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This is because these new addons will not be allowed to modify the UI or underlying operation of the browser.

Not so much. Firefox's UI can be modified with CSS. Just like when Australis was first introduced.

Tree Style Tab is running in a customizable sidebar; normal tabs at the top can be hidden - with CSS. Try that in Chrome... The least useless SideTabs for Chrome is Sidewise, and it has to run in a completely separate window.

There's also Tab Center Redux - a continuation of Mozilla's Tab Center (Test Pilot experiment), which completely replaces top tabs with side tabs.

And for all the curmudgeons that reject change, there's the Basilisk browser which is "created and maintained by the team behind Pale Moon, and is a fully independent fork of the Mozilla/Firefox code".

There's also a hard-fork of Mozilla's XUL platform UXP - Unified XUL Platform.

More info over at ghacks (in the comments): https://www.ghacks.net/2017/08...
Re Waterfox, etc.

I like the idea that Mozilla is working with the Tor guys, they have a lot in common.

But not this. Tor users want to blend together to appear indistinguishable because that's what Tor itself does. But normal browser users aren't behind Tor. They don't have the same use case. What's the point of looking exactly like every other browser if you continue to use the same IP address for days at a time?

Instead of just trying to block fingerprinting outright, Mozilla should be looking at ways to corrupt fingerprinting. They are sort of doing that with their contextual identities through containers work. The idea is that depending on what task you are doing, you should appear as a different (unique) identity. So browse facebook with one "identity" browse ESPN with another "identity" and if ESPN includes facebooky stuff on their site, it reads as your ESPN identity not your facebook identity.

Instead of outright blocking canvas fingerprinting, they should corrupt the canvas fingerprint such that if facebook reads the canvas they get your facebook fingerprint and if ESPN reads the canvas they get your ESPN fingerprint. And if you are using Tor, they get a generic Tor fingerprint that all Tor users share.

A related problem is that this is all an arms race. Canvas fingerprinting is just the easiest current method (just like 3rd party cookies used to be the easiest method). There are lots of other methods too, like timing 3d rendering speeds, looking at battery levels, etc. Each time Mozilla shuts down one fingerprinting method, the trackers will look for something else. In the end, the only way to make *widespread* fixes is to outlaw tracking.

So to that end I wish Mozilla would show an alert of some sort every time a site tries to do a fingerprint or otherwise track the user. They get away with all this sneaky shit today because few regular people have any idea of how much they are being tracked. If all the tracking was constantly in their face, it would make people angry. And that anger could be translated into support for laws making tracking illegal. That wouldn't stop criminals and spy agencies. But it would stop the vast majority of legal businesses. And the are the ones driving the tracking industry with their billions of dollars.

At this point it's become clear that anything more transformative than basic UI stuff is not something that can be properly supported

Even the UI isn't malleable enough.

I tried Firefox 57 during the first few days of beta. When reaching for Ctrl+W, Ctrl+Tab, or Ctrl+Shift+Tab while researching sources to cite in a Slashdot comment, I would often accidentally press the adjacent Ctrl+Q, causing data loss in forms that neither the browser nor the website knows how to save. Firefox's Restore Previous Session doesn't save script-built forms, such as Slashdot's inline reply form. Nor does Slashdot save them at Preview.

The Keybinder extension worked through Firefox 56, but the attempt to make an analogous WebExtension is blocked on bug 1325692, which is marked as not to be fixed in time for the release of Firefox 57. From the AMO page of one such attempt:

This add-on does not work as expected in Linux, until bug 1325692 is fixed.

Once Firefox 57 becomes the stable release, I'll be downgrading to Firefox ESR 52 and staying there as long as bug 1325692 remains unfixed.

At this point it's become clear that anything more transformative than basic UI stuff is not something that can be properly supported

Even the UI isn't malleable enough.

I tried Firefox 57 during the first few days of beta. When reaching for Ctrl+W, Ctrl+Tab, or Ctrl+Shift+Tab while researching sources to cite in a Slashdot comment, I would often accidentally press the adjacent Ctrl+Q, causing data loss in forms that neither the browser nor the website knows how to save. Firefox's Restore Previous Session doesn't save script-built forms, such as Slashdot's inline reply form. Nor does Slashdot save them at Preview.

The Keybinder extension worked through Firefox 56, but the attempt to make an analogous WebExtension is blocked on bug 1325692, which is marked as not to be fixed in time for the release of Firefox 57. From the AMO page of one such attempt:

This add-on does not work as expected in Linux, until bug 1325692 is fixed.

Once Firefox 57 becomes the stable release, I'll be downgrading to Firefox ESR 52 and staying there as long as bug 1325692 remains unfixed.

Well said. I think the main issue was and has been, however, that Mozilla hasn't really been listening to what the users (and often developers) are saying. We wouldn't complain about the loss of addons that modify the UI had Mozilla not taken away the native ability for user to control the UI. A classic example is "tabs on bottom." It was HUGELY unpopular when Firefox finally removed that single option. And there was really no good reason to remove it. Addons saved the day, and now that will be gone too. And they added insult to injury by adding stuff that users didn't care about or want, things like screenprint, hello, pocket... things that could have easily been optional or even included addons. Development resources that could have gone to filling that UI-control that users do want, and/or performance, and/or bug fixing.

My example of the "Flash Stopper" addon really is a perfect example of the jam in which people find themselves. It is something the browser should be able to do, natively and correctly. Autoplay of video is a HUGE annoyance to many users. And the built-in feature that Firefox offers to supposedly help control the problem is just broken. Here is the bug report: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/s... 2 years and still broken! And now the addon that fixed the problem for perhaps 50,000 users (who managed to find it) will be forever gone because WebExtensions won't allow even third-parties to fix it.

My other example- the Environment Proxy is another perfect example. Up to version XX (forget which), Firefox honored the environment variables for simple proxy control. And one day- BAM, it is just broken. An addon came out to work around the problem, and many years later, there is STILL no native fix. And WebExtensions will take away that solution, too.

So please understand why I am complaining so loudly. It isn't just about not liking change, there are real issues that leave me and others in a real pickle.

Dots are not operators in ANY OOP language you silly fuck!

Sound like a bold statement.

OK, sound even bolder now.

I have also been using the master password in combination with "saved password editor", why have ui-button to clog more stuff in the bar than have it in the menu as this has?
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-...

I guess you really don't know Firefox as this article was talking about the built-in password manager. Not an extension. Speaking of extension, you are aware the current integration is not going to work after Firefox 57?

