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Unknown Mozilla dev addon "Looking Glass 1.0.3" on browser

(support.mozilla.org)
757 points shak77 | 3 comments | 15 Dec 17 13:47 UTC | HN request time: 0.21s | source
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blauditore ◴[15 Dec 17 16:23 UTC] No.15932880[source]▶
Many people seem to be shocked because Mozilla installed an add-on automatically. In my opinion, it doesn't really matter since the code is coming from Mozilla - they're building the whole browser, so they could introduce functionality anywhere. If someone distrusts their add-ons, why trust their browser at all?

The main question is what behavior is being introduced. I haven't researched deeply, but apparently the add-on does nothing until the user opts-in on studies.

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skymt ◴[15 Dec 17 16:32 UTC] No.15932953[source]▶
Speaking for myself here, but I'm not concerned that Mozilla might push malware into Firefox installations. I'm concerned about the lack of judgement in pushing an extension with a vague, scary-sounding name and description simply for a cross-marketing tie-in, and I'm worried that it could have damaged the trust ordinary users have in Firefox.
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WhitneyLand ◴[15 Dec 17 19:54 UTC] No.15934516[source]▶
I don’t see the harm in a good organization contributing lot of value to this world having a little fun.

Some of the comments are mentioning IT managers banning firefox, those will be the same IT managers doing all the other pennywise/pound foolish things that make you try not to work on their team in the first place.

Maybe it’s actually good to put something scary sounding in there to raise awareness. It could help people understand that scary phrases are not the most common sign of foul play. When the real hackers come for you, they usually dont look scary at all.

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bigbugbag ◴[15 Dec 17 22:21 UTC] No.15935743[source]▶
What do you mean having a little fun ?

Firefox is bleeding market share and has been for a while. Despite this, revenue and profit is at an all time high for mozilla which is weird as the revenue comes from sending theirs users to google for being profiled and exposed to ads. Meanwhile long time users lose faith and trust in mozilla and firefox.

Not exactly the best time to be caught having "a little fun" move showing that they will sneakily install stuff in your browser without asking.

Then again mozilla is "making far-reaching and very short-sighted decisions in a vacuum."[1]

[1]:http://forums-test.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=14736466#...

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1. TAForObvReasons ◴[15 Dec 17 22:39 UTC] No.15935865[source]▶
> Firefox is bleeding market share and has been for a while.

http://gs.statcounter.com/

    Chrome            54.98%
    Safari            14.79%
    UC Browser         7.98%
    Firefox            6.09%
    Internet Explorer  3.88%
    Opera              3.79%
In all fairness, Firefox has overtaken IE.
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2. basicplus2 ◴[16 Dec 17 00:30 UTC] No.15936528[source]▶
Not really.. Microsoft is killing off internet explorer
3. bigbugbag ◴[16 Dec 17 00:51 UTC] No.15936626[source]▶
Actually chrome and microsoft are responsible for IE hitting the bottom. Look at the following chart from stat counter:

https://andreasgal.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/alldevices-e1...

That all versions of firefox combined barely do better than obsolete unsupported browser that the manufacturer actively try to remove from the market is not a good sign.