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I wonder if normal Firefox will ever let users permanently load their own extensions without having to have Mozilla 'sign' them first. I also wonder if they will ever let users permanently disable Firefox from checking for updates.

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While annoying I see the benefit as a user and addon developer. It protects less sophisticated users from abuse. Though I do prefer Chrome's opt in to a dev mode without a whole separate binary.

there are examples of firefox protecting 'less sophisticated' users from abuse while still allowing them to go through with it if they really want to. such as, opening up the inspect element area and receiving a warning + having to type 'allow paste' to be able to paste javascript into the console. there's ulterior motives for requiring mozilla to sign extensions, and it isn't about protecting users.

Wel one can go to about: debugging and load unsigned add-ons from there. It's just temporary.

Edit: Forgot to mention you can also self host extensions once they get signed. Chrome does not allow this, or at least not without group policy.

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