It was a slow boiling. Today, there's no way to install an unsigned extension in Firefox at all, you now have to use Developer Edition binaries. For a company that says the end user should be the decider and hold the keys, Mozilla sure likes limiting our options. There was a way to place them in a directory for awhile, then a cli flag, then an about:config flag, then a few other inconvenient options that ultimately ended up being snuffed out.
Even Chrome has a flag you can flip and install an unpacked extension from file. Sending this stuff up to Mozilla for them to grace or relegating developers and corporate users to some unbranded or esoteric dev binary is offensive to the end user IMO. I mean, it's not even federation, just centralization. Sure you can host it on your webpage, but it needs to be signed by the mother ship either way.
Firefox removed "about:config" from Firefox on android as well. Maybe we'll get a cli flag escape hatch for a year when they do the same on desktop. Not trusting the end user in the name of security is not a Google-only play despite all the Moz Marketing.
This has been Mozilla's MO for a while now. They even did it with add-ons on Firefox for Android. First they allowed add-ons. Then they took them away but promised that they will open up soon. Then the locked them down some more.
These days I don't use Firefox because I want to, but because it's the least worse choice.
I'm confident their hostile behavior towards user control is one of the reasons why they're hemorrhaging users. And no, giving users way to change UI colors not control. It's a fucking pacifier and an insult.
Even Chrome has a flag you can flip and install an unpacked extension from file. Sending this stuff up to Mozilla for them to grace or relegating developers and corporate users to some unbranded or esoteric dev binary is offensive to the end user IMO. I mean, it's not even federation, just centralization. Sure you can host it on your webpage, but it needs to be signed by the mother ship either way.
Firefox removed "about:config" from Firefox on android as well. Maybe we'll get a cli flag escape hatch for a year when they do the same on desktop. Not trusting the end user in the name of security is not a Google-only play despite all the Moz Marketing.