Add-on author names

[Michaell]

The PM add-ons site uses author/developer names ("By: ____") that often do not correspond with the id's used here on the forum where the support threads are (or maybe some other site). One or the other should be changed so they match. Too many of the add-ons have author names on the addons page that are unknowns to even the forum's regular users. Where's our trust supposed to come in?

[vannilla]

The displayed name is taken from the install.rdf file, which is written by the author(s) of the add-on.
Whether the displayed name is different from the forum handle is entirely a choice of the add-on author(s).

[Michaell]

That's a cop-out (not taking any responsibility).

[Kris_88]

Why does my nickname on the forum have to match my author's name?

[Moonchild]

That's a cop-out (not taking any responsibility).

We aren't responsible for what is up to extension authors to manage. Don't blame us for how they organise their on-line presence.
The add-ons site is also independent of the forum. Being on one does not require being on the other. We will not make that a requirement, either.

[Michaell]

Why does my nickname on the forum have to match my author's name?

Should be obvious - so we know who the author is. There are too many now that are just blind trust. It could be done another way, such as having the author name linked to an about page. We could see other extension's you've authored and whatever info you want to put in a description. It doesn't matter I guess if Moonchild doesn't want to do it.

[Kris_88]

I understand that this could be useful, but it cannot be required. For the forum, I choose any words as a nickname, as many people usually do. But for authorship of add-ons I use something closer to my real names. Everything is logical and in accordance with traditions.

[athenian200]

As far as trust goes, I think there is some degree of review into what goes onto the add-ons site that is done by the add-ons team. So, the trust really shouldn't be placed in the add-on authors as individuals, but more in the add-ons team to filter out anything that would potentially be harmful to users. It's true that you have no reason to trust every individual that authors an add-on, but this also isn't just some random personal web page setup by an extension author... this is a service that subjects the add-ons to some degree of scrutiny. While there is no guarantee of functionality or fitness for purpose, let's just say that nothing would be allowed on the add-ons site that had been known to cause problems or was from an author that was distrusted for some reason.

The way I see it, users are placing their trust in the add-ons team and the add-ons site when they download an add-on here, not an individual author. I would go so far as to say, add-on authors are not to be trusted as individuals, but rather the community and the review process should be trusted. That is precisely why it is important to have a centralized add-ons site in the first place, rather than just having a bunch of random download links from all over the place.

So basically, stick to the add-ons site and don't download add-ons from third-party sources, and you should be a lot safer than if you just have to assess whether to trust individual authors by downloading extensions from their blog or something.

[moonbat]

don't download add-ons from third-party sources

Off-topic:
Not that there's anyone making malicious XUL or Addon SDK extensions anymore when Web Extensions provide a much larger target rich environment of 2 browsers and the multiple derivatives of one of them, but yeah.