5 ms·

In a similar vein, I'd appreciate it if Mozilla would stop using updates to Firefox as a mechanism to re-enable misfeatures I've explicitly disabled like Pocket

In a similar vein, I'd appreciate it if Mozilla would stop using updates to Firefox as a mechanism to re-enable misfeatures I've explicitly disabled like Pocket integration and the "recommend X feature|extension while you are browsing but don't forget we totally respect your privacy!" settings. :-/

dblohm7 8y ago
That sounds like a bug to me.
- Marsymars 8y ago
  Maybe, but in some similar cases, it's marked as "won't fix": https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1502188 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1502188 If you configure Firefox to not automatically update, and then use, say, a package manager to update it, automatic updates will get re-enabled.
  - sanxiyn 8y ago
    On the other hand, Firefox does respect locked preferences after update. Debian sets both app.update.enabled and toolkit.telemetry.enabled locked to false.
  - yoasif_ 8y ago
    > If you configure Firefox to not automatically update, and then use, say, a package manager to update it, automatic updates will get re-enabled. That isn't what the bug report says - package managers don't use the Firefox installer. Are you talking about a real bug (if so, is it logged?), or are you spreading FUD?
    - Marsymars 8y ago
      Depends on the package manager. On Windows both Ninite and Chocolatey use the Firefox installer and re-enable Firefox's automatic updates.
- TwoNineFive 8y ago
  I have this problem too. After a certain point, plausible deniability isn't plausible anymore. They are doing it on purpose.
- zobzu 8y ago
  a "bug"
oil25 8y ago
I always create and use Firefox profiles with a custom user.js preference file. Here's a great one: https://github.com/pyllyukko/user.js https://github.com/pyllyukko/user.js
thinkloop 8y ago
How much money does pocket actually generate? It blows my mind that mozilla would pull a java and have us install a figurative toolbar.
- sanxiyn 8y ago
  Mozilla acquired Pocket. Pocket is now part of Mozilla, providing content recommendation.
  - yarrel 8y ago
    Yes that was a mistake. It did get the person who had the original lunch with Pocket off the hook though.
    - tw20190405jxkro 8y ago
      ... and it cost $29m... and the thing still isn't open source... Thanks, MoFoCo.
- pietroglyph 8y ago
  I may be mistaken about their revenue model, but I think it’s actually costing them money because they bought the company behind Pocket and they don’t seem to monetize the feature in any way.
  - SyneRyder 8y ago
    Pocket Premium costs $45/yr for a subscription, so they're definitely monetizing it. (I'm a subscriber.) https://getpocket.com/premium https://getpocket.com/premium
- bscphil 8y ago
  My understanding is that they are using the Pocket organization as a way of managing the ads they now show by default on the new tab page. They call this "recommended by pocket". I don't know if it currently makes any money, but showing ads on every new tab opened in their browser certainly has the potential to.
C4K3 8y ago
user.js files are awesome for Firefox. You just specify a list of preferences which then are applied every time you start Firefox. (And here's a popular preconfigured user.js https://github.com/pyllyukko/user.js https://github.com/pyllyukko/user.js )
- alyandon 8y ago
  Thank you! I'll definitely be using that going forward.
_Microft 8y ago
I've never seen the described behaviour. Have you checked bugzilla.mozilla.org if this is a known problem?
zaarn 8y ago
I've disabled Pocket via about:config and despite a year worth of updates, I honestly had never had the issue of it reenabling. And that is both on Windows with Auto-Update and Linux via package manager.
- alyandon 8y ago
  I run mostly FF dev & nightly and I've had it happen to me multiple times. I'm assuming the Pocket getting re-enabled problem is the result of an internal update to the extension that caused it to re-populate all the defaults in the config. The other config settings I'm going to be less charitable about considering there would be no rational reason for an update to ever change those values.
  - zaarn 8y ago
    I've never had the other settings change values either, I suspect you either ran into some bug or the sharing of a profile between dev&nightly is blowing this up.
    - alyandon 8y ago
      Maybe - but definitely no sharing of profiles between dev & nightly and as you can see based on other comments in this thread I'm not the only one that has witnessed the behavior.

dblohm7 8y ago

That sounds like a bug to me.

