An explanation
With the number of emails I’ve been receiving, I thought I should offer an explanation as to why Wizz RSS is being shutdown.
There has been an ongoing security issue with regard to the Wizz RSS code. The problem was first reported by Wladimir Palant in December 2008, and a Security Vulnerability Report was lodged by Nick Freeman of Security-Assessment.com in February 2009. The vulnerabilities were addressed by myself in accordance with Nick Freeman’s report (Which also covered the original vulnerability reported by Wladimir Palant), and a patched version of Wizz RSS (I can’t remember the version number) was made public.
In Wladimir Palant’s original report (Which I suspect very strongly was motivated an ulterior agenda - Which of course he denies) the recommendation was made that I use nsIScriptableUnescapeHTML.parseFragment() to plug the vulnerability. I tired unsuccessfully to apply nsIScriptableUnescapeHTML.parseFragment(), but being satisfied that the vulnerabilities reported by Nick Freeman had successfully been plugged, I didn’t worry about it.
Because the original report by Wladimir Palant was never closed, on 11 November Wil Clouser asked Jorge Villalobos to look into the matter. I responded to Wil Clouser’s request, saying that Wladimir Palant, as the original reporter of the problem, should check my reported vulnerability fix, which he eventually did. The result of Wladimir Palant’s check turned up another vulnerability, and another recommendation that I apply nsIScriptableUnescapeHTML.parseFragment(). Once again I unsuccessfully attempted to apply nsIScriptableUnescapeHTML.parseFragment(). Even though my attempt to apply nsIScriptableUnescapeHTML.parseFragment() was unsuccessful, I still managed to plug the new vulnerability and I made a patched version of the code available for further testing.
On 12 November Wladimir Palant offered a snippet of code explaining the implementation nsIScriptableUnescapeHTML.parseFragment(). Being very grateful for the snippet and explanation, I was about to apply it to the code when I read this comment by Jorge Villalobos (The final straw): -
After reviewing these comments and the extension code, it is clear to me that
the current effort to secure the add-on is misguided. You can’t just rely on
’sanitizing’ input and expect it to be “safe enough”, specially when there are
clearly safer alternatives.I have sandboxed all versions of Wizz RSS News Reader except the latest one,
and all versions of Reader Lite, including the latest. Its trusted status has
been revoked as well.Mike, you have 2 weeks to correct your extension code to make it safe. You
should upload the update on AMO and let us know so that we can review it. If
you don’t comply by then, your latest version will be sandboxed as well. I also
recommend you read our latest add-on policies
(https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/developers/docs/policies/) and make sure you
comply with all of them. For example, your current version doesn’t follow our
namespacing guidelines, which makes your add-on a likely cause of compatibility
problems.
And here is my response to Jorge’s comment: -
@Jorge: Five years ago, when I first started working on this extension, there
were no namespacing guidelines. As far as I’m aware, there has never been any
request for older extensions (i.e. Those that don’t comply with the namespacing
guidelines) to be updated to conform with the namespacing guidelines. Perhaps,
if you want to be consistent with the namespacing guidelines that you want to
now enforce of me, you should take a look at all of the older extensions?To be perfectly honest, I have much better things to do with my life than to
waste anymore of it on Firefox.
November 14th, 2009 at 9:43 am
I will not uninstall Wizz ever ! It’s part of my life !
November 14th, 2009 at 10:06 am
I don’t normally post comments, but I wanted to offer a quick vote of support; an affirmation of sorts. I would hope & expect that I’m not alone. Sadly, I know how you feel; I’ve been there / done that, and find myself more & more frequently in this awkward, unappreciated position. Namely, a handful of worker-bees doing the work, and a whole lot of friggin’ queen bees out there thinking they rule the hive. Perhaps not a great analogy. Regardless, the egos have outgrown the software; & even though I’m an avid firefox *user*, and think wizzrss is a dang nifty old-time favorite add-on — there should be a hall-of-fame of the “classics”, I think — I totally appreciate your perspective & respect your position. Maybe, some day, given enough distance (and enough positive feedback?), you’ll be able to pick it back up. But, the “software” ain’t the priority — it never was. It’s about people. The “egos” never really got that (and are farther from it now than ever).
Cheers,
-m
ps: this is a minor revision to my previous comment (just the meta-data). If you could, scratch the previous comment. Thanks…
November 14th, 2009 at 10:10 am
I won’t pretend to understand all of this, but to me it looks and sounds like “bollocks”.
Wizz RSS is the ONLY decent RSS Feed reader for Firefox. The others are in my view next to useless as they clutter the window, the toolbars etc. and are far too complex to set up and maintain.
I for one am not going to uninstall Wizz, and I’ll take my chances with it (if indeed that’s what’s involved, which I doubt) as long as it works with 3.5 and forward versions of Firefox.
I’ve written a small extension myself, and eventually got to the stage of telling the idiots at Mozilla to get stuffed after they turned something simple into ridiculously elaborate.
I hope that something sensible can be sorted out, as I WANT WIZZ!
Cheers
Peter
(in once-Great Britain aka the Disunited Kingdom)
November 14th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Hi - I like reading these feeds. If I delete the extension do I lose them? And if I don’t delete the extension what’s going to happen? As of right now I’m leaving it on. You may email me. Ray
November 14th, 2009 at 10:50 am
Too bad,
Wizz RSS is my favorite !
November 14th, 2009 at 10:59 am
@Michael and others: Thanks for the support. It does help
Unfortunately the big egos of small people is usually and insurmountable problem.
@Peter: Unfortunately, Wizz RSS 3.1.0.4 will not work with Firefox 3.6. Maybe over the next few days, once I’ve calmed down a bit and got my own ego under control, I’ll apply the recommended nsIScriptableUnescapeHTML.parseFragment() fix to the 3.2.0.0 beta code and make it available through this blog.
@Ray: When you uninstall Wizz RSS, it will ask if you’d like to remove the Wizz RSS folder. If you choose to not remove the Wizz RSS folder, you will retain the feeds.
November 14th, 2009 at 10:59 am
Ray, you can get peace of mind by exporting your feed list, so that you can be sure you won’t lose it if you delete the extension. I think the OPML Export item in the Options etc. menu on the toolbar should be what you need. After using that you can presumably import the OPML file to another feed reader. I haven’t done this myself yet, but I would expect that it would also be wise to not uninstall Wizz until you make sure the new reader is working correctly and has all of your feeds imported.
