Query about parasitic firefox file

[Bret Busby]

On 24/03/2018, Ralf Mardorf <silver.bullet at zoho.com> wrote:
> On Fri, 23 Mar 2018 11:09:27 +0000, Colin Law wrote:
>>Possibly all updates *include* security updates, but they may also
>>include feature changes which some users may like, others may hate.
>
> If a new release of Firefox should not fix a security issue, I doubt
> that Ubuntu packagers would provide a Firefox package update, nor for
> an Ubuntu LTS release, neither for a non-LTS release. Note, Firefox is
> in main! If it would make sense, the packagers, respl. the security
> team most likely would patch an older release of Firefox, instead of
> upgrading to a new release. If Ubuntu provides an update to a newer
> version of Firefox, the update not just "possibly" includes a security
> update, the one and only reason much likely is security only.
>
>

As published at
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/57.0/releasenotes/
(Note - it is currently at v59)

"

57.0
Firefox Release

November 14, 2017
Version 57.0, first offered to Release channel users on November 14, 2017

Brace yourself for an all-new Firefox. It’s fast. Really fast. It’s
over twice as fast as Firefox from 6 months ago, built on a completely
overhauled core engine with brand new technology from our advanced
research group, and graced with a clean, modern interface. Today is
the first of several releases we’re calling Firefox Quantum, all
designed to get to the things you love and the stuff you need faster
than ever before. Experience the difference on desktops running
Windows, macOS, and Linux; on Android, speed improvements are landing
as well, and both Android and iOS have a new look and feel. To learn
more about Firefox Quantum, visit the Mozilla Blog.

Making Firefox look, feel and perform faster was no small feat.
Employees and volunteers from around the world worked in record time
to create the best Firefox yet. We'd like to extend a special thank
you to all of the new Mozillians who contributed to this release of
Firefox!

New

    A completely new browsing engine, designed to take full advantage
of the processing power in modern devices

    A redesigned interface with a clean, modern appearance, consistent
visual elements, and optimizations for touch screens

    A unified address and search bar. New installs will see this
unified bar. Learn how to add the stand-alone search bar to the
toolbar

    A revamped new tab page that includes top visited sites, recently
visited pages, and recommendations from Pocket (in the US, Canada, and
Germany)

    An updated product tour to orient new and returning Firefox users

    Video decoding is shut down when the tab playing the media is sent
to the background or the video is not visible on the screen. Video
resumes when the media tab is in the foreground and the player is
visible on the screen. Audio will not be affected.

    AMD VP9 hardware video decoder support for improved video playback
with lower power consumption
"

and emphatically

"
Firefox now exclusively supports extensions built using the
WebExtension API, and unsupported legacy extensions will no longer
work.
"

It is nothing to do with security - it is "Stuff the users - lets have
some fun and see how we can mess it up!".


Improved speed? More like going from running on grass, to running in
waist-deep oil.

It is a problem with blindly trusting "upgrades"/"updates".

-- 

Bret Busby
Armadale
West Australia

..............

"So once you do know what the question actually is,
 you'll know what the answer means."
- Deep Thought,
 Chapter 28 of Book 1 of
 "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
 A Trilogy In Four Parts",
 written by Douglas Adams,
 published by Pan Books, 1992

....................................................