1. Adblock Latitude For Pale Moon browser only. Blocks display of ads. "Adblock Latitude is a direct fork of Adblock Plus made specifically for the Pale Moon browser."
2. BetterPrivacy Deletes Local Shared Objects, LSOs. LSOs are files placed on your computer by the Adobe Systems Flash plug-in. Use of Adobe Flash allows web sites to track you, permanently even though your browser is configured to delete the files known as "Cookies" after each re-starting of your operating system.
3. CanvasBiocker Prevents websites from using the Javascript <canvas> API to fingerprint them.
4. Classic Theme Restorer Quoting 3 paragraphs:
   
   "This add-on will stop working when Firefox 57 arrives in November 2017."
   
   "This add-on will stop working when Firefox 57 arrives in November 2017 and Mozilla drops support for XUL / XPCOM / legacy add-ons. It should still work on Firefox 52 ESR until ESR moves to Firefox 59 ESR in 2018 (~Q2)".
   
   "There is no 'please port it' or 'please add support for it' this time, because the entire add-on eco system changes and the technology behind this kind of add-on gets dropped without replacement."
5. Cookies Manager+
6. Disconnect
7. Facebook Blocker Prevents Facebook from following you everywhere there are Facebook "Like" buttons.
8. Firebug "Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page..."
9. FlashStopper Stops video autoplay and shows a preview thumbnail. On Sept. 9, 2017 does not work with YouTube because it prevents reading comments; there is a working version in the development branch.
10. Ghostery I don't know if Ghostery still sells data: Ghostery sells data it collects. (Business Insider, Jun 18, 2013) Ghostery web site
11. HTTPS Everywhere Doesn't install in Pale Moon. Encrypts traffic by using HTTPS encryption rather than HTTP wherever web sites accept HTTPS. See How to Protect Your Data After Congress Passed Legislation That Allows Your Internet Search History to Be Sold (Vogue Magazine, March 29, 2017)
12. Mozilla Archive Format For Firefox and Waterfox only. Saves web pages. For the Pale Moon browser, use MozArchiver.
13. MozArchiver For Pale Moon browser only. Like Mozilla Archive Format that is used with Firefox. Saves w

1. Adblock Latitude For Pale Moon browser only. Blocks display of ads. "Adblock Latitude is a direct fork of Adblock Plus made specifically for the Pale Moon browser."
2. BetterPrivacy Deletes Local Shared Objects, LSOs. LSOs are files placed on your computer by the Adobe Systems Flash plug-in. Use of Adobe Flash allows web sites to track you, permanently even though your browser is configured to delete the files known as "Cookies" after each re-starting of your operating system.
3. CanvasBiocker Prevents websites from using the Javascript <canvas> API to fingerprint them.
4. Classic Theme Restorer Quoting 3 paragraphs:
   
   "This add-on will stop working when Firefox 57 arrives in November 2017."
   
   "This add-on will stop working when Firefox 57 arrives in November 2017 and Mozilla drops support for XUL / XPCOM / legacy add-ons. It should still work on Firefox 52 ESR until ESR moves to Firefox 59 ESR in 2018 (~Q2)".
   
   "There is no 'please port it' or 'please add support for it' this time, because the entire add-on eco system changes and the technology behind this kind of add-on gets dropped without replacement."
5. Cookies Manager+
6. Disconnect
7. Facebook Blocker Prevents Facebook from following you everywhere there are Facebook "Like" buttons.
8. Firebug "Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page..."
9. FlashStopper Stops video autoplay and shows a preview thumbnail. On Sept. 9, 2017 does not work with YouTube because it prevents reading comments; there is a working version in the development branch.
10. Ghostery I don't know if Ghostery still sells data: Ghostery sells data it collects. (Business Insider, Jun 18, 2013) Ghostery web site
11. HTTPS Everywhere Doesn't install in Pale Moon. Encrypts traffic by using HTTPS encryption rather than HTTP wherever web sites accept HTTPS. See How to Protect Your Data After Congress Passed Legislation That Allows Your Internet Search History to Be Sold (Vogue Magazine, March 29, 2017)
12. Mozilla Archive Format For Firefox and Waterfox only. Saves web pages. For the Pale Moon browser, use MozArchiver.
13. MozArchiver For Pale Moon browser only. Like Mozilla Archive Format that is used with Firefox. Saves w

1. Adblock Latitude For Pale Moon browser only. Blocks display of ads. "Adblock Latitude is a direct fork of Adblock Plus made specifically for the Pale Moon browser."
2. BetterPrivacy Deletes Local Shared Objects, LSOs. LSOs are files placed on your computer by the Adobe Systems Flash plug-in. Use of Adobe Flash allows web sites to track you, permanently even though your browser is configured to delete the files known as "Cookies" after each re-starting of your operating system.
3. CanvasBiocker Prevents websites from using the Javascript <canvas> API to fingerprint them.
4. Classic Theme Restorer Quoting 3 paragraphs:
   
   "This add-on will stop working when Firefox 57 arrives in November 2017."
   
   "This add-on will stop working when Firefox 57 arrives in November 2017 and Mozilla drops support for XUL / XPCOM / legacy add-ons. It should still work on Firefox 52 ESR until ESR moves to Firefox 59 ESR in 2018 (~Q2)".
   
   "There is no 'please port it' or 'please add support for it' this time, because the entire add-on eco system changes and the technology behind this kind of add-on gets dropped without replacement."
5. Cookies Manager+
6. Disconnect
7. Facebook Blocker Prevents Facebook from following you everywhere there are Facebook "Like" buttons.
8. Firebug "Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page..."
9. FlashStopper Stops video autoplay and shows a preview thumbnail. On Sept. 9, 2017 does not work with YouTube because it prevents reading comments; there is a working version in the development branch.
10. Ghostery I don't know if Ghostery still sells data: Ghostery sells data it collects. (Business Insider, Jun 18, 2013) Ghostery web site
11. HTTPS Everywhere Doesn't install in Pale Moon. Encrypts traffic by using HTTPS encryption rather than HTTP wherever web sites accept HTTPS. See How to Protect Your Data After Congress Passed Legislation That Allows Your Internet Search History to Be Sold (Vogue Magazine, March 29, 2017)
12. Mozilla Archive Format For Firefox and Waterfox only. Saves web pages. For the Pale Moon browser, use MozArchiver.
13. MozArchiver For Pale Moon browser only. Like Mozilla Archive Format that is used with Firefox. Saves w

1. Adblock Latitude For Pale Moon browser only. Blocks display of ads. "Adblock Latitude is a direct fork of Adblock Plus made specifically for the Pale Moon browser."
2. BetterPrivacy Deletes Local Shared Objects, LSOs. LSOs are files placed on your computer by the Adobe Systems Flash plug-in. Use of Adobe Flash allows web sites to track you, permanently even though your browser is configured to delete the files known as "Cookies" after each re-starting of your operating system.
3. CanvasBiocker Prevents websites from using the Javascript <canvas> API to fingerprint them.
4. Classic Theme Restorer Quoting 3 paragraphs:
   
   "This add-on will stop working when Firefox 57 arrives in November 2017."
   