As for what happens if you don’t delete the extension, presumably you are in principle exposed to whatever this security vulnerability is, and in addition no new updates will be forthcoming. Mike, will the Wizz server will continue to provide access to feed lists backed up there?
Anyway, I’m rather reluctant to switch myself. I don’t really know of anything else with comparable functionality, so I keep hoping that there will be some last minute salvation here. But assuming that doesn’t happen, good luck to you, Mike. It sounds like an unpleasant situation, so I guess maybe there’s no reasonable alternative, but I’ll be sorry to see Wizz go.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:35 am
Wizz has been the best feed reader I’ve ever used. What a shame this has happened.
Going to stick with Wizz until someone can point me to another reader, Any suggestions?
November 14th, 2009 at 11:43 am
I can but second Peter’s words: Wizz RSS is the best RSS reader for Firefox so I’m not going to uninstall it, period.
BTW, there’s a new extension, Add-on Compatibility Reporter, available at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/15003 which turns compatibility check off; it enabled me to install Wizz RSS 3.2.0.0 on Fx 3.6b2 and I can say it (Wizz RSS, I mean) works perfectly, it read my saved feeds so export turned out to be nothing more than just precaution. (I don’t use fancy features, though; my normal version I used previously was Wizz RSS Lite.) Will it make 3.1.0.4 work with Fx 3.6? I don’t know.
Mike, anger is not, and never was, a good advisor, I can tell you that from my own experience. If you must kill Wizz RSS, do it in cold blood. I for one would ask for granting it pardon, though.
Thank you for your great extension. Take care!
November 14th, 2009 at 11:45 am
Well, I’ll take the risk and continue to use it even if it’s not considered 100% secure.
It’s the best RSS extension I tested.
Thanks for your work!
November 14th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
I am not likely to remove the WizzRSS extension. I have been using it for years now and an acceptable alternative is not available.
I would like to know however what kind of security issues are present (preferably in layman’s terms). So I can decide for myself whether or not I want to accept the risks involved.
Since I use WizzRSS on a Mac the risks might not be there at all?
Keep on the good work. Your efforts are appreciated. Strictly following Mozilla’s guidelines shouldn’t be anyone’s first priority.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Hi Mike
Really disappointed to see this going on. I love Wizz and feel lost without it. There’s nothing else that gives the same service.
Hope to see you back up and at it again.
Lincoln
November 14th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
I agree with all of the above comments - small minded, self interested idiots distroy so much that is good. Your excellent plug-in is going to stay in my Firefox as long as possible.
Thanks for all your efforts and so sorry to learn that Mozilla is/has been taken over by the political asses.
Cheers,
Charles
November 14th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
There is no decent replacement to WizzRSS, and I indeed will not deinstall it ether. Please try your best, hold out
and settle down with those EGOs.
Sincerely O.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Wizz RSS is a great extension, and I am sure like me, hundreds of other users appreciate the time you freely spend adding value to Firefox. It is only the great extensions like Wizz RSS which prevents thousands using IE8 instead.
I hope you can rise above people who get a bit above their station and continue this worthwhile extension, not for Jorge Villalobos, but for us, your fans
November 14th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
I’ll keep using my excellent Wizz.
Greetings from Rio.
- c.a.t.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Nooooo! :’(
We need Wizz RSS! It’s the most useful and comfortable-in-use add-on for reading RSS in FF!
We need u
P.S.
Sorry for my English if there is some mistakes.
Cheers,
KK
November 14th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Mike,
Please take this as another message of support. I have been using Wizz RSS since I cannot remember when. Thank you very much for such a ‘wunderschön’ add-on. I tried almost all the RSS Feed readers out there and Wizz stands out of the lot.
I definitely have no intention of uninstalling. Here’s hoping the knowledge of this helps you cool down a wee bit.
Regards.
November 14th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
I’d like to have Wizz Rss 4.x installed one day!
Please don’t stop working for your extension.
November 14th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Wizz RSS is so useful to me that I will not be turning it off. Thank you for such a functional piece of software. I hope you can summon up the motivation to keep going.
November 14th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Pity it has to go this way. I almost can’t without this fine plugin! I hope you can “follow the rules”
Good luck!
November 14th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
I do understand your point of going on with your life and not wasting your time due to these kinds of “threats”.
I fully support the comment about the reader, I tried several and since yesterday looking for an alternative but so far there is NONE. I am wondering which real threat staying with WizzRSS is, as far as you use it. Will it only be not supported in the next release or also expose you computer.
Hope you can continue the reader through development.
November 14th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
WIZZ RSS is awesome. I’m not uninstalling it.
November 14th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
I just found Wizz recently, and let me say this: It’s going to stay. Period. Please keep up your good work.
November 14th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
I am also throwing my hat into the “won’t install till there’s something better out there.” Your reader is outstanding and I really want to thank you for what you’ve done with it. Please tell us exactly what the vulnerability is so we can access how much of a threat this is if we do continue to use it. Thank you again for your hard work on this!
November 14th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
I agree with the previous posters. There’s nothing comparable to WizzRSS & I have no intention of deleting it. I can’t survive without it.
I think Przemyslaw Jackowski’s advice in re anger is really apt. At the risk of being presumptuous, I would like to urge you to follow it. You’ve got something really special here that means a lot to many people. I would hate to see you make a decision like this based on emotion, regardless how understandable your frustration over all the technical ankle-biting seems (to this non-web programmer) to be.
November 14th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
I am devastated. Have used Wizz since electrons were invented and am not going to stop now! I agree with all the above comments and would hope that you can move on and resurrect this wonderful creation of yours.
November 14th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Definitively:
Is or not sure to have WizzRss in my Pc??
¿Qué puedo hacer para seguir leyendo todas las webs que tenía con este lector?
Gracias
November 14th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Wizz RSS is the READER.
November 14th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Sorry - I ain’t going to uninstall it either Mike. Best FF reader I’ve seen so far - and I’ve looked at a few.
