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Everybody knows wind turbines are eye sores.

They obscure all the lovely smoke stacks.

A couple of years back, the French complained that a new wind turbine field in Germany was spoiling the nice scenic view of the Chateau de Malbrouck (located just opposite the German-French border from that infamous field).

Unfortunately, they conveniently completely forgot what the Germans see when they look at the Chateau de Malbrouck

Cute guy, btw, despite his chickenpox!

Set the proxy settings in Firefox, and a user need only go Tools | Options | General | Connection Settings to turn them off. No way to disable the menu, without going in and re-writing the XUL code.

It's actually pretty easy to disable anything in Firefox/Mozilla.

1. Open Firefox and set the options you want to preconfigure/lock such as the proxy settings.

2. Look in Firefox's config directory for a file called "prefs.js". Under Linux this is in "~/.mozilla/*.default/". Under Windows, this is in "Application Settings\Mozilla\*.default\". On OS X it's in "Library/Mozilla/Firefox/*.default/".

3. Copy the file to lock.js and open it in a text editor.

4. Leave the first line as is (the # line). For any option you want to lock, set "user_pref" to "lockPref". For example:


# this line is required. don't remove
lockPref("network.proxy.ftp", "proxy.somemachine.org");
lockPref("network.proxy.ftp_port", 3128);
lockPref("network.proxy.http", "proxy.somemachine.org");
lockPref("network.proxy.http_port", 3128);
lockPref("network.proxy.ssl", "proxy.somemachine.org");
lockPref("network.proxy.ssl_port", 3128);


5. Download moz-byteshift.pl and run it like this:


moz-byteshift.pl -s13 < lock.js > mozilla.cfg


6. Copy the mozilla.cfg file to the root of the Firefox install directory. This is "/usr/lib/firefox/" on most Linux distros, and "c:\windows\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\" on Windows. On OS X it's in the "Firefox.app" directory.

7. Inside of the Firefox install directory, open the file "greprefs/all.js" and add this line to thee bottom:


pref("general.config.filename", "mozilla.cfg");


The user can no longer change the proxy settings, or any other setting you choose to lock.

This works everywhere and options are identical across platforms (except when they include file paths). The only place I haven't had it work is Ubuntu, which apparently does something to break the feature. The method they provide to provide the functionality does not appear to work (I spent a few days googling and trying everything before just disabling the built-in and installing the official build).

Deploying is easy. All you have to do is copy the greprefs/all.js and mozilla.cfg files to the clients. With WPKG this is trivial. Just make sure only the administrator can write to all.js and mozilla.cfg, also make sure that all users can read the file.

Here, I'll even help you out with WPKG. Just save "mozilla.cfg" and "greprefs/all.js" as a self-extracting file with 7-Zip:


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<packages>
<package id="firefox_restrictions" name="Firefox restrictions" revision="20060922" reboot="false" priority="1">
<depends package-id="firefox" />
<check type="file" condition="exists" path="%PROGRAMFILES%\mozilla.cfg" />
<install cmd='%SOFTWARE%\firefox_restrictions\firefox_restr ictions.exe -o"%PROGRAMFILES%\Mozilla Firefox\" -y' />
</package>
</packages>


Any time you need to push new updates out, just change the revision to the current date.

Ah, chickenpox!

Well, the point would be moot anyways, as client-side javascript code needs to be published for it to work...

Nastiness taken further, I take an exerpt of some of the textual content of that page and put in in a book I write.

Good, these guys do indeed need some exposure, hehe ;-) Just be careful that they don't attempt to have you hauled off to Guantanamo bay. Indeed, they are very protective about their IP (logos, but maybe also the overall visual appearance of their site, ...)

Like Netscape and Mozilla, nearly everything in firefox can be locked down (Google for "firefox lockpref").

Quick overview:
1) Open prefs.js
2) Where you want to lockdown something, replace user_pref() with lockPref(). Once done delete any lines which still have user_pref()
3) Byteshift (offset=13) the changed prefs.js file. This can be done via an online script. Or download a perl script to run locally. The resulting file should be called firefox.cfg
4) Put firefox.cfg in the root of the FireFox install folder, and a 1.js in prefs/default with the line:
pref("general.config.filename", "firefox.cfg");

We lock settings such as the proxy, homepage, cache, history, download locations, and weak security settings (saving passwords, SSLv2, etc...).

