8 ms·

Has the release happened yet that removed the ability to use unsigned extensions? I think this version is no longer safe to upgrade to if you want to keep that

by gdulli 11y ago

Has the release happened yet that removed the ability to use unsigned extensions? I think this version is no longer safe to upgrade to if you want to keep that ability. As I understand it the behavior can't be disabled with a setting.

rahiel 11y ago
It will block unsigned extensions by default in 43, but you can disable it: set xpinstall.signatures.required to false in about:config. This option will be removed in 44. (https://wiki.mozilla.org/Add-ons/Extension_Signing#Timeline https://wiki.mozilla.org/Add-ons/Extension_Signing#Timeline)
- pervycreeper 11y ago
  But what does this mean for my precious tree-style tabs?
  - sp332 11y ago
    This is answered in GP's link. You should read it. "The Developer Edition and Nightly versions of Firefox will have a setting to disable signature enforcement. There will also be special unbranded versions of Release and Beta that will have this setting, so that add-on developers can work on their add-ons without having to sign every build."
  - wila 11y ago
    While you can wait until it breaks and then switch to the developer version, it is just delay of execution. For my main browser that has all the plugins I used to appreciate in Firefox I switched to Pale Moon [1]. On other machines I continue to use Firefox. Very happy with Pale Moon, works perfect -including all my old plugins- and I'm no longer afraid that features I depend on will stop working because the mozilla dev's decided to try and change firefox into chrome. [1] http://www.palemoon.org http://www.palemoon.org
    - Nadya 11y ago
      Quick note: Pale Moon removed Tab Groups because it was unpopular. The add-on meant to replace it is hacky/buggy/fails to restore tabs. If your workflow depends heavily on tab groups, Pale Moon is not the answer. If you don't care for tab groups - my experiences with Pale Moon were great! I can imagine it's remained as awesome since I stopped using it (which is when they removed tab groups...) E: Also it's totally possible the add-on has been fixed. But I don't remember anyone maintaining it, it was just segmented away from the browser and made into an add-on without development/maintenance. It's possible that has changed and the above issue is no longer relevant.
      - wila 11y ago
        Actually the ability to be able to continue to use tab groups was one of the main reasons I changed over to Pale Moon about a month ago. Firefox has plans to remove tab groups. [1] Haven't had any issue with it so far, but I might be using tab groups in another way as you or as you say they might have ironed out the issues you bumped into. You are correct that tab groups is offered as an add-on. Had no problem installing it, it even kept all the tabs I had in tab groups in Firefox. For me the transition from Firefox to Pale Moon was very smooth. [1] http://www.ghacks.net/2015/11/08/mozilla-to-remove-tab-groups-panorama-in-firefox-45/ http://www.ghacks.net/2015/11/08/mozilla-to-remove-tab-group...
        Nadya 11y ago
        Are your tab groups remembered after a browser crash? YouTube has a tendency of crashing Firefox/FF forks (incl. Waterfox and Pale Moon). I'm forced to restart maybe once every other or every third week after YouTube hangs the browser. When this happens I lose all of my tabs which is completely unacceptable for me. Tabs were also lost when updating the browser which was the straw that broke the camel's back and caused me to ditch Pale Moon and return to Firefox. If those two issues have been fixed I'd likely very quickly switch back to Pale Moon. As an aside, I'm aware FF is removing them as well in the near future. I've already frozen myself on FF 40 for other reasons. Before anyone mentions - I'm aware of the potential security risks of doing so and have decided given my internet browsing habits it is very low risk. Low enough that I don't even consider publicly announcing my use of FF40 to be a significant security threat.
  - heinrich5991 11y ago
    The Tree Style Tab I have was installed via Mozilla's extension repository, which is automatically signed. It should™ continue working.
    - pervycreeper 11y ago
      "Tab Tree"?
      - heinrich5991 11y ago
        I'm talking about this extension: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tree-style-tab/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tree-style-ta...
        pervycreeper 11y ago
        That one gets disabled with the new update, I believe.
        heinrich5991 11y ago
        I don't think so, it's hosted on AMO, these addons get signed automatically. I'm currently running Firefox 43 on Arch Linux: $ pacman -Q firefox firefox 43.0-1 with Tree Style Tab 0.16.something from AMO and have `xpinstall.signatures.required` set to `true` (the default, I haven't changed anything).
        pervycreeper 11y ago
        Hm. Seems to be signed under Linux, but not on Windows.
        datalist 11y ago
        Why would you believe so? That extension has been clearly signed.
silverwind 11y ago
That's coming in 44 in 6 weeks: > Firefox 44: Release and Beta versions of Firefox will not allow unsigned extensions to be installed, with no override.
- vocatus_gate 11y ago
  Sigh. Why are they doing this? It's condescending and insulting. "No, you're too stupid to be allowed to install what you want to."
  - mccr8 11y ago
    Firefox is changing this because malware injects itself into Firefox using this mechanism. Power users who really want to install unsigned addons can switch to the Developer Edition.
    - eitland 11y ago
      I have cleaned my share of malware infections and I can't think of one were the attack vector seemed to be FF. Now we seem to be nerfing the beast because someone might do stupid things.
      - zackboe 11y ago
        I worked in university IT for a year, focused on student's personal machines. A good majority of malware we experienced installed extensions and reconfigured browser preferences. I understand why Mozilla and Google have done similar things to restrict extension installation, but can't help but think there has to be a better way for users who know what they're doing.
      - azakai 11y ago
        You may not have seen one yourself, but browser vendors have data on this: there is a lot of malware out there that infects browsers. Browsers are putting a lot of effort into preventing this, they wouldn't do it if they didn't have clear information showing the problem was serious.