Neil
November 14th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Another note of support here. Wizz is rss as far as I’m concerned. I’m in the habit of constantly trying new software to make sure i’m using the best out there. I’ve tried all the other readers and none have lasted more than five minutes before being chucked out. Wizz is the perfect feed reader from me. Simple layout, doesn’t try to take over the browser and just a very sensible implementation of the functions you would need and expect from a feed reader. It really is one of my favourite and most used bits of software. I’m devastated to learn it’s being killed off but I totally support your decision. You are a total stranger to me and yet through your unselfish work you have enriched my browsing experience for which I am very grateful. Uninstalling wizz will leave a big hole in firefox that can’t be plugged.
I repair a lot of pc’s and i always give them back with a little bit more functionality than they originally had and wizz is something i constantly add for people. So how insecure is this vulnerability? Should i tell these people to remove wizz. Is there anywhere with some discussion in lay man terms about exactly what this vulnerability is?
Anyway thanks for your great news reader and i hope you can get over your problems with mozilla because those idiots need to realise that firefox will never be quite the same for thousands of people out there without wizz.
Take care,
November 14th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
DUDE!! Do not kill WizzRSS! I’ve been using it for years now. Open source it? WizzRSS becomes the ‘community’ edition and then create a ‘plus’ edition that is paid? There’s really nothing like it out there, it’s quick, easy and stable.
November 14th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
What can I do to continue reading all the webs that had with this reader?
November 14th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Please please please!
Don’t shut down Wizz!
Makes us happy every day,
We don’t want it go away!
November 14th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
I’m quite overwhelmed by all all of the support that has been expressed
Thanks to all of you.
To those who want to uninstall Wizz RSS without losing their feeds: Use the OPML export functionality, which is explained here - http://www.wizzrss.com/helpwiki/index.php/OPML_Export - You should then be able to import that OPML into another feed readers.
To those who have asked for more details of the vulnerability: It would be extremely irresponsible for me to disclose details of the vulnerability. The scum of the Internet would swoop on it in seconds, potentially exposing thousands of people to malicious attacks. Seeing as so many are refusing to uninstall, and thus exposing themselves to potential malicious attack, I undertake to secure the 3.2.0.0 code and make it public through this blog early next week. Unfortunately, Wizz RSS 3.2.0.0 will require that you upgrade to Firefox 3.6b2.
November 14th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
So what exactly are the security vulnerabilities? I don’t understand the problem here at all. I really love your extension Mike - by far the best newsreader - nothing else even comes close - but I don’t know why this has turned into such an “issue.”
I guess maybe you have to be a web developer to understand, which I’m not. I’m just a consumer. If these security issues are just somebody’s private war with the developer, I think we’re entitled to know that. Where is Mozilla’s statement about this?
I’m confused. Is Wizz suddenly going to open me up to viruses and other nasty things? Is uninstalling it the only answer? I hate to lose this most valuable extension, but I hate to get infected even more.
Help us!
November 14th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
I will not be uninstalling WizzRSS. I will also not be upgrading FireFox to a version incompatible with WizzRSS. Wizz RSS is too important a business tool for me and the many users at my company to simply walk away. Mike and Firefox, given the combined history of your respectively valuable innovations, you now have a responsibility to a large and satisfied user community to continue supporting each others products as you have done for many years and solve this issue. Keep moving forward. Keep pushing the envelope. It’s too important.
November 14th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
@ric: The security vulnerabilities have always been in the Wizz RSS code, but they have only been discovered recently. Using Wizz RSS is not going to suddenly expose you to anything, unless someone discloses details of the vulnerabilities - hence the issue. I have done what I can to make all Wizz RSS users aware of the vulnerability, and will provide beta code early next week that closes the holes for good… I hope.
November 14th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
I’ve been trying many RSS extensions for Firefox, and Wizz is the best for my needs and taste. I have no intention to uninstall it. Gonna keep using it until it’s still compatible with new releases of firefox, and when it will become incompatible I hope there will be a new release around, either on mozdev or on your blog.
November 14th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
There is simply not another feed reader that compares to WizzRSS. Please keep it going. I do sympathize with your frustration and I hope the Firefox people will read these responses and get their act together. Meanwhile, I will continue to use WizzRSS as long as I can.
November 14th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
WizzRSS is the best reader. Don’t let them win. You have created something really good. It takes no talent to criticize. It takes talent to create something for the world to use.
I will not uninstall.
November 14th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
#SaveWizzRSS http://wizzrss.blat.co.za/2009/11/14/an-explanation/
Tweet it out!!!
November 14th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Here’s another voice in support. Thank you for setting the personal feelings about how you’ve been treated aside, and indulging your user base — users, who, in my experience, will only ask for more features and barely ever express their appreciation for whatever free service comes their way — until, that is, their favorite toy almost gets taken away! Thank you again.
November 14th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
I’m not concerned to get updates from Mozilla site if I can get them here.
I trust you to sort out a “secure” version and I will keep using what I have for now.
Bureaucrats, doh!
November 14th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Something I’ve just realized that I should explain: Wizz RSS’ non-compliance with the Firefox namespacing guidelines has nothing whatsoever to do with the vulnerabilities. However, bringing the Wizz RSS code inline with the namespacing guidelines is a huge job. A job that I don’t have time for.
November 14th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Another please keep it going message, keeping on top of blog posts would be a nightmare without it.
November 14th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
I’m really disappointed to hear this. I refused to even get into RSS until I found this add-on, with its Watch List being exactly the reason RSS was invented.
November 14th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
I must add my name to the rest of your supporters! I really like WizzRSS as there is nothing as good either Firefox compatible or standalone out there. I’m not going to say that i understand what this “name spacing” thing is about or what it does. I’m wondering if you can just put this program out on your own. With all us supporters out there we can maybe help you keep this program patched. Or we can maybe can start a Forum where you can tell us what we can do to protect ourselves. Maybe i have know idea what i’m talking about here. what i do know is i like and need this program and i’m not likely to un-install it any time soon. If we absolutely must shut WizzRSS down can you recommend an alternative reader? i’ve tried so many and i don’t like them at all.
November 14th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
Really, Wizz is an indispensable tool for tracking the feeds I read daily. The others I tried are garbage (I’d use more colorful language but it would probably get yanked). I’m not entirely certain that the guys at Mozilla have any right to tell anyone how to write their code. Sure they may elect not to advertise the product on their site - that’s their option. We all know and love Wizz and as a result will refrain from refraining.
As for the security issue - that’s a load - seriously. It’s another excuse to coerce people into doing things “their way”. Tell em to sod off.
-e.