I believe it's also possible to point to a webserver which can feed the lockPref values dynamically (ie: based on authenticated username).

BTW: firefox.cfg can be called anything you want, just make the appropriate changes to the instructions above.

Like Netscape and Mozilla, nearly everything in firefox can be locked down (Google for "firefox lockpref").

Quick overview:
1) Open prefs.js
2) Where you want to lockdown something, replace user_pref() with lockPref(). Once done delete any lines which still have user_pref()
3) Byteshift (offset=13) the changed prefs.js file. This can be done via an online script. Or download a perl script to run locally. The resulting file should be called firefox.cfg
4) Put firefox.cfg in the root of the FireFox install folder, and a 1.js in prefs/default with the line:
pref("general.config.filename", "firefox.cfg");

We lock settings such as the proxy, homepage, cache, history, download locations, and weak security settings (saving passwords, SSLv2, etc...).

I believe it's also possible to point to a webserver which can feed the lockPref values dynamically (ie: based on authenticated username).

BTW: firefox.cfg can be called anything you want, just make the appropriate changes to the instructions above.

This bill stops Bad Guys® from stealing the inexperienced users' life savings before they actually steal anyone's money.

Theft and fraud are already illegal. Who says that this law will do anything against phishers? The reason why phishing thrives is not because it is legal, but because it's hard to investigate and/or police just can't be bothered.

It does not outlaw building any website, just those designed with the intent and purpose to steal your bank password.

How do you prove intent? And what is the exact wording of the bill? If the intent is truly to steal and defraud, we've already got laws. We don't need any laws either forbidding to "carry weapons with intents of threatening peasants to give up their wallets". Mugging is already forbidden, and anything such a hypothecal law might achieve is inconvenience the butcher who brings a new knife to his shop...

A Luxembourgish Linux user got threats from a bank because he featured a look-alike login page on his Website. Purpose of that login page: strip an obnoxious browser check. But that's not how the bank tried to spin it.

And also people who try to ensure interoperability of bank sites with "non-standard" browsers.

Don't laugh... it did actually happen!

Les brevets logiciels me donnent les boutons

Enjoy!

Looks like the vice-president of the Luxembourg LUG just caught some nasty virus

Hmm, so this device must be very effective then! It's both a street light and a camera!

1. Put the following line into C:\Program Files\mozilla.org\Mozilla\defaults\pref\all.js:

   pref("general.config.filename", "mozilla.cfg");

2. Write a mozilla.cfg.txt file containing the config items that you want to lock:

   // Mozilla cfg file
   
   lockPref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://my.home.page/");
   lockPref("network.proxy.type", 2);
   lockPref("network.proxy.autoconfig_url", "http://intranet/~admin/proxy.pac");
   

   There is also use a defaultPref command for setting defaults that the user may change.

3. Using the moz-byteshift.pl program, "encrypt" the file using an offset of 13, and put it into C:\Program Files\mozilla.org\Mozilla

Check this page for more details.

Granted, this is not foolproof (the user could use the same method as described here to change his settings), but you can make it difficult enough by making the mozilla.cfg file writeable only by the Administrator.

1. Put the following line into C:\Program Files\mozilla.org\Mozilla\defaults\pref\all.js:

   pref("general.config.filename", "mozilla.cfg");

2. Write a mozilla.cfg.txt file containing the config items that you want to lock:

   // Mozilla cfg file
   
   lockPref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://my.home.page/");
   lockPref("network.proxy.type", 2);
   lockPref("network.proxy.autoconfig_url", "http://intranet/~admin/proxy.pac");
   

   There is also use a defaultPref command for setting defaults that the user may change.

3. Using the moz-byteshift.pl program, "encrypt" the file using an offset of 13, and put it into C:\Program Files\mozilla.org\Mozilla

Check this page for more details.

Granted, this is not foolproof (the user could use the same method as described here to change his settings), but you can make it difficult enough by making the mozilla.cfg file writeable only by the Administrator.

