aboutsummaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/addons.mozilla.org-fsd/README.md
blob: 5d2fb5a9256318088a7b7dbc13fc572ee471195e (plain) (blame)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
#####################################################################
About this project

This project has been developed to syncronize addons.mozilla.org (AMO)
WebExtension entries that is compatible with IceCat (version 60+) to
the Free Software Directory entries
(https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Collection:IceCat), example
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/librejs/ with
https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/LibreJS. For more about IceCat see the
`About IceCat` section and read the `About WebExtensions` section to
find out why legacy add-ons are excluded.

Icedove add-ons is not synced yet because Thunderbird still hasn't
implemented WebExtension support, but it's discussed by the Mozilla
developers, see https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1396172
For more about Icedove see the `About Icedove` section.

This script uses the Mozilla add-on API
(https://addons-server.readthedocs.io/en/latest/topics/api/addons.html),
and decides what to do with add-ons distributed under a free
license. A lot of developers have added a license on the
addons.mozilla.org page for their add-on but are not aware of the
common guidelines to make their programs fully free because Mozilla
never informed them about it. Common issues:
* COPYING or LICENSE file in the root directory for example.
* There are no (full) license notices in the non-trivial source files

Add-ons that doesn't have these issues will get generated XML files
that can be synced to the Free Software Directory while add-ons that
has these issues will generated on a list so we can contact the
developers and ask them to fix them.

I've decided to set the uppder limit for WebExtensions to have 10 000
daily users or more so we have a chance to work on the most relevant
add-ons since there are many thousands of add-ons on
addons.mozilla.org. However a few add-ons that has less than 10 000
daily users are highly relevant (for example
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/librejs/ at this
writing) so the script will be able to include add-ons from customized
so called Collections from addons.mozilla.org (example,
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/collections/DavidHedlund/)
where they can be managed, or from a simple text document that lists
the addons.mozilla.org URL's.

#####################################################################
About addons.mozilla.org

Mozilla's description: "Addons.mozilla.org (AMO), is Mozilla's
official site for discovering and installing add-ons for the Firefox
browser. Add-ons help you modify and personalize your browsing
experience by adding new features to Firefox, enhancing your
interactions with Web content, and changing the way your browser
looks.

You can also use AMO to find add-ons for Mozilla Thunderbird and
SeaMonkey." - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/about

#####################################################################
About WebExtensions

GNU IceCat 60 is based on Firefox ESR 60 which is the first Firefox
ESR version based on Firefox Quantum (Firefox 57+). Firefox Quantum
removed support for legacy add-ons and only run WebExtension
add-ons. WebExtensions is a new browser extension compatible with the
extensions APIs of Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.

#####################################################################
About GNU IceCat

IceCat is the unbranded version of Firefox ESR.

GNU IceCat aim to be based on the the current official release of
Firefox Extended Support Release (ESR) with removal of trademarked
artwork and proprietary components.

However, IceCat is not a straight fork of Firefox ESR; instead, it is
a parallel effort that works closely with and re-bases in
synchronization on the latest Firefox ESR as the upstream supplier,
with patches merged upstream whenever possible; although it should be
noted that additional security updates are customized to IceCat
occasionally.

#####################################################################
About Icedove

Icedove is the unbranded version of Thunderbird.