November 14th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
Another voice of support for WizRSS — it is one of my most-used pieces of software, and have no plans to uninstall. If I have to upgrade to Firefox 3.6b, well, then so be it!
November 14th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
To be blunt, this doesn’t bode well for Mozilla Firefox. The more difficult it is to author add-ons (either technically or for “process” reasons) the less likely it is that people will author them and/or the less attractive Mozilla Firefox will be to authors and end-users. Mozilla Firefox needs to make authoring add-ons more transparent - not less. This is a major reason for it’s success vs Microsoft et al.
So, I believe that all of this can be traced to one thing: money. Someone wants to make a buck by (essentially) squashing the competition or doing the “bait and switch”, etc. (I suspect everyone in this regard).
But, I have enjoyed Wizz RSS. Good Luck Mike.
p.s. There’s an obvious replacement add-on (I won’t mention it’s name); it’s almost a copy of Wizz at first glance, but, it is dumbed down (vs Wizz) and simply not as good. I wonder if there’s any connection between Wizz’s demise and this thing?
November 14th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
I wonder if anyone can tell me if this is a “Windows only” vulnerability or if this can affect a Linux Box? I use Linux and don’t believe it would affect me. I haven’t seen any particulars on how this vulnerability works.
November 14th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
I’been using WizzRSS for a long time. I discarded many RSS readers because they didn’t fill my expectations. WizzRSS was the only one. A true shame to loose it.
Hey, maybe you reached a momentum where you have to change. Changes are two faces, good and bad. Don’t give up up, take it easy. You’re looking one side of the coin.
WizzRSS is a GOOD WORK. I know it. You know it. I think everybody does.
November 14th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
I, like so many others, experiment with many apps before deciding on the one I will use. I have been doing this for 25 -years.
Wizz is my RSS reader of choice for FF and I will very disappointed if you choose to abandon the project.
Thanks for all the effort to-date and please reconsider your decision.
November 14th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
I am another happy user of Wizz, and I’d love to see it stay up on the Addons site for future users. At the risk of sounding like the bad guy, I do understand why the AMO guys are requesting the namespace update, although a two week window hardly seems like a fair shake for a guy with a job (who has been adding value to their site for years). I’m not sure what the etiquette may be for mentioning this, but I took a look at your code, and if the AMO guidelines that Jorge is referring to in your post are simply related to ‘polluting the global namespace’, I’d be happy to volunteer my services to assist in some of the grunt-work required to bring the code up to spec. I haven’t worked on FF addons since the 1.5/2.0 days, but my JS skills should be up to snuff. Feel free to email me if you’re interested.
November 14th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
It’s a shame, but this is the second major complaint I’ve heard from Firefox add-in authors, about how difficult and tedious it is to write to Firefox.
I have been having problems lately with the raw amount of memory that Firefox has been leaking in recent releases (50KB/second with only 2 webpages open on my system), and the only thing holding me back from switching was the extensions I use - 2 of them. This one and one other. Guess which 2 authors I heard frustrations from ?
SO, come on over to Chrome where writing extensions seems quite a bit more straightforward and the platform itself is substantially more stable and efficient. I can’t wait to see Wizz RSS for Chrome ! (We need something like this)
November 14th, 2009 at 11:59 pm
wizz rss is the best rss reader i’ve found. would be a shame to see it not get updated in the future.
i’ve only got six feeds to update, and still i don’t know how i would endure without my wizzrss!
i’ll be keeping my version installed even if it has security issues.
November 15th, 2009 at 12:53 am
I like most everyone else will not uninstall Wizz nor upgrade Firefox to a version that will not support it.
November 15th, 2009 at 1:05 am
Mike,
The expectation to update the software with new “namespacing” requirements is ridiculous, counterproductive and frankly indefensible. This type of “existing items have to meet brand new standards” expectation is not inflicted in housing, cars, computer hardware, etc. unless there’s a safety issue. If namespacing has nothing to do with security then this issue should be appealed to a higher authority. This is the kind of bureaucratic stupidity that is becoming far to common in our society.
Good luck and hang in there! Wizz is great! They’ll have to pry it out of my cold, dead fingers!
November 15th, 2009 at 1:57 am
Very Sad - I was using WizzRSS for years…
Suited my needs perfectly.
Thanks for all your effort and all the best.
November 15th, 2009 at 2:55 am
I like wizz and don’t think I will uninstal. Is there a better RSS?
November 15th, 2009 at 3:12 am
Wizz rulez!
My suggestion is to make Wizz for chromium (or chrome) web browser.
I am using it a coulpe of days and the only reason I kept firefox is WizzRss.
November 15th, 2009 at 3:18 am
Mike, I really hope you can find the energy to go on with Wizz Rss. I use your add-on now for years (first wizz rss, later the light edition). I tried almost all other RSS readers for Firefox but all of them stayed miles away from Wizz Rss. Simply there is no replacement for Wizz Rss. So I will not uninstall Wizz Rss. I cannot live without it.
November 15th, 2009 at 4:02 am
i will not uninstall either
November 15th, 2009 at 4:50 am
Oh no … this is a terrible blow … I have been using WIZZ as my newsreader for about 3 yrs and am hopelessly dependent on it … guess I should have shown my appreciation with a donation - sorry about that.
I do hope that something can be worked out.
November 15th, 2009 at 4:52 am
After using Wizz since for so long that I can’t remember when I first installed it, I saw the alert page that popped up yesterday. Without researching the issue, I figured that it must be important, and uninstalled Wizz. Boy, am I sorry I did.
I’ve tried other FF reader extensions before, but nothing is as clean and easy to use. In less than 24 hours since I deleted it, my normally heavy RSS use has tanked because it’s so damn hard to use anything else.
Please, re-release Wizz on your own. I really want it back.
November 15th, 2009 at 6:59 am
@Ongytenes: The vulnerabilities are cross platform.
@Adam: I also understand the need for adherence to the namespacing guidelines. It is something I started working on many years ago, even before the namespacing guidelines were published. So I know full well what a nightmare job it’ll be. The Wizz RSS code, as it stands today, is the product of years of “evolution.” The code is not nicely structured, and is probably best described as spaghetti (A term that gives all programmers cold shivers). I also know that any attempt to get the code into nice neat classes will, at first, cause numerous bugs - And believe me, just testing all of the functionality in Wizz RSS is a mammoth task.
