This means those pref values have to be copied out to a place where the agent can read them. The agent needs to be able to read (but not set) values that have their canonical representation in the form of Firefox prefs. Since the agent operates in the context only of an OS-level user, that means that in this situation a single OS-level user who uses multiple Firefox profiles may be able to observe the agent’s settings changing as the different profiles race to be the active mirror, without them knowingly taking any action. So, in order to allow for controlling the agent from Firefox, certain settings are mirrored from Firefox to a location where the agent can read them. This need creates an information architecture mismatch between all of those things, mostly because no Firefox profile is available to the agent while it’s running it’s not really feasible to either directly use or to clone Firefox’s profile selection functionality, and even if we could select a profile, whatever code we might use to actually work with it would have the same problems. The default browser agent has to be able to work with settings at several different levels: a Firefox profile, an OS user, a Firefox installation, and the entire system. Therefore, the default browser agent runs as the user that ran the Firefox installer (although always without elevation, whether the installer had it or not). The default browser agent needs to run as some OS-level user, as opposed to, say, LOCAL SERVICE, in order to read the user’s default browser setting. The task is configured with one action, which is to run the agent binary with the command line parameter do-task, the command that invokes the actual agent functionality. The task is set to run automatically every 24 hours starting at the time it’s registered (with the first run being 24 hours after that), or the nearest time after that the computer is awake. They’re created in a tasks folder called “Mozilla” (or whatever the application’s vendor name is), and there’s one for each installation of Firefox (or other Mozilla application). The tasks are normal entries in the Windows Task Scheduler, managed using its Win32 API. The PostUpdate code also calls the agent to update any properties of an existing task registration that need to be updated, or to create one during an application update if none exists. The Windows installer is responsible for creating (and the uninstaller for removing) the agent’s task entry, but the code for actually doing this resides in the agent itself, and the installers simply call it using dedicated command line parameters ( register-task and uninstall). The scheduled task executes all of the agent’s primary functions all of its other functions relate to managing the task. The agent runs as a Windows scheduled task. Getting Set Up To Work On The Firefox Codebase.“The role reduction and restructuring Mozilla just announced allowed us to adjust our finances to ensure stability over the long term, strengthening our ability to build and invest in products and services that will give people alternatives to conventional Big Tech,” Mozilla told us. The group working on the Mozilla Developer Network – the essential bible for web devs and programmers – was hit hard, too, as were some of its security, policy, and tooling staffers. Mozilla's Servo team, which was working away on a new browser engine for Firefox in Rust, was closed down by the cuts. "This action is not in any way – not, not, not – a reflection on personal or professional qualities.” “The people who are included in the reduction are both true Mozillians, and professionals with high degrees of skill and expertise and commitment," CEO Mitchell Baker said in a memo to staff. Despite the renewal with Google, which essentially guaranteed a continuation of its revenue for the next three years, Mozilla axed 250 of its techies on Tuesday, and shut down its office in Taiwan, blaming the “economic conditions resulting from the global pandemic.” Crucially, the organization vowed to double down and "ship new products faster and develop new revenue streams" – products like its bookmarking app Pocket, its virtual social meeting rooms Hubs, and its $4.99-a-month VPN subscription service.
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