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by drdaeman 1086 days ago
They had an implementation that did not require any accounts. They deemed that it's too confusing for users* to scan some QR codes (or type a bunch of characters), so they went with an account-based system.

*) Or whatever the real reason was. It was about time Mozilla started to have management issues so I absolutely won't be surprised if the goal was to "become an ecosystem" or "gather a userbase" (or whatever is management speak for forcing people to sign up).
1 comments
andybak 1086 days ago
> scan some QR codes

How is that not still an account? What definition of account are we working with here?

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RunSet 1086 days ago
Maybe it was using technology similar to magic wormhole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G3_Xa1GBTs

https://github.com/magic-wormhole/magic-wormhole

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drdaeman 1086 days ago
Sure, strictly speaking, of course there were accounts as in "database records". However, users gave no details about themselves, and haven't signed up for anything. No long-term credentials, just a rendezvous point.

You used to just open two Firefoxes, start sync setup on the one, copy (or scan) a code to another - boom, done, they're talking to each other.

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BudaDude 1086 days ago
It depends how you define an account. Is an account an email? Is an account an id in a database? An IP? You can't sync anything without an "account"
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