November 15th, 2009 at 8:48 am
Another vote of confidence from a very happy Wizz user, with no intention of uninstalling it. There is a Dutch proverb saying “the soup is never eaten as hot as it is served”, and I hope it will apply here too - that a solution can be found…
The technicalities are a bit beyond me, but I was wondering whether anything would stop me continuing to use Wizz if I refuse to uninstall it. Can I keep on using it if I upgrade to subsequent version of Firefox, or will it eventually stop working?
November 15th, 2009 at 9:03 am
@Koen: Mozilla does run a blocklist mechanism that, as far as I know, can be used to disable add-ons in Firefox. Apart from that, there is nothing that can force you to uninstall Wizz RSS.
November 15th, 2009 at 9:30 am
@Mike: Thanks for that clarification, Mike. I found some details on this here http://kb.mozillazine.org/Extensions.blocklist.enabled - “If blacklisted extensions are already installed, disable them, and prevent blacklisted extensions from being installed in the future.” One solution might be to set this preference to “false” (although that might facilitate the installation of malicious extensions, of course, and any user would need to ensure that any current and new extension is safe).
November 15th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Seriously, the only reason why i don’t switch to chrome (wich is better) is cuz the great extensions like this one. And if this continue im going to abandon firefox.
November 15th, 2009 at 11:23 am
I love Wizz RSS.
I’ll never uninstall it!!!
November 15th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Hello Mike,
count also me on the list of people supporting you and your extension.
I’ve been using it since a couple of years (or even more), RSS goes back to irritating stuff without WIZZRSS!
Your code might be spaghetti, but I guess in the sw world it is the main dish we eat everyday
Try what you can to plug the holes and go on!
Thanx!
Max
November 15th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Hi,
I am not going uninstall Wizz. As I usually don’t care about the usual crescendo and noise created occasionally about the security vulnerabilities as far as my home computer is concerned. As home, I never keep any personal or sensitive info info my computer and at my company they have all security related infrastructures like firewall, network isolation mechanisms, VLANs, VPNs etc. So they will (and they must) take care of that.
So, as I normal user at home (in fact I am a power user), I am not worried about that. (Yeah, I know the capabilities of hackers, and the only thing I used to check is that my computer is being used as a ’stepping stone’ to other systems. But I take precautions and I Port Blocking Software, Firewalls, (I feel Commodo is a good one - also Norton 360 (and everything is constantly updated)), Also, Anti-Spyware etc.
One last thing. At home I can switch of my computer whenever I like. (I can even switch it of without logging off - Just pull the power ! And I am becoming a master of this thing );
November 15th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
I also hope this thing will be sorted out. Not going to uninstall it. Thanks for the great extension.
November 15th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
One more who will NOT uninstall Wizz. It’s excellent. Period.
November 15th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
One more who will NOT, no Sir, uninstall Wizz. It’s an excellent add-on.
November 15th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Thanks for the excellent job with this add-on, you made a great tool for all of us. I will not uninstall Wizz RSS to!
I WANT WIZZ
best regard’s to Mike.
November 15th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Please, do not shutdown the project. It is one of my favorite extensions…
There are a lot of people all over the world that actually enjoy and appreciate your work. And I am one of them.
November 15th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Nope. Not going to uninstall it. Only decent RSS feed around and I have it customized to my exact needs. I will just refuse Firefox updates from here on out and take my chances. This is insane.
November 15th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Not going to uninstall. Good luck and hope you can reconsider and appeal to a higher Mozilla authority. Maybe a petition drive?
November 15th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
I’ve spent two hours following an friend’s advice and transferred all my Wizz RSS feeds to Thunderbird.
ThunderBird is not a substitute for Wizz RSS.
So I have come here and read these comments.
Back to Wizz RSS (with vulnerabilities) it is. Given the nature of the sites I take RSS feeds from (BBC, job sites, major web presences) I do not feel terrible concerned about said vulnerabilities.
November 15th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Wizz RSS is undoubtedly the best RSS feed Reader I’ve come across- big egos at firefox can shove their egos where the sun dont shine - I’ll keep using Wiz RSS and probably wont bother upgrading firefox if /when it becomes un-supportive of Wizz RSS ( Since thats the only reason i have firefox running -i prefer chrome so much except for its lack of add-ons)
November 15th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Mike, I am yet someone else who refuses to uninstall Wizz RSS. Thanks for all your work and please do think this over. This is a great rss reader.
November 15th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
G’day
WizzRSS was the first RSS feed plug-in I used, so until I went to find a replacement for it (after the security warning) I didn’t realise exactly how much it is the best RSS reader for Firefox. Nothing else comes close.
It sounds like you’ve been shafted by the Firefox people, which is quite disappointing. My opinion of Firefox has been dimming over the last year or so, and this does not help. If another browser came up with a Firebug plug-in, I’d drop Firefox in an instant. I can do without my other plug-ins, but Firebug is a requirement for work.
Perhaps suggesting to monetarise things is inappropriate, but if you were to come up with a figure you’d need to spend the time to re-assess the situation and permanently fix the code to Firefox’s liking, I’d certainly be prepared to pitch in to help. I’m sure many of the other users here would too.
And if you do decide to chuck it in, best of luck for your future endeavours.
–
Adam
November 15th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Funny old world…Wizz RSS is actually the reason that I still use Firefox, except for testing. I now use Chrome for most of my searching and general browsing.
With Wizz, I start much of my browsing in FF. Without it, I would move my RSS feeds to Google.
I _really_ appreciate all the work that you have done on this over the years, Mike!
November 15th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
@Adam: Thanks for the offer but I’m going to decline.
I’ve chained myself to Firefox for far too long. Believing, rather stupidly, that I was contributing to a worthwhile cause. Over the years I have jokingly referred to the Firefox “crew” as a bunch of little boys building a tree-house. Of course the irony is that my joke probably comes closer to the truth than I have realized
I guess the root cause of the Firefox dilemma is probably found somewhere in the fact that Mozilla is (Or was) a non-profit organization. Non-profits seem to have a very “governmental” approach to things, and (please forgive me if this sounds harsh) seem to attract those who can’t cut it in the “for profit world.” Please don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to imply that they are stupid. On the contrary, some of the smartest IT type people I’ve met, I’ve met during my association with Firefox - It’s just their undying need for red tape that gets me.
