It seems to me that this isn't so much a "bug in Firefox" as it is a problem with the security model. Whether it's the security model for Linux in general, the one for Ubuntu Linux in particular, or the one for Firefox, I can't say.
The key element in this bug report is the inconsistency in behavior: an smb:// url works in two situations, but not in a third that is not conceptually different. Whatever the security model, this is counter-intuitive. The security model can't be simply "we don't do cross-site retrievals"; Firefox fetches off-site web pages without complaint. Including, I should add, ones with ftp: URLs, which themselves work. One almost wonders if the security model is flawed in that it emphasises *how* data is retrieved (i.e. the transport protocol), not where it is retrieved from nor what kind of data it is. A key question to understanding this behavior: why does this happen with an smb: URL but not with an ftp: url? Or does it happen with an ftp: url as well? These URL types are exactly equivalent, differing only in the transport protocol. They both fetch files (potentially of any type) from sites that allow such access. The access control mechanisms are different, but that's neither here nor there. What does Firefox do with an ftp: URL that references an HTML file? I'm writing this because the real fix for this bug may lie in sprucing up the security model, with coding fixes to Firefox being secondary. Let's not let the tail wag the dog! -- Frogbarf -- URL "smb://..." works in location bar & tool bar, not as link https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/184744 You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is the bug contact for Ubuntu. -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
