[arch-general] Firefox Themes Will Not Install / Disabled - Unsecure Extenstion Updates

[David C. Rankin]

Guys,

	After the latest firefox updates, most of my themes were disabled and new themes would not install. After the automatic update check tried to install the Foxide Graphite theme, I found out why. During the install, I received a messages telling me that firefox would not install the theme because it did not provide a secure update path. Digging a little bit disclosed the following:

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Unable_to_install_themes_or_extensions_-_Firefox

Unsecured updating

     Firefox 3 and above: Starting in Firefox 3, if an add-on does not provide a secure method of auto-updating then, by default, Firefox will refuse to install the add-on. If you have add-ons already installed that are insecure in this way, they will be automatically disabled. [6] Add-ons from AMO (https://addons.mozilla.org/) and other secured sites are not a problem; for add-ons that do provide a secure updating method, advanced users can add the preference extensions.checkUpdateSecurity (http://kb.mozillazine.org/Extensions.checkUpdateSecurity) and set it to false (not recommended). See this article:

  http://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Extension_Versioning%2C_Update_and_Compatibility#Securing_Updates

  and bug 378216 (https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=378216) for more information.

	For testing purposes only, I added extensions.checkUpdateSecurity (booleen = false) to about:config and magically, all of my themes were working again. (Note: this is not advisable due to security concerns, use with discretion)

(ps - I know this is a cross post ;-)

-- 
David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E.
Rankin Law Firm, PLLC
510 Ochiltree Street
Nacogdoches, Texas 75961
Telephone: (936) 715-9333
Facsimile: (936) 715-9339
www.rankinlawfirm.com