November 15th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
I don’t usually do “me too” posts, but hey, Wizz is THE rss reader, and I will be using it for as long as possible. It is one of the three extensions that keep me from using Opera full time.
As far as I can tell from the available info, there is no real security issue here - unless the user adds feeds from sites that host malicious code or get themselves 100% compromised.
November 15th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
I just refuse to uninstall - no other reader has the three-pane layout WizzRSS has, and besides… others aren’t even close in terms of usability!
November 15th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
Don’t let them grind you down! Wizz is the best rss reader, and it seems lots of people agree.
November 16th, 2009 at 1:00 am
Mike,
Please stick with it, you have a loyal following and fill an important void for FF.
I can sympathize with the spaghetti problem as I have several production apps online that have turned into that. One of them (a Usenet News photo web archiver) took 60 hours to rewrite from scratch and is still more tangled than I like. Another (majordomo email list photo extractor/web archiver) is an even bigger mess, but is so functional I haven’t bothered to start a rewrite.
I wish you the best of luck in whatever way you choose to go with this!
November 16th, 2009 at 1:51 am
Mike:
due to many things going on in life, I just found this thread. You know how much I like and used Wizz RSS reader, or at least I hope you do, especially since that blog post I wrote about the utility.
If nothing else, convert Wizz RSS to OpenSource and say “Be damned AMO!”
November 16th, 2009 at 2:11 am
Greetings to all you creative sorts who have left messages regarding this WISS RSS. My not being a tech wizard — and because I didn’t read this blog first, I uninstalled the reader. If I have a problem with my OS, I need help to find the solution. Even so, reading what everyone has said, I regret having deleted the folder. I didn’t consider what feeds I might not be able to access… So if you manage to devise a solution, I hope I will be on the list to download the new version. Sadly…
November 16th, 2009 at 2:14 am
I wrote comments. Have these been lost? I filled in the blanks for the previous Anti-spam word… Don’t know what is the trouble that the message appears to have not gone thru.
I thanked everyone for comments, admitted I am not a tech wizard, and regretted that I had followed instructions and uninstalled the reader before having read comments.
Sad. Please email me or notify me if you write a new reader.
November 16th, 2009 at 4:05 am
Thank you for everything and am sorry to see people do this to others.
I’ll take my chances with the “vulnerabilities” as its stays “as is”.
The service you provided is outstanding and certainly not deserving of this.
Larry C.
November 16th, 2009 at 4:11 am
I, too, have been unable to find anything even remotely as good as WIZZ RSS. While I’ve always thought that it left some stuff to be desired, everything else is just utter crap.
I’ll continue using it as long as I can.
Dan
Canada
November 16th, 2009 at 7:12 am
@All who have asked me to Open Source Wizz RSS: Wizz RSS has always been Open Source. The source code is included in the XPI distributable. In fact to say that the source code is “included” is even incorrect - It is the uncompiled source code that executes at run-time. So without the source, nothing would work
Wizz RSS is licenced under the GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 3 of 29 June 2007 - Which is included in the Readme.txt file, which is also part of the XPI distributable.
November 16th, 2009 at 7:34 am
I love Wizz RSS. Will NOT uninstall it!!
November 16th, 2009 at 10:11 am
I don’t blog or post replies, but felt compelled to write.
I tried to use RSS readers many times, but WizzRSS was the ONLY software that made it easy, practical, extensible. All around GREAT piece of SW i have yet to use on the net. It has made me a more productive professional. Like one reader said, I can empathize that you are feeling un-appreciated, but trust me there are TONS of users out there who do appreciate your hard work & the consistent downloads are a testimony to it. Coming from the 3rd world, I can feel what running up against the grain or bureaucracy feels like. I hope you can find some comfort that there are thousands of us out here who support your work.
Last point, one reader made a GREAT SUGGESTION to put wzzRSS as OpenSource, IN CASE you will not reconsider development of WizzRSS.
Thanks!!
November 16th, 2009 at 10:43 am
Wholeheartedly agree with the first two comments, couldn’t have put it better myself. Wizz was, sorry IS the best reader for Firefox and if paranoia gets in the way and no assistance is added to a commited supporter of firefox especially in it’s early stages and which has been one of the contributors to it’s popularity then it looks like a lot of add-ons are going to suffer from the paranoia and over reactive egos of a few heads. I also am keeping it and will take my chances. It’s an RSS reader for God’s sake.
November 16th, 2009 at 10:46 am
I am saddened that Wizz Rss has fallen out of favor with the powers that be at Mozilla. As many others, I have come to depend on your extension and will be looking forward to the 3.2 version. I’ll gladly upgrade FireFox to be compataible with Wizz Rss.
Thanks for all your efforts.
jdg
November 16th, 2009 at 10:58 am
Mike, couldn\’t believe it. But these guys are also present in the profit IT arena. Maybe, they are calmed down more quickly there, if their numbers show up.
I once told you, I have the greatest respect for people struggling with Java-Script, XUL and other nightmares (:-)) for no money. Thanks again.
WIZZ together with ScrapBook for me was the reason for using Firefox.
I think, I\’ll give IE8 a try. Nowadays, security seems to be no bigger issue than in other browsers, if there weren\’t this difficulty for import/export of data. I have to say, it\’s got a pretty decent feed reader, too… I need some ScrapBook equivalent, then I am out.
November 16th, 2009 at 11:13 am
I’d be happy to work on the namespacing requirements, if that’s the main thing holding you back. I know there are other considerations, including the way you’ve been jerked around, but there are a whole lotta people out here who appreciate your work. I’d be glad to contribute gruntwork.
November 16th, 2009 at 11:17 am
I have to correct myself immediately: gave IE8 a test-drive at least for RSS. There is indeed a nice OPML import/(export) facilty: Got all my WIZZ-exported feeds back. The explorer view is not as good, especially the helpful feed item window lower/left corner is missing, but o.k.
November 16th, 2009 at 11:38 am
I too have been using wizz RSS for as long as I can remember, and can’t imagine a day without it - please keep up the great work!
November 16th, 2009 at 11:52 am
It has been what ? Years using and finding very comfortable wizz rss and all of it’s simplicity to the need itself.
It changed my way of using RSS feeds, and I will simply take my chances to that vulnerability issue, once these days mozilla is crazy about whatever does whatever in the most complicated ways.