   "This add-on will stop working when Firefox 57 arrives in November 2017 and Mozilla drops support for XUL / XPCOM / legacy add-ons. It should still work on Firefox 52 ESR until ESR moves to Firefox 59 ESR in 2018 (~Q2)".
   
   "There is no 'please port it' or 'please add support for it' this time, because the entire add-on eco system changes and the technology behind this kind of add-on gets dropped without replacement."
5. Cookies Manager+
6. Disconnect
7. Facebook Blocker Prevents Facebook from following you everywhere there are Facebook "Like" buttons.
8. Firebug "Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page..."
9. FlashStopper Stops video autoplay and shows a preview thumbnail. On Sept. 9, 2017 does not work with YouTube because it prevents reading comments; there is a working version in the development branch.
10. Ghostery I don't know if Ghostery still sells data: Ghostery sells data it collects. (Business Insider, Jun 18, 2013) Ghostery web site
11. HTTPS Everywhere Doesn't install in Pale Moon. Encrypts traffic by using HTTPS encryption rather than HTTP wherever web sites accept HTTPS. See How to Protect Your Data After Congress Passed Legislation That Allows Your Internet Search History to Be Sold (Vogue Magazine, March 29, 2017)
12. Mozilla Archive Format For Firefox and Waterfox only. Saves web pages. For the Pale Moon browser, use MozArchiver.
13. MozArchiver For Pale Moon browser only. Like Mozilla Archive Format that is used with Firefox. Saves w

1. Adblock Latitude For Pale Moon browser only. Blocks display of ads. "Adblock Latitude is a direct fork of Adblock Plus made specifically for the Pale Moon browser."
2. BetterPrivacy Deletes Local Shared Objects, LSOs. LSOs are files placed on your computer by the Adobe Systems Flash plug-in. Use of Adobe Flash allows web sites to track you, permanently even though your browser is configured to delete the files known as "Cookies" after each re-starting of your operating system.
3. CanvasBiocker Prevents websites from using the Javascript <canvas> API to fingerprint them.
4. Classic Theme Restorer Quoting 3 paragraphs:
   
   "This add-on will stop working when Firefox 57 arrives in November 2017."
   
   "This add-on will stop working when Firefox 57 arrives in November 2017 and Mozilla drops support for XUL / XPCOM / legacy add-ons. It should still work on Firefox 52 ESR until ESR moves to Firefox 59 ESR in 2018 (~Q2)".
   
   "There is no 'please port it' or 'please add support for it' this time, because the entire add-on eco system changes and the technology behind this kind of add-on gets dropped without replacement."
5. Cookies Manager+
6. Disconnect
7. Facebook Blocker Prevents Facebook from following you everywhere there are Facebook "Like" buttons.
8. Firebug "Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page..."
9. FlashStopper Stops video autoplay and shows a preview thumbnail. On Sept. 9, 2017 does not work with YouTube because it prevents reading comments; there is a working version in the development branch.
10. Ghostery I don't know if Ghostery still sells data: Ghostery sells data it collects. (Business Insider, Jun 18, 2013) Ghostery web site
11. HTTPS Everywhere Doesn't install in Pale Moon. Encrypts traffic by using HTTPS encryption rather than HTTP wherever web sites accept HTTPS. See How to Protect Your Data After Congress Passed Legislation That Allows Your Internet Search History to Be Sold (Vogue Magazine, March 29, 2017)
12. Mozilla Archive Format For Firefox and Waterfox only. Saves web pages. For the Pale Moon browser, use MozArchiver.
13. MozArchiver For Pale Moon browser only. Like Mozilla Archive Format that is used with Firefox. Saves w

1. Adblock Latitude For Pale Moon browser only. Blocks display of ads. "Adblock Latitude is a direct fork of Adblock Plus made specifically for the Pale Moon browser."
2. BetterPrivacy Deletes Local Shared Objects, LSOs. LSOs are files placed on your computer by the Adobe Systems Flash plug-in. Use of Adobe Flash allows web sites to track you, permanently even though your browser is configured to delete the files known as "Cookies" after each re-starting of your operating system.
3. CanvasBiocker Prevents websites from using the Javascript <canvas> API to fingerprint them.
4. Classic Theme Restorer Quoting 3 paragraphs:
   
   "This add-on will stop working when Firefox 57 arrives in November 2017."
   
   "This add-on will stop working when Firefox 57 arrives in November 2017 and Mozilla drops support for XUL / XPCOM / legacy add-ons. It should still work on Firefox 52 ESR until ESR moves to Firefox 59 ESR in 2018 (~Q2)".
   
   "There is no 'please port it' or 'please add support for it' this time, because the entire add-on eco system changes and the technology behind this kind of add-on gets dropped without replacement."
5. Cookies Manager+
6. Disconnect
7. Facebook Blocker Prevents Facebook from following you everywhere there are Facebook "Like" buttons.
8. Firebug "Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page..."
9. FlashStopper Stops video autoplay and shows a preview thumbnail. On Sept. 9, 2017 does not work with YouTube because it prevents reading comments; there is a working version in the development branch.
10. Ghostery I don't know if Ghostery still sells data: Ghostery sells data it collects. (Business Insider, Jun 18, 2013) Ghostery web site
11. HTTPS Everywhere Doesn't install in Pale Moon. Encrypts traffic by using HTTPS encryption rather than HTTP wherever web sites accept HTTPS. See How to Protect Your Data After Congress Passed Legislation That Allows Your Internet Search History to Be Sold (Vogue Magazine, March 29, 2017)
12. Mozilla Archive Format For Firefox and Waterfox only. Saves web pages. For the Pale Moon browser, use MozArchiver.
13. MozArchiver For Pale Moon browser only. Like Mozilla Archive Format that is used with Firefox. Saves w

1. Adblock Latitude For Pale Moon browser only. Blocks display of ads. "Adblock Latitude is a direct fork of Adblock Plus made specifically for the Pale Moon browser."
2. BetterPrivacy Deletes Local Shared Objects, LSOs. LSOs are files placed on your computer by the Adobe Systems Flash plug-in. Use of Adobe Flash allows web sites to track you, permanently even though your browser is configured to delete the files known as "Cookies" after each re-starting of your operating system.
3. CanvasBiocker Prevents websites from using the Javascript <canvas> API to fingerprint them.
4. Classic Theme Restorer Quoting 3 paragraphs:
   
   "This add-on will stop working when Firefox 57 arrives in November 2017."
   