We have seen this behaviour too. However, apparently, as far as we could see, it would only happen on Win2k, on NTFS partitions. Win2k + FAT32 was ok. So, what we did was create a small D: partition as FAT32, and configured Windows to store the cached user profile on that partition. From then on, our "multiple profiles" problem was gone.

Since your profile location is a hardcoded path in registry.dat, Mozilla will find it, but will try to load the profile in the stale profile location. If that doesn't exist now, it'll throw up a profile manager asking you to recreate one.

Or just store the profile somewhere on the user's home directory (H:\Mozilla\)

...repair prefs.js file, have some mandatory prefs.js entries that are replaced during logon if user changes them (like home page for us), etc...

No need to bother with vbscript. Just use locked settings in the mozilla.cfg file. This page described how. Just insert entries such as the following into your mozilla.cfg.txt:

lockPref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://my.home.page/");

Then encrypt the file to mozilla.cfg using this program (with an offset of 13). N.B. The mozilla.cfg.txt file must start with a comment (two slashes), and be referenced from all.js or else it will be ignored by mozilla. After having set up a mozilla.cfg, the user can no longer change the relevant settings (they are greyed out), and even if he does manually edit his prefs.js, mozilla will fix prefs.js the next time it starts up.

We have seen this behaviour too. However, apparently, as far as we could see, it would only happen on Win2k, on NTFS partitions. Win2k + FAT32 was ok. So, what we did was create a small D: partition as FAT32, and configured Windows to store the cached user profile on that partition. From then on, our "multiple profiles" problem was gone.

Since your profile location is a hardcoded path in registry.dat, Mozilla will find it, but will try to load the profile in the stale profile location. If that doesn't exist now, it'll throw up a profile manager asking you to recreate one.

Or just store the profile somewhere on the user's home directory (H:\Mozilla\)

...repair prefs.js file, have some mandatory prefs.js entries that are replaced during logon if user changes them (like home page for us), etc...

No need to bother with vbscript. Just use locked settings in the mozilla.cfg file. This page described how. Just insert entries such as the following into your mozilla.cfg.txt:

lockPref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://my.home.page/");

Then encrypt the file to mozilla.cfg using this program (with an offset of 13). N.B. The mozilla.cfg.txt file must start with a comment (two slashes), and be referenced from all.js or else it will be ignored by mozilla. After having set up a mozilla.cfg, the user can no longer change the relevant settings (they are greyed out), and even if he does manually edit his prefs.js, mozilla will fix prefs.js the next time it starts up.

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Run]
"Mozilla Quick Launch"="\"C:\\PROGRA~1\\MOZILLA.ORG\\MOZILLA\\MOZ ILLA.EXE\" -turbo"

Other registry entries might be necessary to set Mozilla as the default browser.

Other handy tips for mozilla configuration (such as locked config items, automatically generated personal config, etc) can be found at http://www.alain.knaff.lu/howto/MozillaCustomizati on/

This is used in the schools participating in the LLL project.

Some Highlights:

• Any configuration options accessible in prefs.js can be stored in a locate mozilla.cfg file (optionnally locked in such a way that it can no longer be overridden by the user):
  • Disable 'Open Unrequested Windows' (kill pop-ups),
  • Enable HTTP Pipelining,
  • Set toolbar to 'Pictures only',
  • Set Home Page to my organization's intranet site,
  • Set start page to 'Blank page',
  • Enable Middle-click for new tab,
  • Enable control+enter for new tab,
  • Default downloads to 'open a progress dialog',
  • Disable Javascript and Plugins for Mail & News
• Using mozilla's own registry (%USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Mozilla\registry.dat) set the profile directory (which contains prefs.js et al.) to be on the user's home directory (H:\). That way, you can have a personalized configuration (Mail & News) automatically created by a script. When the user first logs in, he doesn't need to set his email address, server name, etc for using Mail & News, everything is already done for him!
• Disabling of the bulky XUL.mfl file (whose sizes quickly add up if you have thousands of users): just create a directory named XUL.mfl, and Mozilla will be unable to create that file, and it will still work correctly!
• Automatical loading of the needed registry entries as soon as user logs in, using a netlogon script