
When all online tests are invalidated, blame Mr. Robot - betterunix2
https://www.reddit.com/r/talesfromtechsupport/comments/7k7wum/when_all_online_tests_are_invalidated_blame_mr/
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csydas
The non-reddit version of this story:

A redditor manages a computer lab that is heavily secured for specific tests
which require locked-down computers. They decided on Firefox for the browser,
and the Mr.Robot plugin stunt invalidated a test series because it was an
unofficial plugin.

They installed chromium as a workaround. Their CIO was not happy.

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justinjlynn
Tests were re-validated after some review by the test provider. While I can't
in any way condone how Mozilla violated user trust when they side-loaded that
extension, perhaps the test provider should specify Firefox Extended Support
Releases (ESR) if they're going to require specific fixed setups like that
(with all auto-updates disabled). A signed golden master provided by the test
service would also go a long way in preventing problems like this, or at least
providing a means of redress for already thinly stretched university IT
departments.

Finally, I'm surprised they haven't blocked any and all network access, except
for registered testing servers, via netfilter. So, there's that.

~~~
csydas
My experience with the test providers is that often they partner with another
company that handles the technology side of things, which is often hack-ish at
best. Universities often have the choice of directing their students to
authorized test centers with heavily locked down machines (and a nominal
testing fee), or try to recreate such an environment with their own equipment
and rooms. The difficulty with this is that often the provided tools for
locking down a computer lab are woefully out of date, relying on old browsers
or software components that are EOL or just quite out of date, which isn't
very compatible with the trend towards auto-update software/OSes. It's a bad
situation for students and educators alike as they have no professional
alternative for their careers and it just ends up being an awkward time of the
year for many people.

Some of my most stressful memories from my professional career were simple
compatibility issues that got overlooked during a wave of updates, and
suddenly a bunch of nursing students or education students have a ticking
timer on a certification test where parts of it won't load because X plugin is
incompatible with Y part of the test.

~~~
justinjlynn
Sounds like a market opportunity to me.

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muraiki
Here's something that I don't understand. Mr. Robot is ultimately owned by
Comcast. Comcast of course has spent an enormous amount of money destroying
net neutrality. Why is Mozilla supporting a company that's at odds with
Mozilla's claimed goals?

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chii
Because of money. When a company does something, it's because of money.

~~~
muraiki
I can't find the article I read that explained this, but apparently this was
done without any financial compensation to Mozilla.

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itronitron
the timing is interesting, coming several days after the end of net neutrality

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noncoml
Am I the only one who doesn't see this plugin installed?

~~~
john_moscow
I was going to check my plugin list as well after I read this, only to realize
I switched to Chrome a few months ago.

~~~
noncoml
I was going to suggest to switch back to Firefox 57 and give it another
chance, but I guess the timing couldn't be worst.

