alt Hacker NewsInteresting that the author, Callum Locke, seems to be a real person with a real reputation to damage. Previously this would have been a trust signal to me, I figured real developers would be less likely to go rogue given the consequences.
Replies
ayewo • yesterday at 9:08 PM
The tempation is quite strong, especially for popular extensions
Here's what it can look like to an author of a popular extension:
username223 • today at 12:01 AM
Well, Callum Locke has certainly torched his reputation. Not “spreading Santorum” level… yet.
rzmmm • yesterday at 9:16 PM
Browser extension maintainers routinely get contacted by more or less shady directions. This is likely a case of maintainer selling out after getting a good offer.
Depends on the personal situation. An extension with 2 million users can generate a very meaningful revenue. My extension has only 300k users, but offers that I received over years [0] would have been significant in some lower-income country.
[0] https://github.com/extesy/hoverzoom/discussions/670