The Annoyances of Proprietary Firefox Extensions

Dec 22, 2008, 16:01 (5 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Bruce Byfield)

"Captive audiences

"What annoys me about many of the proprietary extensions is that they are not just extra pieces of functionality for me to pick and choose, but efforts to enlist me as a customer for a new startup. Take, for example, Interclue. In theory, Interclue is a useful add-on that allows you to view a link in a popup window before you actually move to it. However, its developers want to monetize it, so the extension includes several features asking for donations. I have rarely seen a clearer case of a good idea being ruined by nagware, and what Interclue will be like if the developers make good their threat to add special offers from their business partners to the functionality, I shudder to imagine. My only comfort is that, while Interclue might temporarily become attractive to businesses as a way around Adblocker, the basic idea seems far too slender to build a lasting business upon.

"A still more annoying extension is Sxipper. While described on Firefox Add-ons as a password manager, Sxipper is actually an identity manager that also controls the information given to forms and allows you to create different profiles or collections of personal information that you can give out as you choose."

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