this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2023
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What's the best way to sideload extensions? (lemdro.id)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by 2kool4idkwhat@lemdro.id to c/firefox@lemmy.ml
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I've wanted to install an extension from outside addons.mozilla.org, but Firefox didn't let me do it

So I've did a small research and looks like there are 3 ways to sideload extensions, but all of them suck

  1. Using FF Developer Edition

In the Dev Edition you can set xpinstall.signatures.required to false in about:config, but the problem is that the Dev Edition isn't as stable as standard FF

  1. Temporarily load the extension

In about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox you can temporarily sideload extensions, but they will be removed next time you open FF, which is annoying

  1. Modify FF code

Lastly, I found this script which modifies the FF code, but this can break things so I don't want to use it

I'm really annoyed that Mozilla gets to decide which extensions I can install. So... what's the best way to sideload extensions?

Edit: thanks everyone, I'm now using a FF fork (Librewolf) which lets me sideload extensions after disabling xpinstall.signatures.required

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[–] redxef@feddit.de 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You can place the .xpi file in a special folder. On my linux system that is in /usr/lib/firefox/browser/extensions/. Which would be the system wide folder. There are others which only affect the current user thkugh.

The user folder is $profile_dir/extensions/. To open the profile directory you can type about:profile in you address bar and click on Open Directory besides Root Directory in the default profile section.

[–] Johanno@feddit.de 0 points 1 year ago

Compile Firefox from scratch. Use a fork of Firefox like librewolf that allows side loading.

(idk if librewolf allows it)

[–] d_k_bo@feddit.de 0 points 1 year ago

I agree that this is annoying and feels somewhat similar to apple's locked down ecosystem.