Anyway, good luck, thanks to you for such extension since about some years ago. Its been since a long i just got too used to it to let it go too. And i got some better anti-hijacking tools myself, if some of these vulnerabilities decides to bother ….
Hope these Stupidzilla guys wake up to what it means being human someday, and hopefully before they turn totally into machines, hehe.
November 16th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Howzit Mike,
Please don’t let those smallminded busybodies get you down. This just sounds like a p*ssing contest on the part of some muppets who are trying to make themselves a name by destroying Wizz. Sadly it happens in all spheres of work (profit and nonprofit).
I am a great fan of Wizz and have no intention of shutting it down. When you’ve had a chance to cool down (I know, I would also take these attacks personally) I know that there would be hundreds of people that would still be delighted to use Wizz, even in an updated form.
Cheers
Ian
November 16th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
I’ve tried others before, and found that WIZZ is the perfect choice for me.
I will not uninstall either.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Wizz is the least bad RSS app there is! Please don’t abandon it ‘cos of us eejits…
November 16th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Mike,
PLEASE do NOT kill Wizz RSS - I am using it on a daily basis and NOTHING (absolutely nothing) can replace its speed, ease of use, etc. Please challenge Firefox when they say that there are alternatives…They are WRONG!. Ask them to name one alternative that can load the feed without clicking on the mouse, just by scrolling on the lists….Ask them to name one alternative with the same speed, ease of use and support from its user base! Show them this blog! Please make a safe version compatible to 3.6. Many (many thanks) for improving the productivity of thousands of people!
November 16th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
Another thought - It seems that the namespacing issue is what is creating a lot of work (not fixing the vulnerabilities). One way to approach that is to ask for a 3 year grandfathering of the namespacing issue while the community helps you do this work, and you correct the vulnerabilities asap…what do you think??? There is enough evidence on this blog that the community will help you correct the namesapcing issue over time so that WiZZ RSS become the dminant if not the defacto stabdard in RSS readers in 3 years. Just a suggestion - please ask firefox to consider it…
November 16th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Mike, I followed the instructions and uninstalled Wizz, thinking I would then go back to the addons page and get the latest version. This was before you posted your reasons. Surprise! There are no versions. How can I get it back?
November 16th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
I too would like to express my regret that you have
decided to discontinue this tool. I have found it to be the least obtrusive and easy to use news reader, and i have
been using it for over a year.
Whatever your reasons, your contribution to free software
and the firefox community were invaluable. For what it’s worth, thank you very much.
November 16th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
I read the explanations of what’s going on. I’m a software engineer of many years and have also worked on some mozilla extensions.
What has happened (in my never so humble opinion) is mozilla is trying its best to clean up its code and the code of its satellite apps for many reasons (google/bing up articles on mozilla’s security problems and its efforts for next releases)
I’m not sure of the best practices, coding standards, etc but if they were never published it does make it difficult to follow them. I will agree with the name space convention though. It’s the only way to separate objects in the domain architecture.
November 16th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Would be great to see a secure version that meets with Mozilla’s approval. I will watch this space …
November 16th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
okay - scrap that last comment. Seems like a fix is out - just need to go to next version of FF - sigh.
November 16th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Hi,
Thanks to Mike for years of good work.
To all the “me too” and “please keep working on Wizz” posters -
Please consider donating to Mike:
http://www.wizzrss.com/donate.php
Even if it does not cause him to continue his work, at least it would be a nice thank-you, in addition to all the verbal thank-yous.
cheers
Oliver
PS: I have donated to Mike in the past. No big sum, but at least something.
November 16th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Hi again,
For those who have decided to uninstall Wizz: I am now using the “Feed Sidebar” extension. Might be something worth to try out.
Not quite the same functionality but good enough for my simple use of news feeds.
cheers
Oliver
November 16th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
@Warren: I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with Mozilla trying to clean up the extension codebase, but I’m sure that there are more intelligent ways of dealing with the problem. Rather than pulling out the big stick, it would be much better to plan a structured approach, which developers are made aware of and asked to become part of, where over a period of time (Using well defined milestones) all code is cleaned up and made more secure.
I can also assure you of this - and I’m pretty sure that the same applies to all Firefox extension developers - I have always done my best to provide functionality that is useful, stable and bug free. I don’t have a malicious mind, so when I develop code, I think in terms of functionality, and not in terms of how vulnerable it might be. In the real world we have systems architects that consider application security, and their recommendations get built into the functional design. The real world also offers systems analysts, business analysts and testers who are able to test functionality against a given set of test cases. Firefox extension development offers none of these luxuries, unless you happen to be a large corporation developing extensions for Firefox.
Another thing I feel compelled to mention: In all the years that I have been associated with Firefox, there has always been a feeling (Real or imagined) of double standards. One set of standards that applies to those who are members of the “old boys club” (If you know what I mean), and another set of standards that applies to the Plebs.
November 16th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
@Oliver Doepner: Thanks for trying to stir up financial support, but I should tell you that financial reward has never been a very big motivational factor in my life. I guess that is the main reason why I’ll never be rich, but more important than riches, I’m more than likely to be happy
Of course if you offer something that would make my 17 year old child a genius at school, I’d be putty in your hands!
November 16th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Mike:
thank you for doing all the right things for us Wizz RSS fans out here. I wholeheartedly agree with all the messages of support! WizzRSS is the only reader I use because it’s so user friendly and doesn’t get in the way.
Not being a security expert, I don’t know the real risk of keeping it running, but for now I will keep it and trust that my firewall & anti-virus software will keep things under control.
I don’t have the expertise to fix code, but please call on me as a beta user to help test any upgrades.
Chris.
November 16th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
I will keep WizzRSS as long as possible, despite potential security vulnerabilities. Its one of the FF extensions I use every day, it will be shame not to have it in the future.
Creating a open source “Community” edition as someone else suggested will be the best way if you don’t want to continue the project.
I hope you will not abandon the project, but in case you do I would like to thank you for all the effort you put in creating the best feed reader for Firefox.
Long live the WizzRSS reader
!
November 16th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
I can’t believe this is happening. This is by far the best RSS reader I have ever used on any platform. You will have to pry this from my cold, dead hands cause I wont willingly part with it.
November 16th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
i love Wizz RSS
and i don´t unistall
November 16th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
@Mike: Maybe your 17 year old could take over Wizz RSS maintenance … He/she would probably learn some good job skills in that role … ;^)
November 16th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Mike,
Thank you for Wizz RSS! I have tried others but yours has been the easiest to use by far. I will continue to use it for the foreseeable future because it’s the best out there.
