Also, firefox comes with tons of built in features you cannot disable. In past they have caused security issues (e.g. the pdf.js exploit).
Just set geo.enabled to false.
There's also a preference to permanently disable pdf.js there. Or you can change the default PDF reader: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/disable-built-pdf-viewe...
Overall having pdf.js is a benefit to internet browsing. Should we not innovate and try to improve our tools just to preserve security?
I would doubt it. The experience that pdf.js provides is inferior to dedicated programs like xpdf.
> Should we not innovate and try to improve our tools just to preserve security?
We should, but we should not make such things like pdf.js unable to be disabled by the user.
That's not the point, I open dozens of PDF daily and I don't want to have to switch programs all the time. An integrated light PDF viewer is one of the best new feature of modern browsers.
PS: You can set the pdfjs.disabled pref to true on the about:config page to disable the build-in PDF viewer
PS2: Not sure this still works.
That being said, I will also agree that it is convenient sometimes but it is much slower and much less compatible than native viewers, making it useless for me about half the time. Still, I see no reason why it needs to be integrated into firefox instead of being just an addon (even if it is installed by default).