[nyreed]

Do you remember when browser extensions could be installed from a developer's own website and didn't require any kind of dysfunctional 'gatekeeping'?

I know there are benefits to having someone vet browser extensions, but it seems a shame that they remove the self-distribution option completely when their moderation is so ineffectual.

[bad_user]

Yes I do remember.

Then extensions started being a spyware / malware delivery mechanism, with popular ones being bought and turned overnight. Coupled with browser plugins shoved down on the user's throat by various Windows software, this made Firefox unusable, at least on Windows.

It's why back in 2010 I started recommending Chrome to family, because Chrome installations kept being clean. It's why we can't have nice things.

[Tehdasi]

From malwarebytes: "Spyware. Although it sounds like a James Bond gadget, it’s actually a type of malware that infects your PC or mobile device and gathers information about you, including the sites you visit, the things you download, your usernames and passwords, payment information, and the emails you send and receive."

Yep, Google is certainly protecting us from companies that do that.

[WesolyKubeczek]

Both Chrome webstore and Google play are infested with spyware, maladware and such. Yet it’s not a problem when the big G is pimping them.

[vezycash]

There's this quote about how the dictator are benevolent in the beginning in their appeals to people's safety needs.

Slowly but surely, the people handover their rights and are shocked by the power the dictator "suddenly has."

When the chrome team was tightening their grips on chrome, people here hailed the move because some windows programs like anti-viruses, download managers and adware sideloaded extensions.

[dictationer]

I like this.

We do keep giving power to some system because they "protect us" (Google and Apple in 2010) but there's always a chance that they'll stop caring once they don't need your support anymore.

Microsoft is also trying to buy our support by being benevolent, I wonder how long and if that will last.

[WesolyKubeczek]

Until the nanosecond they regain enough ground they’d lost when they missed both mobile and cloud.

[kristofferR]

Hostile is a better word for their moderation than ineffectual.

[crummy]

Not saying it wasn't a better time, but I do remember the era of half a dozen IE toolbars installed on folks' computers doing God knows what.

[lonelappde]

Wouldn't a better solution be a pop-up that says "your browser has bad plug-ins. May I uninstall them for you?"

[tim333]

I think you still can by clicking 'enable developer mode'? I get 'bypass paywalls' that way.