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from the random-plugin-included-for-free dept.
Submitted via IRC for SoyCow9228
Mozilla sneaked a browser plugin that promotes Mr. Robot into Firefox—and managed to piss off a bunch of its privacy-conscious users in the process.
The extension, called Looking Glass, is intended to promote an augmented reality game to "further your immersion into the Mr. Robot universe," according to Mozilla. It was automatically added to Firefox users' browsers this week with no explanation except the cryptic message, "MY REALITY IS JUST DIFFERENT THAN YOURS," prompting users to worry on Reddit that they'd been hit with spyware.
"I have no idea what it is or where it came from. I freaked out a bit and uninstalled it immediately," one user wrote on Reddit.
Without an explanation included with the extension, users were left digging around in the code for Looking Glass to find answers. Looking Glass was updated for some users today with a description that explains the connection to Mr. Robot and lets users know that the extension won't activate without explicit opt-in.
Mr. Robot is a TV series about hackers airing on USA Network.
Source: https://gizmodo.com/mozilla-slipped-a-mr-robot-promo-plugin-into-firefox-1821332254
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Sunday December 17 2017, @05:06PM (5 children)
https://github.com/mozilla/addon-wr [github.com]
Yeah, I know, Godzilla - I mean, Mozilla screwed the pooch. Still, I want to see what the fuss is about. I like Mr. Robot, it's cooler than most of the inane bullshit that the entertainment world has offered recently. So, I want to try the add-on and see if it's worth messing with.
And, it appears that I have to actually *install* Firefox. I have Pale Moon, Ice Weasel, and Cyber Fox, but don't have Mozilla's actual Firefox on my system. Ho-hum - apt-get install firefox -
(Score: -1, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday December 17 2017, @05:14PM (2 children)
Mozilla are homos, Kikes, and Beaners; and they are not to be trusted.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 17 2017, @07:17PM
We trust Ethanol-fueled despite being a homo, a kike, and a beaner.
(Score: 3, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday December 17 2017, @07:24PM
Not reversing this one. It qualifies pretty soundly as pointless noise. Where's the creativity of trolling we've come to expect out of you, EF? You not get enough sleep last night or something?
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 17 2017, @05:18PM
If modzilla left it to their users to install the plugin for themselves instead of "helpfully" and cryptically installing it during an update (even if it's turned off by default) then I'm sure nobody would have had any problems with the plugin either.
I'd consider it more of a breach of trust than anything however. When I update a program I expect that program to be updated. Not have it download a bunch of advertising.
(Score: 1) by petecox on Sunday December 17 2017, @10:22PM
I'm using Ubuntu with no robot extension.
I guess it's only the direct download and not if you build from source.