   "This add-on will stop working when Firefox 57 arrives in November 2017 and Mozilla drops support for XUL / XPCOM / legacy add-ons. It should still work on Firefox 52 ESR until ESR moves to Firefox 59 ESR in 2018 (~Q2)".
   
   "There is no 'please port it' or 'please add support for it' this time, because the entire add-on eco system changes and the technology behind this kind of add-on gets dropped without replacement."
5. Cookies Manager+
6. Disconnect
7. Facebook Blocker Prevents Facebook from following you everywhere there are Facebook "Like" buttons.
8. Firebug "Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page..."
9. FlashStopper Stops video autoplay and shows a preview thumbnail. On Sept. 9, 2017 does not work with YouTube because it prevents reading comments; there is a working version in the development branch.
10. Ghostery I don't know if Ghostery still sells data: Ghostery sells data it collects. (Business Insider, Jun 18, 2013) Ghostery web site
11. HTTPS Everywhere Doesn't install in Pale Moon. Encrypts traffic by using HTTPS encryption rather than HTTP wherever web sites accept HTTPS. See How to Protect Your Data After Congress Passed Legislation That Allows Your Internet Search History to Be Sold (Vogue Magazine, March 29, 2017)
12. Mozilla Archive Format For Firefox and Waterfox only. Saves web pages. For the Pale Moon browser, use MozArchiver.
13. MozArchiver For Pale Moon browser only. Like Mozilla Archive Format that is used with Firefox. Saves w

1. Adblock Latitude For Pale Moon browser only. Blocks display of ads. "Adblock Latitude is a direct fork of Adblock Plus made specifically for the Pale Moon browser."
2. BetterPrivacy Deletes Local Shared Objects, LSOs. LSOs are files placed on your computer by the Adobe Systems Flash plug-in. Use of Adobe Flash allows web sites to track you, permanently even though your browser is configured to delete the files known as "Cookies" after each re-starting of your operating system.
3. CanvasBiocker Prevents websites from using the Javascript <canvas> API to fingerprint them.
4. Classic Theme Restorer Quoting 3 paragraphs:
   
   "This add-on will stop working when Firefox 57 arrives in November 2017."
   
   "This add-on will stop working when Firefox 57 arrives in November 2017 and Mozilla drops support for XUL / XPCOM / legacy add-ons. It should still work on Firefox 52 ESR until ESR moves to Firefox 59 ESR in 2018 (~Q2)".
   
   "There is no 'please port it' or 'please add support for it' this time, because the entire add-on eco system changes and the technology behind this kind of add-on gets dropped without replacement."
5. Cookies Manager+
6. Disconnect
7. Facebook Blocker Prevents Facebook from following you everywhere there are Facebook "Like" buttons.
8. Firebug "Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page..."
9. FlashStopper Stops video autoplay and shows a preview thumbnail. On Sept. 9, 2017 does not work with YouTube because it prevents reading comments; there is a working version in the development branch.
10. Ghostery I don't know if Ghostery still sells data: Ghostery sells data it collects. (Business Insider, Jun 18, 2013) Ghostery web site
11. HTTPS Everywhere Doesn't install in Pale Moon. Encrypts traffic by using HTTPS encryption rather than HTTP wherever web sites accept HTTPS. See How to Protect Your Data After Congress Passed Legislation That Allows Your Internet Search History to Be Sold (Vogue Magazine, March 29, 2017)
12. Mozilla Archive Format For Firefox and Waterfox only. Saves web pages. For the Pale Moon browser, use MozArchiver.
13. MozArchiver For Pale Moon browser only. Like Mozilla Archive Format that is used with Firefox. Saves w

1. Adblock Latitude For Pale Moon browser only. Blocks display of ads. "Adblock Latitude is a direct fork of Adblock Plus made specifically for the Pale Moon browser."
2. BetterPrivacy Deletes Local Shared Objects, LSOs. LSOs are files placed on your computer by the Adobe Systems Flash plug-in. Use of Adobe Flash allows web sites to track you, permanently even though your browser is configured to delete the files known as "Cookies" after each re-starting of your operating system.
3. CanvasBiocker Prevents websites from using the Javascript <canvas> API to fingerprint them.
4. Classic Theme Restorer Quoting 3 paragraphs:
   
   "This add-on will stop working when Firefox 57 arrives in November 2017."
   
   "This add-on will stop working when Firefox 57 arrives in November 2017 and Mozilla drops support for XUL / XPCOM / legacy add-ons. It should still work on Firefox 52 ESR until ESR moves to Firefox 59 ESR in 2018 (~Q2)".
   
   "There is no 'please port it' or 'please add support for it' this time, because the entire add-on eco system changes and the technology behind this kind of add-on gets dropped without replacement."
5. Cookies Manager+
6. Disconnect
7. Facebook Blocker Prevents Facebook from following you everywhere there are Facebook "Like" buttons.
8. Firebug "Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page..."
9. FlashStopper Stops video autoplay and shows a preview thumbnail. On Sept. 9, 2017 does not work with YouTube because it prevents reading comments; there is a working version in the development branch.
10. Ghostery I don't know if Ghostery still sells data: Ghostery sells data it collects. (Business Insider, Jun 18, 2013) Ghostery web site
11. HTTPS Everywhere Doesn't install in Pale Moon. Encrypts traffic by using HTTPS encryption rather than HTTP wherever web sites accept HTTPS. See How to Protect Your Data After Congress Passed Legislation That Allows Your Internet Search History to Be Sold (Vogue Magazine, March 29, 2017)
12. Mozilla Archive Format For Firefox and Waterfox only. Saves web pages. For the Pale Moon browser, use MozArchiver.
13. MozArchiver For Pale Moon browser only. Like Mozilla Archive Format that is used with Firefox. Saves w

1. Adblock Latitude For Pale Moon browser only. Blocks display of ads. "Adblock Latitude is a direct fork of Adblock Plus made specifically for the Pale Moon browser."
2. BetterPrivacy Deletes Local Shared Objects, LSOs. LSOs are files placed on your computer by the Adobe Systems Flash plug-in. Use of Adobe Flash allows web sites to track you, permanently even though your browser is configured to delete the files known as "Cookies" after each re-starting of your operating system.
3. CanvasBiocker Prevents websites from using the Javascript <canvas> API to fingerprint them.
4. Classic Theme Restorer Quoting 3 paragraphs:
   
   "This add-on will stop working when Firefox 57 arrives in November 2017."
   
