Mozilla to eliminate most browser plugins by end of next year

[Chiefcrowe]

https://blog.mozilla.org/futurereleases/2015/10/08/npapi-plugins-in-firefox

 

[Puffnstuff]

I suppose we'll see how they implement this planned change during the next year. My university requires plug-ins such as pearsons myitlab so it will be interesting to see how this all pans out. I'm glad that they're pushing development so hard and I hope that the finished product turns out to be superior in every way to what we have now.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

VMware vSphere Plugin, you idiots.

 

[Mem]

Might be a good idea.

Flash Plug-in browser has caused the most crashes over the years with Firefox on my PCs and I've been using FF since version 3.

 

[postmortemIA]

Mozilla trying to compete with Edge now too
Edge's got 0 plugins

 

[Zahid Iqbal]

I think if firefox removed plugins support. It will loss browser race.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I think if firefox removed plugins support. It will loss browser race.

I think so too.

Edit: I think that the Flash Player hate, and Internet Explorer / Chrome envy, has gone way too far, if Firefox is thinking about killing off the plugin functionality that has been there since the Netscape Navigator days.

 

[Essence_of_War]

I don't know that it is possible for flash player hate to go too far.

How do you excessively hate something that is just the worst?

 

[lxskllr]

I think so too.

Edit: I think that the Flash Player hate, and Internet Explorer / Chrome envy, has gone way too far, if Firefox is thinking about killing off the plugin functionality that has been there since the Netscape Navigator days.

Instead of being special snowflakes, companies should use open standards. You don't need plugins with open standards.

 

[Mem]

I think so too.

Edit: I think that the Flash Player hate, and Internet Explorer / Chrome envy, has gone way too far, if Firefox is thinking about killing off the plugin functionality that has been there since the Netscape Navigator days.

It's not a question of hate or envy, I call it as I see it and if "Reliability History" shows Flash player plug-in crashed and that is with different Operating Systems/hardware and many different versions of FF, then I call it as I see it.

You can't blame Mozilla if they want to improve security/stability in FF.

On a positive note my Firefox 64 bit 42.05 beta is still rock stable with no Flash crashes, one reason I went from 32 bit to 64 bit FF due to Flash plug-in crashes.

 

[Essence_of_War]

Instead of being special snowflakes, companies should use open standards. You don't need plugins with open standards.

Yup!

The Web platform is powerful and can usually do everything that a plugin can do. In the rare cases where a site needs to extend Web technologies, the recommended solution is to develop the additional features as a Firefox add-on.

I think this is a very reasonable philosophy going forward.

 

[TheGardener]

So does this strategy include extensions? Like ABP, FlashGot and Better Privacy?

I never really understood the difference between extensions and plugins.

 

[ninaholic37]

Wonder how much the code/filesize will be reduced after eliminating plugin support. 2MB? Oddly they say they'll be keeping Flash support, of all things, so it sounds like it will just add a fake NPAPI restriction and closer to no/0MB savings.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Instead of being special snowflakes, companies should use open standards. You don't need plugins with open standards.

If "Open Standards" are all you need, then why did Mozilla invent a new DRM plugin spec and API for Adobe to use, to work with their "open" built-in video playback support? And then they close off the "open" plugin API, that has been there since Netscape days, and instead only open their DRM APIs to those companies that they are buddy-buddy with?

Edit: If they kill NPAPI support, that means no VLC as a video player, right?

This is just Mozilla eliminating competition, nothing else.

 

[Essence_of_War]

This is just Mozilla eliminating competition, nothing else.

Competition from whom?

 

[Chiefcrowe]

AFAIK, extensions will have to be redesigned too, they are changing the architecture because of the new multiprocess model the browser will be getting.

So does this strategy include extensions? Like ABP, FlashGot and Better Privacy?

I never really understood the difference between extensions and plugins.

 

[Zodiark1593]

Suppose it will be some time until I update once this version comes out. I like my Youtube downloader too much. I ditched Flash on my desktop though. The only thing that ever gave me issues was looking for Minecraft mods.

 

[Steltek]

So does this strategy include extensions? Like ABP, FlashGot and Better Privacy?

I never really understood the difference between extensions and plugins.

At the simplest level, plugins affect web pages, while extensions affect the web browser itself and/or how it processes web pages. For instance, a plugin can't (or shouldn't) alter the browser UI or create toolbars. An extension can (and many times is specifically intended to) do this.

APB, Flashgot, and Better Privacy are all extensions. As a result, they will have to be (probably heavily) modified to work with future versions of Firefox. It all depends upon what kind of hoops Mozilla plans to make the creators jump through to get them to work.

 

[Elixer]

Flash will be left alone as the only binary plugin, and that is just wrong.

Flash is the #1 attack vector for scumbags to use on people, and should be removed by 2016, but no, they all will still have this axis of evil plugin available.

 

[tyler_hob]

I used mostly firefox addons. If Mozilla do this, i will quit

 

[TheRyuu]

I used mostly firefox addons. If Mozilla do this, i will quit

Addons != plugins. Addons are basically javascript and will still work sure fine. Plugins are things like Flash, pdfium, etc...

So they're not even replacing it with PPAPI? They're just nuking all plugin support? I don't know about this one...

 

[sbpromania]

They are going to remove only "NPAPI Plugins", not all plugins.

 

[ultimatebob]

Please kill the Java plugin, please! That thing is one giant gaping security hole!

Besides, the Chrome guys already did it.