by gdulli 11y ago

rahiel 11y ago

It will block unsigned extensions by default in 43, but you can disable it: set xpinstall.signatures.required to false in about:config. This option will be removed in 44. (https://wiki.mozilla.org/Add-ons/Extension_Signing#Timeline https://wiki.mozilla.org/Add-ons/Extension_Signing#Timeline)

pervycreeper 11y ago
But what does this mean for my precious tree-style tabs?
- sp332 11y ago
  This is answered in GP's link. You should read it. "The Developer Edition and Nightly versions of Firefox will have a setting to disable signature enforcement. There will also be special unbranded versions of Release and Beta that will have this setting, so that add-on developers can work on their add-ons without having to sign every build."
- wila 11y ago
  While you can wait until it breaks and then switch to the developer version, it is just delay of execution. For my main browser that has all the plugins I used to appreciate in Firefox I switched to Pale Moon [1]. On other machines I continue to use Firefox. Very happy with Pale Moon, works perfect -including all my old plugins- and I'm no longer afraid that features I depend on will stop working because the mozilla dev's decided to try and change firefox into chrome. [1] http://www.palemoon.org http://www.palemoon.org
  - Nadya 11y ago
    Quick note: Pale Moon removed Tab Groups because it was unpopular. The add-on meant to replace it is hacky/buggy/fails to restore tabs. If your workflow depends heavily on tab groups, Pale Moon is not the answer. If you don't care for tab groups - my experiences with Pale Moon were great! I can imagine it's remained as awesome since I stopped using it (which is when they removed tab groups...) E: Also it's totally possible the add-on has been fixed. But I don't remember anyone maintaining it, it was just segmented away from the browser and made into an add-on without development/maintenance. It's possible that has changed and the above issue is no longer relevant.
    - wila 11y ago
      Actually the ability to be able to continue to use tab groups was one of the main reasons I changed over to Pale Moon about a month ago. Firefox has plans to remove tab groups. [1] Haven't had any issue with it so far, but I might be using tab groups in another way as you or as you say they might have ironed out the issues you bumped into. You are correct that tab groups is offered as an add-on. Had no problem installing it, it even kept all the tabs I had in tab groups in Firefox. For me the transition from Firefox to Pale Moon was very smooth. [1] http://www.ghacks.net/2015/11/08/mozilla-to-remove-tab-groups-panorama-in-firefox-45/ http://www.ghacks.net/2015/11/08/mozilla-to-remove-tab-group...
      - Nadya 11y ago
        Are your tab groups remembered after a browser crash? YouTube has a tendency of crashing Firefox/FF forks (incl. Waterfox and Pale Moon). I'm forced to restart maybe once every other or every third week after YouTube hangs the browser. When this happens I lose all of my tabs which is completely unacceptable for me. Tabs were also lost when updating the browser which was the straw that broke the camel's back and caused me to ditch Pale Moon and return to Firefox. If those two issues have been fixed I'd likely very quickly switch back to Pale Moon. As an aside, I'm aware FF is removing them as well in the near future. I've already frozen myself on FF 40 for other reasons. Before anyone mentions - I'm aware of the potential security risks of doing so and have decided given my internet browsing habits it is very low risk. Low enough that I don't even consider publicly announcing my use of FF40 to be a significant security threat.
- heinrich5991 11y ago
  The Tree Style Tab I have was installed via Mozilla's extension repository, which is automatically signed. It should™ continue working.
  - pervycreeper 11y ago
    "Tab Tree"?
    - heinrich5991 11y ago
      I'm talking about this extension: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tree-style-tab/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tree-style-ta...
      - pervycreeper 11y ago
        That one gets disabled with the new update, I believe.
        heinrich5991 11y ago
        I don't think so, it's hosted on AMO, these addons get signed automatically. I'm currently running Firefox 43 on Arch Linux: $ pacman -Q firefox firefox 43.0-1 with Tree Style Tab 0.16.something from AMO and have `xpinstall.signatures.required` set to `true` (the default, I haven't changed anything).
        pervycreeper 11y ago
        Hm. Seems to be signed under Linux, but not on Windows.
        datalist 11y ago
        Why would you believe so? That extension has been clearly signed.

silverwind 11y ago

That's coming in 44 in 6 weeks: > Firefox 44: Release and Beta versions of Firefox will not allow unsigned extensions to be installed, with no override.

vocatus_gate 11y ago
Sigh. Why are they doing this? It's condescending and insulting. "No, you're too stupid to be allowed to install what you want to."
- mccr8 11y ago
  Firefox is changing this because malware injects itself into Firefox using this mechanism. Power users who really want to install unsigned addons can switch to the Developer Edition.
  - eitland 11y ago
    I have cleaned my share of malware infections and I can't think of one were the attack vector seemed to be FF. Now we seem to be nerfing the beast because someone might do stupid things.
    - zackboe 11y ago
      I worked in university IT for a year, focused on student's personal machines. A good majority of malware we experienced installed extensions and reconfigured browser preferences. I understand why Mozilla and Google have done similar things to restrict extension installation, but can't help but think there has to be a better way for users who know what they're doing.
    - azakai 11y ago
      You may not have seen one yourself, but browser vendors have data on this: there is a lot of malware out there that infects browsers. Browsers are putting a lot of effort into preventing this, they wouldn't do it if they didn't have clear information showing the problem was serious.