   "This add-on will stop working when Firefox 57 arrives in November 2017 and Mozilla drops support for XUL / XPCOM / legacy add-ons. It should still work on Firefox 52 ESR until ESR moves to Firefox 59 ESR in 2018 (~Q2)".
   
   "There is no 'please port it' or 'please add support for it' this time, because the entire add-on eco system changes and the technology behind this kind of add-on gets dropped without replacement."
5. Cookies Manager+
6. Disconnect
7. Facebook Blocker Prevents Facebook from following you everywhere there are Facebook "Like" buttons.
8. Firebug "Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page..."
9. FlashStopper Stops video autoplay and shows a preview thumbnail. On Sept. 9, 2017 does not work with YouTube because it prevents reading comments; there is a working version in the development branch.
10. Ghostery I don't know if Ghostery still sells data: Ghostery sells data it collects. (Business Insider, Jun 18, 2013) Ghostery web site
11. HTTPS Everywhere Doesn't install in Pale Moon. Encrypts traffic by using HTTPS encryption rather than HTTP wherever web sites accept HTTPS. See How to Protect Your Data After Congress Passed Legislation That Allows Your Internet Search History to Be Sold (Vogue Magazine, March 29, 2017)
12. Mozilla Archive Format For Firefox and Waterfox only. Saves web pages. For the Pale Moon browser, use MozArchiver.
13. MozArchiver For Pale Moon browser only. Like Mozilla Archive Format that is used with Firefox. Saves w

1. Adblock Latitude For Pale Moon browser only. Blocks display of ads. "Adblock Latitude is a direct fork of Adblock Plus made specifically for the Pale Moon browser."
2. BetterPrivacy Deletes Local Shared Objects, LSOs. LSOs are files placed on your computer by the Adobe Systems Flash plug-in. Use of Adobe Flash allows web sites to track you, permanently even though your browser is configured to delete the files known as "Cookies" after each re-starting of your operating system.
3. CanvasBiocker Prevents websites from using the Javascript <canvas> API to fingerprint them.
4. Classic Theme Restorer Quoting 3 paragraphs:
   
   "This add-on will stop working when Firefox 57 arrives in November 2017."
   
   "This add-on will stop working when Firefox 57 arrives in November 2017 and Mozilla drops support for XUL / XPCOM / legacy add-ons. It should still work on Firefox 52 ESR until ESR moves to Firefox 59 ESR in 2018 (~Q2)".
   
   "There is no 'please port it' or 'please add support for it' this time, because the entire add-on eco system changes and the technology behind this kind of add-on gets dropped without replacement."
5. Cookies Manager+
6. Disconnect
7. Facebook Blocker Prevents Facebook from following you everywhere there are Facebook "Like" buttons.
8. Firebug "Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page..."
9. FlashStopper Stops video autoplay and shows a preview thumbnail. On Sept. 9, 2017 does not work with YouTube because it prevents reading comments; there is a working version in the development branch.
10. Ghostery I don't know if Ghostery still sells data: Ghostery sells data it collects. (Business Insider, Jun 18, 2013) Ghostery web site
11. HTTPS Everywhere Doesn't install in Pale Moon. Encrypts traffic by using HTTPS encryption rather than HTTP wherever web sites accept HTTPS. See How to Protect Your Data After Congress Passed Legislation That Allows Your Internet Search History to Be Sold (Vogue Magazine, March 29, 2017)
12. Mozilla Archive Format For Firefox and Waterfox only. Saves web pages. For the Pale Moon browser, use MozArchiver.
13. MozArchiver For Pale Moon browser only. Like Mozilla Archive Format that is used with Firefox. Saves w

While Firefox has a good core password management application, it does need to be refreshed with more than just a new UI. They should keep some of the main features of course, such as bringing back Sync integration for Lockbox; I'm sure that will come in time. However, they can do so much better and go much farther with a new project like Lockbox.

Assuming they bring back all of the current (as of Firefox 57) features of the default password manager including Sync support natively, its time to start with true improvements. For instance, I use what is now a Legacy addon called Password Exporter - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-... - to import or export into standard .xml or .csv files. This should be a native feature of Firefox's new "Lockbox" ,especially as it is one of the many extensions that at the moment will no longer work at 57, because there is no proper API under WebExtensions to replicate how/what it does! Native support should be better, plus they should also add full encryption of the database as well as obfuscation options.

This brings me to the really big feature I'd like to see in Lockbox - full integration with other password managers and their APIs, from LastPass and Dashlane that are common but insecure, to SpiderOak's Encryptr, to one of my personal favorites and ideal targets - Keepass (latest gen databases from both Keepass 2.x and KeepassXC etc). I'll focus on Keepass in the discussion from here on, but if a user has a password manager of preference -web based or otherwise - and there is an API for it, it would be nice if Firefox (and other Mozilla products in the future...oh how I wish to see more work on Thunderbird!) would make use of them. Right now, users of Keepass 2.x style .kdbx databases can have some degree of integration with Firefox thanks to addons, from PassIFox to the excellent KeeFox (which has a WebExtensions rewrite under the name "Kee"), allowing Firefox to sidestep the native password manager and instead record to/from Keepass databases. In order to do this, there is need for Keepass clients to support KeepassHTTP (at minimum) or KeepassRPC (which I am to believe is a more secure way of transmitting this info), because there's sort of a required kludge of "reaching over" the native Firefox password manager and whatnot. Lockbox should be developed in such a way to natively support integrating with a Keepass database using multiple secure methodologies. Ideally, once the rest was handled this would support for Firefox Account / Sync to handle syncing an entire .kdbx database if the user wishes to do so, providing an open alternative to the kind of thing that many users do at the moment, such as uploading their database to Google Drive etc. Lockbox could also be designed with handling next-gen open source encryption seamlessly (including things like GnuPG / OpenPGP implementations) which could be useful to say... allow other Mozilla products such as Thunderbird to access ProtonMail securely - something it can't do currently. Likewise, support for HOTP / TOTP / and the recent FidoU2F, along with custom secure PIM storage besides just plain passwords and usernames, could expand functionality.

