I know it's very hard for some people to understand that not all commercial companies are out there to get them, with evil plots to steal their identity and money. You must think that Abine is this all-powerful corporation that bribes all editors and is scheming to take all innocent, OSS-loving TACO users and screw them over. Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you. If you think this update is harmful to the general public (and I would disagree), then that's a problem with our policies, and ultimately my problem.

Mozilla is one of the most open organizations in the world, and there are multiple channels you can use to complain or to try to get this decision reversed. Or you can continue with your conspiracy theories and proud indignation because you don't like the new version of a program.

Commercial add-ons commonly hide their code to avoid "the competition" to just grab it and use it.

Extensions by their nature have most of their source code in the open. You can easily read it, but not copy it of course. There's a part of this extension that is compiled code and you won't be able to read, though. Senior reviewers do get access to the compiled component source code in order to review.

Feel free to review it yourself if you like. Here's all the necessary information:

Our policies

Editor Guide

Code validator

You can also send a message to our mailing list (see wiki link) and ask another editor to corroborate.

What I've been trying to communicate here is that it is not our job to judge if an add-on is pretty or ugly, lightweight or bloated, subtle or in-your-face. Our job is to attest for its security, privacy protection, usefulness and ease of use. We reject add-ons that are impossible to figure out, have overly intrusive UI, or are annoying to users. The previous TACO did have some UI, little as it was, and the new one can be configured to be like that.

I know the new TACO is annoying to many, but I'm sure many others think otherwise. It's obvious that many TACO users like the minimalist interface it used to have, and are angered by the change, but that's something that the users need to judge, not us. There's already an alternative available if you want to switch.

And yes, when we say "core functionality", in this case it would mean warning about cookies and other trackers, and providing the means to block them.

FWIW, the people at Abine are well aware of the reception of this upgrade, and are already working on improving it.

We have an unexpected features policy, also called No Surprises. We wouldn't have allowed the update if it enabled unexpected features for users, or if it had really changed its core functionality. But it didn't. It added several features, but they are also privacy and security tools, and they're turned off by default.

I don't agree that we should warn about codebase changes, since that's the developer's prerogative, but I do agree that we should communicate privacy policy or EULA changes. That's something that we can't do through Firefox at the moment, but we definitely want to include in the future.

The page was wrong, and it looks like they updated it already.

The update was approved because it passes all our quality checks. It is not up to us to determine what features a developer can include or not, and it is not a new thing for an add-on to change hands like this. It is up to the developers (new or otherwise) to give their users what they want. If they screw up, they will lose their users. Our job is to make sure the add-on is safe to use and it does what it claims it does. The new TACO has a ton of new features, most disabled by default, but its core functionality remains.

Most users are complaining about the package size and the new user interface, which are things that won't get the add-on rejected unless they make it unusable, and that it not the case for TACO. I see nothing to be ashamed about.

Wrong. Eric Jung is on the board of Mozdev, and independent organization dedicated to hosting Mozilla-related projects (like a specialized Sourceforge). He is not part of the Mozilla Add-ons team.

I'm in charge of the add-on review process at Mozilla, and I personally reviewed and approved the TACO update due to its complexity. I have no relationship with Abine whatsoever.

Eric Jung is not part of the Mozilla Add-ons Team. He's on the board of Mozdev, which is an independent organization that hosts source code for Mozilla-related projects (kinda like a specialized Sourceforge). He had nothing to do with the approval of this update. FWIW, I'm the one who approved it, and I have no relationship with Abine whatsoever.

The add-on being proprietary or not is pretty much irrelevant. People are complaining about the "bloat" and very different user interface, contrary to what the summary suggests.

The market share for Firefox is far from stable.

Here. If you dig a little on that blog you'll find the actual sources, which are a mix of reliable web statistics providers.

Rice helps absorb the moisture introduced to the device, reducing the chance of a short.

Whenever an electronic device is soaked in something wet, the best response is it turn it off, remove the battery, open it if possible, and let it dry for a day or two. GP continued using, and that's why it eventually broke.

This thread is useless without pics ;)

The GP was referring to advanced degrees, just like TFA. The native Ethiopians would have received some form of education in their home country, and *then* migrate to continue their education. This is the same case as in many other countries, such as mine. These are already brilliant people who leave their country and never come back to contribute to the society they grew in. It is brain drain.

See previous reply. You're wrong on all accounts.

The iPod touch costs less than $300 (some models, at least). I wouldn't expect a tablet to cost $300, either, but comparing it to the iPhone is misleading, given that it will probably be more like the Touch (no mobile phone networking).