Hey marc,

Nothing you wrote made sense to me. Not only my firefox is perfectly capable of
installing extensions, the problem(s) you describe seems from another planet. Or
from somebody having a mental breakdown.

If you load a temporary addons, why would would believe that it ought to be
permanent? More over, have you verified that your profile folder is writable?
Check about:profiles, the extensions folder should be full of xpi files.

Maybe your container resets its file system after each usage though, and only
keep specific files in specific paths… Who knows?!

You have an exotic setup, and are probably the only one that understands it. In
any case, firefox is probably not to blame here.

Cheers,
                 Ludovic

PS: I have no idea about the core issue, and I know nothing about lxc. So I just
     threw some ideas around. Though explaining what lxc does might be more
     helpful.

On Mon, 25 Jul 2022, marc wrote:

>Hello list
>
>I am running various versions of devuan (chimera, but also beowulf) in
>lxc containers, and the versions of firefox shipping with devuan
>refuse to install extensions on a permanent basis.
>
>I can go to
>
>"add-ons and themes->manage your extensions->cog->debug add-ons->load temporary add-on"
>
>and get things like noscript to run, but sadly that doesn't last.
>This is on firefox 91.11.0, and also some earlier versions.
>The other install methods prompt me for an accept/install, and
>then just do nothing...
>
>I am just holding it wrong and is there a magic setting which will
>let me install addons permanently ? I did go to about:config, and after several
>obnoxiously patronising warnings, set the "xpinstall.signatures.required"
>to "false". Alas, that did not seem to make a difference.
>
>I did disable all the telemetry (including the live blocklist
>downloads, etc)... Maybe the logic baked into firefox only lets one
>install extensions if one consents to regular body cavity searches ?
>
>Or maybe there is logic to detect containers so that the all seeing
>eye can require live humans with camera and microphone to present
>themselves to the browser ? I have "lxc.cap.drop = sys_module mknod net_raw"
>and an intermediate proxy set...
>
>Suggestions are appreciated - my "apt-cache search" did not show
>anything called iceweasel, nor palemoon, nor waterfox. Would it be possible
>to include these in the devuan repository, or perhaps (a thankless
>task, I believe) build a version of firefox with no user-hostile
>logic enabled. Though one imagines that would have the benefit
>of halving the executable size.
>
>I am not keen to install anything chrome related or derived - that
>hands google yet more initiative for the offensive addition
>of ever more web mis-features. I think this used be called the
>upgrade treadmill in the paid-for software era.
>
>Though admittedly I am also beginning to suspect that google only
>keeps mozilla around as pet, to trot out when the regulators
>stir in their slumber and mumble something about anti-trust
>or market distortion.
>
>Is that as dire as I think ? Should I start planning
>a full escape into the gemini universe ? Or is there still
>hope - is it still possible to assemble a browser+configuration
>which is featureful, ad-free and privacy respecting, to suit up in,
>to climb out the airlock and venture forth out into the corporate
>wasteland that is the modern web to scavenge a last few bits of
>useful information, underneath the heaps of used dopamine
>syringes, ad-excrement and other web-addict paraphernalia ?
>
>regards
>
>marc