There's a lot of potential for an enhanced PW manager with Lockbox. Firefox's current Sync'd password manager is a great feature and one of the few password managers that is both open and easy to use for people who may never have used a password manager in the past yet now find it incredibly useful; I can't tell you how often a family member has been saved from a password reset because they can go into the Firefox Options and browse through their usernames and passwords. Lets hope Lockbox keeps what's great and expands upon it.

There is no Firepath - Xpath gui replacement in dev tools.

This is being worked on as part of the meta-issue https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/s...

Most of the major Extensions have a version compatible with FF 57, there are a few holdouts still

Some of the WebExtension replacements for legacy extensions that I use are waiting for Mozilla to make equivalent functionality available. For example, I use Keybinder to disable the Ctrl+Q shortcut that I sometimes press by accident when aiming for Ctrl+W or Ctrl+Tab. The developers of equivalent WebExtensions are waiting on a fix for bug 1325692, which a Mozilla engineer has marked as wontfix for Firefox 57.

Loss of Ctrl+Q blocking causes data loss.

A much better option is to go with Firefox ESR, currently at version 52.4.1. I've installed it everywhere on all my Windows and Linux machines - it's guaranteed to be stable and supported until June 2018, which hopefully will be enough time for the new Firefox to stabilize (or worst-case scenario, give me enough time to find an alternative).

One warning though - it may be difficult to move your Firefox profile from 56 to 52, as from 54 onward Mozilla messed up some backwards compatibility in preparation for 57.

But with FF57, I've heard rumors (not verified, but troubling...) that the former privacy extensions that are being ported to 57 won't be able to offer as much privacy as before. For example, instead of blocking the fetch of various ad trackers, they have to fetch them but then not display them. The fetching is the part I want to block.

That is false. Their "new" (chrome-parroting) WebExtensions API is horrible, but stopping the "fetch" of any resource at any stage is quite easy. It's also trivial to selectively block inline scripts, css animations, etc. from an extension.

Because the stupidity of the google-heads who designed the API it's not easy to do those things /nicely/, but if you swallow your pride and accept cargo-cult programming and duplicating functionality as facts of life, you can get things working /somehow/. Of course, there are things that are no longer possible to do (eg replacing the whole body of a response from an extension).

A lot of data leaks can be prevented by using a browser instead of apps. There are browsers that are made for users, not advertisers: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/...
Apps are basically trojan horses on your device. The purpose of the majority of apps is to collect data about their users. So, instead of the amazon app, use their mobile web page (it's actually good). Instead of Facebook app, use their web page (or better don't use fb at all), etc.

When selecting a browser, try not to choose from a company whose main business is advertising. http://www.investopedia.com/ar...

Practical tips:
Some browser addons I consider a basic necessity:
1) ad blocker (obviously)
2) tracker blocker, like Ghostery (FF now comes with its own built-in tracker blocker)
3) NoScript

For messaging I recommend https://threema.ch/
Yes, you pay 3 CHF, but only once.

It has become difficult to find apps that don't sell your data. Since everybody wants apps for free the app developers have to resort to other revenue channels and selling your data is a fairly obvious one. https://www.go2mobi.com/sell-u...

I'd never go back to that site.

So how will you deal with the frustration when you find that the majority of the top ten results from a particular web search query come from that site and others like it? It becomes tedious to add a dozen or more -site:domain.example terms to every single query. Google Search used to allow blacklisting a domain, but this feature has since been permanently discontinued. I found some promising browser extensions for users of Google Search on select desktop browsers:

But what works for Chrome for Android, Edge, or Safari? Or for DuckDuckGo or Bing?

I'd never go back to that site.

So how will you deal with the frustration when you find that the majority of the top ten results from a particular web search query come from that site and others like it? It becomes tedious to add a dozen or more -site:domain.example terms to every single query. Google Search used to allow blacklisting a domain, but this feature has since been permanently discontinued. I found some promising browser extensions for users of Google Search on select desktop browsers:

But what works for Chrome for Android, Edge, or Safari? Or for DuckDuckGo or Bing?

Rust and Servo have taken away resources that could have been used to improve Firefox

Rust and Servo are being used to improve Firefox. Those resources have not been wasted and neither Rust nor Servo are failures.

Rust, and Servo, instead of directing these resources toward improving Firefox.

How are Rust and Servo failures? The work on Rust and Servo is being integrated into Firefox to improve Firefox. Mozilla is doing exactly what you claim you want them to do.

Rust, and Servo, instead of directing these resources toward improving Firefox.

How are Rust and Servo failures? The work on Rust and Servo is being integrated into Firefox to improve Firefox. Mozilla is doing exactly what you claim you want them to do.

With most competing browsers and the content industry embracing the W3C EME specification, Mozilla has little choice but to implement EME as well

FUCK Mozilla

I predicted:

The upcoming revision that will deliberately break what Mozilla's asshat developers insist on terming "legacy" addons - notably including NoScript ...

Prompting fahrbot-bot to point out:

NoScript is migrating to a WebExtensions API version: https://blog.mozilla.org/addon...

Y'know, I'd've found that a whole lot more reassuring had Fireflop 56.0.1 not so completely fubared the most-current version of NoScript that even reinstalling the addon couldn't unfuck it. (Although, to be fair, restarting FF in "safe mode" - i.e. - with all addons disabled - then restarting it again with all addons re-enabled does seem to have fixed that problem.)

NoScript is certainly one of the most popular - and arguably the most important - addons in the FF ecosystem. To have released even a minor, general update to the browser that so thoroughly disables it that it disappears entirely from both the browser's main toolbar and its context menu (thereby rendering it impossible for it to affect script permissions - and, not incidentally, permitting ANY and EVERY script on EVERY page you visit to run unimpeded) was profoundly irresponsible, at best. Given the omnipresence of JS-based malware across the known web, it could even reasonably be construed as culpably negligent. (Note: IANAL, objects in mirror are closer than they appear, contents are packed by weight, not volume, the legal relationship between you and Mozilla.org is controlled by the end user Terms & Conditions, yadda-yadda ... )

My point stands: Mozilla.org's developer hubris is driving even its most loyal users the fuck away. Soon, so many of us will have decamped that those arrogant assholes will be free to concentrate on developing and enhancng a browser that only they, themselves will use - and, if the 56.0.1 debacle is any guide, the only thing they appear interested in using it for is to test whether they have at last managed to drive a stake through the final, feeble remnant of Netscape Navigator's once-beating heart.

