear in most versions of Firefox.

If anyone was using this time to switch browser..

Microsoft recently joined forces with Chromium, their test browser is amazing.. Its got all the best bits of chrome and edge mixed in to one.

https://www.microsoftedgeinsider.co...OFvunV6ePjd1j9wHqzf5uxEdOPI9QD0kyx52VrOwCOS7Y

Just what the web needs - even more homogenisation, centralisation and imbalance. We're almost back to IE days where devs only bother to make sure sites work in $(popular_browser) rather than just code to actual standards, because 'everyone just uses that'. Mozilla/Firefox is now the only real 'other' engine after MS gave up the EdgeHTML ghost. People should be piling back to Mozilla to keep the web alive and open, not adding +1 to the Webkit/Blink/Chromium bandwagon.
 
If anyone was using this time to switch browser..

Microsoft recently joined forces with Chromium, their test browser is amazing.. Its got all the best bits of chrome and edge mixed in to one.

https://www.microsoftedgeinsider.co...OFvunV6ePjd1j9wHqzf5uxEdOPI9QD0kyx52VrOwCOS7Y

Does it handle GPU acceleration like Edge does now or more like chrome does? I've used Opera, Chrome and Vivaldi and and they all fall on their **** WRT to GPU acceleration compared to Edge, Firefox is a good second, but Edge just works.

Edit: Touch is better on edge too, but I've not tried chrome on my tablet in ages due to limited RAM.
 
Update: Mozilla have pushed an interim fix, using the 'Firefox Studies' mechanism to push the fix to all users as a temporary patch. If you have Studies disabled (as I do for privacy reasons), just enable them and check about:studies until - a few minutes later - the hotfix shows up and your extensions reappear. You can then disable Studies again. They will release a full Firefox update to address this issue - without need for the Studies workaround - in due course.
 
In the meantime use Chrome or only visit safe websites

I prefer Opera over Chrome as my 2nd browser.

IE is obsolete these days, and I would say that Edge is just about equally obsolete too. Microsoft left it too long imo and missed the boat. Remember MS didn't introduce tabbed browsing or pop-up blocker until IE7's release in late 2006. Firefox had both features when Netscape became Mozilla in 2002 and Opera had tabbed browsing since 2000.
 
Update: Mozilla have pushed an interim fix, using the 'Firefox Studies' mechanism to push the fix to all users as a temporary patch. If you have Studies disabled (as I do for privacy reasons), just enable them and check about:studies until - a few minutes later - the hotfix shows up and your extensions reappear. You can then disable Studies again. They will release a full Firefox update to address this issue - without need for the Studies workaround - in due course.

Just done that and got my extensions back - What a FUBAR by Mozilla there, the 2nd time they've done this!
 
I prefer Opera over Chrome as my 2nd browser.

IE is obsolete these days, and I would say that Edge is just about equally obsolete too. Microsoft left it too long imo and missed the boat. Remember MS didn't introduce tabbed browsing or pop-up blocker until IE7's release in late 2006. Firefox had both features when Netscape became Mozilla in 2002 and Opera had tabbed browsing since 2000.
Edge is surprisingly good for a basic browser, just remember to install Ublock Origin on it. I agree though, Opera is my #1/2 depending on what I want, I only really switched off it and onto FF because it handles GPU acceleration better than Opera.
 
Just done that and got my extensions back - What a FUBAR by Mozilla there, the 2nd time they've done this!

Quite. Hopefully someone got the appropriate rollocking for this one... No excuses really!

Edge is surprisingly good for a basic browser, just remember to install Ublock Origin on it. I agree though, Opera is my #1/2 depending on what I want, I only really switched off it and onto FF because it handles GPU acceleration better than Opera.

Opera is owned by the Chinese now. Not that I'm the first to jump on the 'zomg Chineses' bandwagon (I'd happily buy Huawei for example), but it's enough to make me choose any one of the myriad Chromium/Blink clones other than that one. Vivaldi is made by the people who made Opera (and then sold it to the Chinese) and is basically an updated clone. Try that one if you ever veer from FF.
 
Until Mozilla solve their screwup, you can go to about:config and change xpinstall.signatures.required to false. Your extensions will instantly reappear in most versions of Firefox.



Just what the web needs - even more homogenisation, centralisation and imbalance. We're almost back to IE days where devs only bother to make sure sites work in $(popular_browser) rather than just code to actual standards, because 'everyone just uses that'. Mozilla/Firefox is now the only real 'other' engine after MS gave up the EdgeHTML ghost. People should be piling back to Mozilla to keep the web alive and open, not adding +1 to the Webkit/Blink/Chromium bandwagon.


As a web developer myself i see this as a huge plus.. It means we may finally be killing off IE.. I have no idea what your getting at.
 
Or enable "Allow firefox to install and run studies" in options > privacy. It's a quick bodge to get a hotfix through, just disable it again once extensions get enabled

edit: ok just seen someone else just said this
 
As a web developer myself i see this as a huge plus.. It means we may finally be killing off IE.. I have no idea what your getting at.