Marsymars 8y ago
Maybe, but in some similar cases, it's marked as "won't fix": https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1502188 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1502188 If you configure Firefox to not automatically update, and then use, say, a package manager to update it, automatic updates will get re-enabled.
- sanxiyn 8y ago
  On the other hand, Firefox does respect locked preferences after update. Debian sets both app.update.enabled and toolkit.telemetry.enabled locked to false.
- yoasif_ 8y ago
  > If you configure Firefox to not automatically update, and then use, say, a package manager to update it, automatic updates will get re-enabled. That isn't what the bug report says - package managers don't use the Firefox installer. Are you talking about a real bug (if so, is it logged?), or are you spreading FUD?
  - Marsymars 8y ago
    Depends on the package manager. On Windows both Ninite and Chocolatey use the Firefox installer and re-enable Firefox's automatic updates.
TwoNineFive 8y ago
I have this problem too. After a certain point, plausible deniability isn't plausible anymore. They are doing it on purpose.
zobzu 8y ago
a "bug"

oil25 8y ago

I always create and use Firefox profiles with a custom user.js preference file. Here's a great one: https://github.com/pyllyukko/user.js https://github.com/pyllyukko/user.js

thinkloop 8y ago

How much money does pocket actually generate? It blows my mind that mozilla would pull a java and have us install a figurative toolbar.

sanxiyn 8y ago
Mozilla acquired Pocket. Pocket is now part of Mozilla, providing content recommendation.
- yarrel 8y ago
  Yes that was a mistake. It did get the person who had the original lunch with Pocket off the hook though.
  - tw20190405jxkro 8y ago
    ... and it cost $29m... and the thing still isn't open source... Thanks, MoFoCo.
pietroglyph 8y ago
I may be mistaken about their revenue model, but I think it’s actually costing them money because they bought the company behind Pocket and they don’t seem to monetize the feature in any way.
- SyneRyder 8y ago
  Pocket Premium costs $45/yr for a subscription, so they're definitely monetizing it. (I'm a subscriber.) https://getpocket.com/premium https://getpocket.com/premium
bscphil 8y ago
My understanding is that they are using the Pocket organization as a way of managing the ads they now show by default on the new tab page. They call this "recommended by pocket". I don't know if it currently makes any money, but showing ads on every new tab opened in their browser certainly has the potential to.

C4K3 8y ago

user.js files are awesome for Firefox. You just specify a list of preferences which then are applied every time you start Firefox. (And here's a popular preconfigured user.js https://github.com/pyllyukko/user.js https://github.com/pyllyukko/user.js )

alyandon 8y ago
Thank you! I'll definitely be using that going forward.

_Microft 8y ago

I've never seen the described behaviour. Have you checked bugzilla.mozilla.org if this is a known problem?

zaarn 8y ago

I've disabled Pocket via about:config and despite a year worth of updates, I honestly had never had the issue of it reenabling. And that is both on Windows with Auto-Update and Linux via package manager.

alyandon 8y ago
I run mostly FF dev & nightly and I've had it happen to me multiple times. I'm assuming the Pocket getting re-enabled problem is the result of an internal update to the extension that caused it to re-populate all the defaults in the config. The other config settings I'm going to be less charitable about considering there would be no rational reason for an update to ever change those values.
- zaarn 8y ago
  I've never had the other settings change values either, I suspect you either ran into some bug or the sharing of a profile between dev&nightly is blowing this up.
  - alyandon 8y ago
    Maybe - but definitely no sharing of profiles between dev & nightly and as you can see based on other comments in this thread I'm not the only one that has witnessed the behavior.