The upcoming revision that will deliberately break what Mozilla's asshat developers insist on terming "legacy" addons - notably including NoScript ...

NoScript is migrating to a WebExtensions API version: https://blog.mozilla.org/addon...

I expect we'll have miner-blocker add-ons by the end of the year.

You mean...?

That's what it took? That's what had to happen for you idiots to finally realize that indiscriminately loading and running code from a constellation of reputation-less sources is -- and always was -- a FUCKING STUPID IDEA?!?!!

Here. Install it. Use it.

But what if incognito is your normal way of browsing?

Then you've probably already run into a lot of demands to whitelist a site.

Private Browsing in Firefox enables tracking protection, a built-in blacklist of servers involved in tracking a user's behavior from one site to another. Numerous ad-supported websites depend on this tracking for interest-based advertising and aren't smart enough to fall back to self-hosted ads if the tracking servers can't be reached. So if tracking doesn't work, a site like TV Tropes pops up a demand to disable tracking protection. Though users can work around this on many sites by disabling JavaScript, I see room for sites to get smarter about insisting on allowing tracking by putting everything past the first paragraph in an AJAX request.

Conversion rates in the checkout flow are a key measure for ecommerce sites. 46% of e-commerce shoppers abandon the checkout process during the payment phase, signaling frustration with the complexity and redundancy of re-entering form data or tracking down payment information. Even a small increase in the success rate of checkout make a direct impact on your site’s bottom line, while improving the shopping experience for customers.

From Payment Request API

Many problems related to online purchase abandonment can be traced to checkout forms, which are user-intensive, difficult to use, slow to load and refresh, and require multiple steps to complete.

Sure, this API may make things simpler for you -- the purchaser -- but it seems the focus is on benefiting the seller. Perhaps a narrow distinction, but one that may matter if/when push comes to shove and a side must be chosen by the developers.

Another thing to consider: Since this is implemented in the browser, if you use multiple browsers to shop, then you'll have to store your information in each browser rather than once on the websites on which you shop -- unless the browser vendors can cooperate on a single, shared data storage method.

But seriously- give it a shot again with FF57.

I gave Firefox 57 a shot. An accidental press of Ctrl+Q while reaching for Ctrl+W or Ctrl+Tab closed the whole thing, causing me to lose data in unsubmitted forms. The extensions I had been using to disable the Ctrl+Q shortcut no longer work on Firefox 57, and the new Ctrl+Q-blocking WebExtensions don't work on my operating system because of bug 1325692, which won't be fixed in time for Firefox 57.

Firefox keeps getting worse and worse, yet we see moz://a give away large sums of money through the "Mozilla Open Source Support" program instead of using it to fix Firefox.

The most recent awards of money included this:

$100,000 to RiseUp, a coordination platform used by activists across the political spectrum, to improve the security of their email service;

First of all, the term "activists" should make us very concerned. This is a term that's pretty much only used by people pushing an extreme leftist political agenda.

The same goes for the phrase "rise up". This is a phrase that's pretty much only used by people pushing an extreme leftist political agenda.

Within this context of leftist political extremism, the terminology "coordination platform" becomes even more suspicious.

If you visit the "RiseUp" website (which I refuse to link to; you can get to it from the moz://a article), you'll notice that the logo is a black and red 5-pointed star.

The red and black flag has long been a symbol of Communism and anarchism.

In a more modern context, the colors black and red are also those used by the so-called "AntiFa" movement, whose name is short for "Anti-Fascist". "Anti-Fascist" is a deceptive way of saying "Communist".

The symbol of the red 5-pointed star has long been associated with Communism, as well, and featured prominently throughout the coats of arms of the former USSR members.

If we visit the "About Us" page, we see repeated use of the word "collective", which gets to the core ideology of Communism. We also see terminology like "social ownership", "liberation", and "systemic oppression", which are all heavily associated with extreme leftist ideologies.

The "Political Principles" page, accessible from the "About Us" page, even features a photo of a mural depicting black-masked "AntiFa"-style "protesters" holding banners with red Communist stars on them! The photo appears to show a building similar to the decrepit structures built in failed Communist states like Venezuela and Cuba.

I'm glad I never donated any money to moz://a. It's disturbing who they're giving $100,000 to these days.

I think that anyone who is currently using Firefox should immediately consider using a different browser, as well. And I think that this goes for all moz://a-produced software, too.

This situation is leaving me feeling very uneasy.

This reminds me of moz://a's "Mozilla Open Source Support" program.

The most recent awards of money included this:

$100,000 to RiseUp, a coordination platform used by activists across the political spectrum, to improve the security of their email service;

First of all, the term "activists" should make us very concerned. This is a term that's pretty much only used by people pushing an extreme leftist political agenda.

The same goes for the phrase "rise up". This is a phrase that's pretty much only used by people pushing an extreme leftist political agenda.

Within this context of leftist political extremism, the terminology "coordination platform" becomes even more suspicious.

If you visit the "RiseUp" website (which I refuse to link to; you can get to it from the moz://a article), you'll notice that the logo is a black and red 5-pointed star.

The red and black flag has long been a symbol of Communism and anarchism.

In a more modern context, the colors black and red are also those used by the so-called "AntiFa" movement, whose name is short for "Anti-Fascist". "Anti-Fascist" is a deceptive way of saying "Communist".

The symbol of the red 5-pointed star has long been associated with Communism, as well, and featured prominently throughout the coats of arms of the former USSR members.

If we visit the "About Us" page, we see repeated use of the word "collective", which gets to the core ideology of Communism. We also see terminology like "social ownership", "liberation", and "systemic oppression", which are all heavily associated with extreme leftist ideologies.

The "Political Principles" page, accessible from the "About Us" page, even features a photo of a mural depicting black-masked "AntiFa"-style "protesters" holding banners with red Communist stars on them! The photo appears to show a building similar to the decrepit structures built in failed Communist states like Venezuela and Cuba.

I'm glad I never donated any money to moz://a. It's disturbing who they're giving $100,000 to these days.

I think that anyone who is currently using Firefox should immediately consider using a different browser, as well. And I think that this goes for all moz://a-produced software, too.

