I find it very frustrating that they now force users into Nightly / Developer Edition if they want to permanently install unsigned add-ons. What's the harm in simply locking that functionality with a config option?
Nothing, there is nothing wrong with educating and informing users, then letting them use an extension privately. Users should not be forced to use unstable versions of Firefox to install an extension locally, nor should it be Mozilla's business to inspect the source code of that extension.
What's funny is that even in browsers such as Safari and Chrome you can permanently install a local extension after toggling an option, without being forced to disclose the source code to Apple or Google.
Firefox is the only desktop browser that prevents users from installing local extensions, and because Mozilla does not control the platform, malware can trivially bypass their restrictions.
Installing developer edition is the blessed way to opt out of that.
What risk are they trying to mitigate, and was it worth pushing addon developers away from their browser too?
Their reasoning? https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2019/10/31/firefox-to-discon...
No wonder people abandoned them. Mozilla is the digg of browsers.
Beyond this plausible inconvenience, however, Mozilla simply doesn't want regular users messing with unapproved add-ons. Just switch Firefox to Developer Edition for that. It's been very stable, in my experience.