November 16th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
Mike,
Very sad to see this happening. I hope there might be a way of getting things back on track though…Would it be possible to fix the safety loopholes and make the software available as is on a site outside of Firefox/Mozilla???
I will not uninstall - It seems that the issue was always there and I never had a problem!
- This utility is too useful!
November 17th, 2009 at 5:58 am
I’M SPARTACUS!!!
I mean I’m not uninstalling either … hopefully this will work out; so that we don’t lose Wizz …
November 17th, 2009 at 9:28 am
Thanks a lot for WIZZ so far.
It’s one of my daily used tools and I don’t want to miss it.
Think about some Aikido - take the force coming to you, get it under control, turn it around and stay upon. Keep your good work.
November 17th, 2009 at 10:33 am
Mike, I think that your software is the best feed manager on the net, and when I found it, I suddenly understood that I was Firefox’s and Firefox was mine, forever!
So, I’ll never remove the add-on, I’ll take my chances.
The warning page does not bother me at all, I’m wathcing it every morning, in order to be aware when the problem will be fixed.
Please, consider the appreciation to your work as a medicine for your ego.
Long Life and Prosperity!
November 17th, 2009 at 11:06 am
This is as prove that You have quality tool that people like it.Please stay on Your legs and continue working on Your project…don’t give up!!!
November 17th, 2009 at 11:47 am
I love Wizz, it is by far the most important addon (with session manager) to me. I won´t uninstall it. Thanks for your work.
November 17th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
For those who are concerned about Firefox security, I think you’ll find this interesting - http://wizzrss.blat.co.za/2009/11/17/so-much-for-nsiscriptableunescapehtmlparsefragment/
November 17th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Mike, Wizz RSS is the best reader around and I will take my chances and leave it installed because to remove it would dramatically alter the way I use FF. You make a great script and it would be a shame to see it come to an end. I for one appreciate all the hard work you put into it.
Thank you.
November 17th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
When I found out about RSS I immediately looked for a way to access them in Firefox (and we’re talking about a long time ago, here). Looked at what was available and found WizzRSS fitted every requirement I had. No matter what some moronic set of rules try and say I will not stop using WizzRSS - there is no better, simple as that.
November 17th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Mike, Wizz RSS is the best reader around and to uninstall it would dramatically alter the way I use FF. I will leave it installed and take my chances. I really appreciate all the hard work you have put into the Wizz RSS reader.
Thank You.
November 17th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Wizz RSS is simply second to none.
One of the best FF Addons I know of. If not the best.
Please do not discontinue Wizz RSS, please …
It just deserves a better destiny.
November 18th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Please stop bothering me with the “Please uninstall Wizz RSS” pop up page because I will not uninstall Wizz RSS :p
November 19th, 2009 at 7:01 am
I have 3.0.11, largely due to my reluctance to add new things. Is this an issue of concern for me regarding the problems cited with uninstalling Wizz RSS? Thanks for your reply.
November 19th, 2009 at 7:13 am
@chowmein: Yes, it is very definitely a concern. 3.1 was patched to close vulnerabilities, and details of those vulnerabilities have been disclosed. This means the whole world (Well that part of it that read security notifications - Which I’m sure includes many of the despicable crud who infest our planet) knows about security holes in Wizz RSS pre 3.1.
November 21st, 2009 at 1:10 pm
cheh! and I thought what the heck was the big huhaa all about, just some fat-cat consultants (making big bucks) dissing volunteers who work for the common good.
You have every right to stand up for your reputation, I appreciate and liked your extension. Though I am increasingly frustrated with FF as well, this RSS reader and a few other extensions are the only reason for me to keep on using FF.
For those who keep asking what vulnerabilities there are, I suggest you get off Twitter, get off Facebook, etc. I believe the Wizz is far far less vulnerable than any of these apps that everyone is using on their PC and iPhones …but being non-techie, I may be wrong
For info, I refuse to use Facebook and Twitter.
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Thank you for working on and developing this fantastic tool. Its too bad that its being shut down. Good luck with the future.
Mike
November 27th, 2009 at 11:04 am
I will sandbox Firefox in a VM to just go ahead using Wizz!
Great work Mike and hope you calmed down a bit
December 2nd, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Well this is unfortunate. Mike, I’m that guy in Atlanta who said he’d buy you a beer for making the notification box clickable again, and that offer still stands
Thanks for all the hard work!
December 2nd, 2009 at 7:01 pm
@Benson: So you mean I didn’t make the notification box clickable? Or do you owe me a beer?
December 3rd, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Nope, I definitely owe you a beer
December 16th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
I’ll never remove this program! It’s way too awesome for following my friends on Digg.
December 17th, 2009 at 7:22 am
there’s just *no way* i’m going to remove wizz rss from my firefox install. good software is hard to find, smart software is even harder. long live wizz rss.
December 19th, 2009 at 1:24 am
so - you only publish/answer posts that please you - I listened now and I removed you’re annoying ‘please remove…’ piece - thank you
December 19th, 2009 at 2:19 am
Mike,
Thanks for all the hard work. Wizz has been one of my most used add-ons for a very long time now.
With very best wishes from Bangkok
December 19th, 2009 at 8:12 am
@mike (The zippomail one): If you open your eyes might see that I replied to the comments you made here - http://wizzrss.blat.co.za/2009/11/17/vulnerability-safe-versions/ - TWICE! I even wrote this blog post - http://wizzrss.blat.co.za/2009/12/16/steps-to-stop-the-nag-page-from-displaying/ - just for you and others who want to turn the nag page off.
I guess it’s attitudes like yours that get people like myself pissed off!
December 20th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Hi Mike.
Wizz RSS is the best RSS addon for Firefox I found, I have been using it for almost 4 years and it’s been always great.
I hope that those trolls won’t get you down.
Long live to Wizz RSS!!!!
December 26th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
O.K. where is the beer money link
February 7th, 2010 at 12:21 am
Hi, Mike.
Is it too late for me to request my list of feeds from your server? I’ve inadvertently upgraded FF so now can’t try again to see if you’ve enabled that again.
Just tell me what’s best for you. Emailing me if great.
Thanks, again for all your help.
-Roy