This situation is leaving me feeling very uneasy.

https://chrome.google.com/webs...

or

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-...

I do use a rather huge hosts file to redirect ad company domain names to localhost

Ad companies appear to have already started to defeat hosts by using pseudorandom subdomains. APK's solution can't block these, but Firefox tracking protection can:

For each HTTP load, Firefox looks up multiple URL fragments based on Safe Browsing regex lookup. This allows us to blocklist all subdomains of a tracking domain without enumerating each one.

(I do this on my phone as well).

What method do you use for this? VPN or root?

I don't object to reasonable advertising. I will not tolerate the tracking, though, and until it stop then I am keeping my adblocker in place and not disabling it for anybody. If that means I'm locked out of some sites, then so be it.

That's why I use the tracking protection built into Firefox. It's enabled by default in Private Browsing windows and can be enabled through about:config for use outside Private Browsing. It and the similar Disconnect extension should cover ad networks and ad exchanges that track users across sites. This gives the user plausible deniability against accusations of freeloading, as it a publisher (operator of a website that carries ads) can still serve self-hosted ads to tracking blocker users.

Anybody who claims that Firefox protects their privacy probably hasn't actually looked at Firefox's privacy policy.

Below are some excerpts from the Firefox privacy policy that is dated July 31, 2017.

Be sure to notice the type of information being collected and possibly even transmitted to third parties (including Google, some "Leanplum" company, a "mobile analytics vendor", and "certain developers"). We see terms like:

• - "IP address"
• - "browser version"
• - "operating system"
• - "locale"
• - "language preference"
• - "list of add-ons you have installed"
• - "phone number"
• - "email address"
• - "URLs associated with the downloaded file"
• - "hardware configuration"
• - "commonly visited domains"
• - "location"
• - "the active URL"
• - "Google advertising ID"
• - "personal information"
• - "key word searches"
• - "Wi-Fi networks"
• - "cell phone towers"

Here are the excerpts:

Once per day, Firefox sends the following info to Mozilla when it checks for browser updates: your Firefox version information, language preference, operating system, and version.

Firefox contacts Mozilla once per day to check for add-on information to check for malicious add-ons. This includes, for example: browser version, OS and version, locale, total number of requests, time of last request, time of day, IP address, and the list of add-ons you have installed.

About once per day, Firefox connects to Mozilla and provides you with new snippets, if available. Mozilla may collect how often snippets are clicked, snippet name, browser locale, and which version of Firefox you're using.

Firefox sends Mozilla a monthly request to look up your location at a country level using your IP address.

Some Mozilla sponsored snippets are interactive and allow you to optionally share your phone number or email address.

This data includes, for example: device hardware, operating system, Firefox version, add-ons (count and type), timing of browser events, rendering, session restores, length of session, interaction with search access points and use of Firefox search partner codes, how old a profile is, basic information about errors and crashes, and count of pages.

Firefox sends to this third-party information identifying the site's certificate.

About twice per hour, Firefox downloads Google's SafeBrowsing lists to help block access to sites and downloads that are malicious or forged (Google's privacy policy is at https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/).

Firefox may send metadata, including URLs associated with the downloaded file, to the SafeBrowsing service.

Usage statistics or "Telemetry" is a feature in Firefox that sends Mozilla usage, performance, and responsiveness statistics about user interface features, memory, and hardware configuration. Your IP address is also collected as a part of a standard web log.

Firefox sends to Mozilla data relating to the tiles such as number of clicks, impressions, your IP address, locale information, and tile specific data (e.g., position and size of grid).

In Firefox Beta, certain short-term Telemetry experiments (see above) for Tiles may collect information about commonly visited domains.

Firefox sends Mozilla a request once to look up your location at a country level using your IP address.

Firefox may send the terms you type in the Awesome Bar or Search Bar to your

Hence their adoption of Rust, and using it to completely rewrite the ECMAScript engine.

What are you talking about? As far as I'm aware nobody is working on rewriting Firefox's javascript in engine in Rust. Various other parts? Yes, but not IonMonkey.

Don't they ever have any mercy?

No. They're just getting on with using Rust to improve Firefox.

The complete absense of any examples of Rust code that is better than the equivalent C code would be

You mean except for Stylo or how Tor is moving to Rust?

The lack of traction of Rust outside of those that back it

You mean except for when companies like Google use Rust and Dropbox use Rust?

You're welcome.

I think you're a little confused about what evidence is.

You have no clue what you're talking about. Your verbiage sounds looks like common sense, but it has no technical basis.

Every abuse that was practical with old-style legacy/bootstrapped extensions in firefox is also possible with new, chrome style "webextensions".

Content scripts do interact with random stuff from the page you visit (broken HTML, etc), are NOT undetectable to malicious scripts on the page (because they share the same DOM), and because they have to communicate with the "privileged mode" part of an extension (in order to be able to do anything useful), they offer a easy backdoor into the browser -- unless they're written by security geniuses with a perfect grasp of the millions of javascript pitfalls.

What they don't offer is the ability to change that horrible interface (an extension can no longer build some emacs-like split window interface, or a less-like "command line" at the bottom of the page), or overcome the abject stupidity of bored (paid) developers who designed the APIs we codemonkeys are supposed to use (you're no longer able to get stuff done by using undocumented interfaces they're using in their bundled extensions, eg. developer tools).

Firefox developers vs extensions slowing them down are like a crow thinking it could fly much faster if it hadn't to overcome that pesky air drag.

Though they're not exactly the same, the WebExtensions APIs are quite similar between Firefox, Chrome, and Opera. That's a much larger ecosystem for add-on developers to work in and browser add-ons are now easier to port between browsers. This sort of thing has already been happening, such as with the Sylus add-on.

When I tried Firefox 57 for Linux, an accidental press of Ctrl+Q suddenly closed all tabs in all windows without confirmation, causing loss of data in unsubmitted forms. Extensions to stop this behavior will not arrive by Firefox 57.

To see this misbehavior for yourself, try these steps:

1. Install Firefox 57 for Linux, currently in the beta channel.
2. Type a reply to this comment into Slashdot's comment entry form.
3. Before you submit the reply, press Ctrl+Tab to switch to another tab so that you can do research for the comment, but accidentally press Ctrl+Q instead.
4. Where did your reply go?

For this reason, I have reverted to Firefox stable, and once Firefox 57 becomes stable, I plan to revert to Firefox ESR until bug 1325692 becomes fixed.