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Firefox 3.6 Locks Out Rogue Add-ons
CWmike writes "Mozilla will add a new lockdown feature to Firefox 3.6 that will prevent developers from sneaking add-ons into the program, the company said. Dubbed 'component directory lockdown,' the feature will bar access to Firefox's 'components' directory, where most of the browser's own code is stored. Mozilla has billed the move as a way to boost the stability of its browser. 'We're doing this for stability and user control [reasons],' said Johnathan Nightingale, manager of the Firefox front-end development team. 'Dropping raw components in this way was never an officially supported way of doing things, which means it lacks things like a way to specify compatibility. When a new version of Firefox comes out that these components aren't compatible with, the result can be a real pain for our shared users ... Now that those components will be packaged like regular add-ons, they will specify the versions they are compatible with, and Firefox can disable any that it knows are likely to cause problems.'"
Last February, and again in May, Firefox users complained when they found that Microsoft had pushed the .Net Framework Assistant add-on and the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) plug-in to their browsers as part of the .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 (SP1) update, which was delivered via Windows Update.
That's the first thing I thought of when I read the summary.
Put identity in the browser.
From a user perspective, this sounds like a good move. Stability problems in Firefox always seems to stem from add-ons or extensions. Lock that crap down, and make the devs code the right way.
Works great, till you have someone like myself, who just specifies that my components are compatible with Firefox 2.* to 10.* so I don't have to worry about a new version claiming my plugin isn't compatible even though it is, which has happened enough in the past that I just don't care anymore.
Am I wrong? Yes. Is Mozilla wrong? Yes, you never trust the external code to tell you the truth, basic programming 101.
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I notice this doesn't extend to plug-ins and extensions found via the various plugins directories and registry keys. If it were me, I'd extend this feature to include saving a list in a locked-down location of all known extensions/add-ons found via the plugin directories and via registry keys. Every time the browser started, if it found a plugin or extension being loaded via the registry or a plugin directory that wasn't on the list, it'd notify the user what the plugin was and ask whether they wanted it enabled or not. That way nothing can get added to the browser without the user knowing and approving of the change.
Down in the advanced options I'd add a setting to give expert users the additional option of removing the plugin by either removing it's files from the plugins directory it was found in or removing it's registry keys depending on how it was found.
The acutal problem is that firefox blindly loads whatever is in that directory. .NET framework firefox extension did).
Locking the directory is a hack of a solution that others, especially Microsoft will easily find a way around. The proper answer is that Firefox needs to compare components it finds by their signature (checksum and name combo or whatever) with a secure list of components it is authorised by the user to load, before it loads them.
The other fix firefox needs is to deny installed extensions the ability to prevent the user from uninstalling them (like Microsoft's
Tired of reading these sorts of comments. Sure there's some "bloat", but what that bloat is varies by opinion. I've read where supporting CSS is "bloat". Graphics are "bloat". tabs are "bloat". RSS. etc.
My understanding (and please tell me if I'm wrong) is the point of Firefox was to supply a WEB BROWSER. Back then when you downloaded it you also got an email program, news reader, wysiwyg website builder, etc. Firefox was JUST a browser. Still is.
If you REALLY want where everything is an option go build it yourself. Have something where you choose which renderer you want (Moz's, Webkit, etc), whether or not to have tabs, allow plugins, command line version, etc. Hit next a few times and presto your very own browser.
but it isn't a .NET addon. Its a Firefox addon.
So you should be perfectly able to install any .NET update from WU safe in the knowledge that it is not affecting your non-.NET applications, like Firefox.