Are you young? Genuine question, not an insult. Do you not remember how sites were arbitrarily and lazily coded to work only in IE and everyone else just had to put up with badly rendered, broken pages because 'Well you should just use IE like everyone else, and to hell with standards'? Many devs take this attitude today and only test things in Chrome, because 'everyone uses it'. Open standards for the web were implemented for a very good reason, and Google doesn't follow them. You can make things to the standard or you can make them for Chrome - not necessarily the same thing, and it's the end user who loses out. One ought to be able to open any given page and have it behave the exact same way in Chrome on Windows, Firefox on Linux or Midori on FreeBSD.

Google already takes egregious liberties with open standards, including purposefully using deprecated libraries for YouTube so that only Chrome can load it quickly, and all non-Chromium browsers feel slow to end users to prompt them to switch. They already have far too much control over the web and, while they have made some positive contributions to standards they've flagrantly peed in the face of others and - ultimately - the end user and the open internet.

Losing yet more competition in the browser engine space towards the behemoth of a Chromium/Blink-only internet is a Very Bad Thing. We used to have a decent range of open engines, and now we're down to two. That's not positive progress. It worries me that you can't see this if you're a web developer. Maybe it's all that Southport air. ;) Read up some of the pieces by EFF, Mozilla, W3C and others on the matter if you're interested.
 
Just done that and got my extensions back - What a FUBAR by Mozilla there, the 2nd time they've done this!

A whole two times! :p

It amazes me that people are willing to let Microsoft and other massive corps slip through the cracks with tolerance when they royally mess up countless times with updates. Yet Mozilla does it twice and all hell breaks loose and people are considering switching browsers even though a fix was released within 6 hours?
 
Are you young? Genuine question, not an insult. Do you not remember how sites were arbitrarily and lazily coded to work only in IE and everyone else just had to put up with badly rendered, broken pages because 'Well you should just use IE like everyone else, and to hell with standards'? Many devs take this attitude today and only test things in Chrome, because 'everyone uses it'. Open standards for the web were implemented for a very good reason, and Google doesn't follow them. You can make things to the standard or you can make them for Chrome - not necessarily the same thing, and it's the end user who loses out. One ought to be able to open any given page and have it behave the exact same way in Chrome on Windows, Firefox on Linux or Midori on FreeBSD.

Google already takes egregious liberties with open standards, including purposefully using deprecated libraries for YouTube so that only Chrome can load it quickly, and all non-Chromium browsers feel slow to end users to prompt them to switch. They already have far too much control over the web and, while they have made some positive contributions to standards they've flagrantly peed in the face of others and - ultimately - the end user and the open internet.

Losing yet more competition in the browser engine space towards the behemoth of a Chromium/Blink-only internet is a Very Bad Thing. We used to have a decent range of open engines, and now we're down to two. That's not positive progress. It worries me that you can't see this if you're a web developer. Maybe it's all that Southport air. ;) Read up some of the pieces by EFF, Mozilla, W3C and others on the matter if you're interested.

Im 30 next week, aye i remember it was a pain in the arse.. and i mostly agree with the points you make, there isn't much i can say in response to it because you are right...

I'll be honest, you seem to have a far wider range of knowledge on the subject, the only thing i look at is Edge will soon have all the dev-tools chrome supports, lighthouse audits, voice support etc.. and that for me is just awesome.
 
Since ff and chrome blocked dissenter I’ve moved to brave. Free speech trumps all.

Dissenter.com? If yes both those browsers work with it, and the extension for ff at least is click and install.

Opera is owned by the Chinese now. Not that I'm the first to jump on the 'zomg Chineses' bandwagon (I'd happily buy Huawei for example), but it's enough to make me choose any one of the myriad Chromium/Blink clones other than that one. Vivaldi is made by the people who made Opera (and then sold it to the Chinese) and is basically an updated clone. Try that one if you ever veer from FF.

Yea I know, I've got vivaldi too, but i prefer opera for some reason :confused:
 
A whole two times! :p

It amazes me that people are willing to let Microsoft and other massive corps slip through the cracks with tolerance when they royally mess up countless times with updates. Yet Mozilla does it twice and all hell breaks loose and people are considering switching browsers even though a fix was released within 6 hours?

I've never had an issue with a Chrome update personally. This is a pretty stupid mistake to make though, that's what's worrying.

It's a shame as I've literally been using Firefox on my Pixel 3 for about a month or so now (so I could use add-ons like uBlock & Greasemonkey) so this has put me off.

Might give Kiwi browser a go seeing as that supports extensions now. I tried Brave but found that pages take ages to render (assume it's their adblock and tracking protection?).

Also funny how one of the suggested fixes to this mess is to enable Studies, you know, that thing that allows content to be pushed to your browser without your consent.
 
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