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1318 points xvector | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.207s | source
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Wowfunhappy ◴[] No.19823890[source]
This is why users need to be in control of their own computers. Why can't I tell my copy of Firefox to ignore the certificate? Why can't I sign my own extensions?

Mistakes happen, it's okay. But users should be empowered to work around them.

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ehsankia ◴[] No.19823919[source]
> Why can't I tell my copy of Firefox to ignore the certificate? Why can't I sign my own extensions?

The issue is that if you leave any sort of lever that reduces security, it will be abused by bad actors. This is why browsers are having ever decreasing ways to bypass security and have full access. It is annoying, but at the end of the day, protecting 99.999% of the users trumps what us power users want.

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userbinator ◴[] No.19823956[source]
protecting 99.999% of the users

It is horribly paternalistic to advocate for keeping users ignorant, unlearning, and --- dare I say it --- easily manipulated.

I will refrain from mentioning again that infamous Franklin quote. I am frankly very fucking pissed off by this authoritarian walled-garden trend, and vehemently oppose anyone who helps this industry put the nooses around the necks of others as well as their own.

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macintux ◴[] No.19823984[source]
I’ve been in software development and operations for 25 years.

I still don’t want to have to understand everything I ever touch, even if I could.

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Wowfunhappy ◴[] No.19823998[source]
I'm not understanding the relationship. Of course users aren't going to understand all the underpinnings of how software works.

I do think that in the future, it will be imperative for everyone to have some level of technological literacy above what is currently the average. And I'd like to work to get to that point, instead of taking all the tools away because they're too dangerous.

Also, sensible defaults are good! Hiding dangerous settings is also good! What's not okay is making those settings completely unavailable. At least in Firefox's case you have the option to recompile the source code, but that should not be the only recourse...

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1. ◴[] No.19824249[source]