How to judge which addon/ extension to install? [Privacy / Security] (lemmy.ml)

submitted 2 days ago by jupyter@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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I'd like to make an informed decision on extensions I install. Usually I read about people caring about browser extensions. I install extensions in vscode, in zed, gnome, kde and probably in a lot of other tools like bash as well.

Usually, I do not think much about security/ privacy. I only install what I want/ need and delete what I do not need.

How can I judge which extension to install and which not? There are extensions releasing builds regularly but the last release of public code on github was years ago. Downloads and stars give a hint on popularity. With popularity the people who will look into the code increases but if there's no code, there's nothing to look into. And just because it's not popular, it doesn't necessarily mean it's bad software.

How do you judge which extension to install?

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[-] leraje 11 points 2 days ago

        Do I actually need it? For example, I like the gnome ArcMenu extension but I don't really need it, so no to that one.
Read the reviews and/or ask in the relevant community, or a Privacy community like this one.
If the code's up to date in a repo see where (if anywhere) its phoning home to.
If its not but I still really need it, install it, then run Wireshark and see what its up to, if anything.

[-] Libb@jlai.lu 4 points 2 days ago

Do I actually need it?

this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2025

23 points (100.0% liked)

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