And if they implemented these "features" as part of the core browser update rather than as an extension, it would have been okay?
There may be a legitimate debate worth having here, but basing the complaint on the good code hygiene practised by Mozilla's developers is silly.
These so-called "compromises" were nothing in any practical sense. Meanwhile, every web page you visit leaks the fact of your existence a hundred different ways and 99% of us don't care much.
They just did it again to gain a count of users who turned telemetry off.
In general, I see firefox's point that using the system extensions to deliver autouodates and allow them to iterate more quickly. However, it also feels like whenever we see these extensions that they're something shady.
I don't know why you're being downvoted, but what your saying is true.
Firefox activates limited telemetry for folks who turn off the heavy stuff. While your firefox browser shows that no telemetry is taking place, the browser will silently send information about your browser, os, and other information to Mozilla.
Personally, the privacy implications don't concern me as much as a browser that is deliberately lying to and deceiving it's users (though I can certainly see how it can be privacy concern).
If someone wants true and total control over their browsing experience, neither firefox or chrome are a good choice (imo).
You can't disable it installing new extensions behind your back without telling you, though. These are "system extensions" and you can't opt out of them.
System extensions are not really extensions, they're just parts of built-in browser functionality that have been implemented by programmers with good code hygiene.
It's unfair to describe these as "installing random extensions without asking" because you would then have to admit that it's equally true of every new feature of every software program that is ever updated.
That is a logically incoherent statement. The only mechanism Mozilla has for "installing secret extensions" is via software updates. If you turn that off, they can't install anything.
