Please allow some form of WebUSB, even if only for "Firefox Developer Edition"

[Indigo]

Regarding the current state of Firefox and WebUSB, I have four thoughts:

1. Yes, Mozilla's concerns regarding the security risks are valid, but not insurmountable.
2. In my experience, this is the single W3C noncompliance that impedes my use of Firefox.
3. In my experience, an increasing number of companies/organizations are leveraging WebUSB, from core-functionality of end-user hardware to enterprise-level troubleshooting, configuration, and support.
4. If Mozilla permits the use of unsigned plugins for its Firefox Developer Edition because of the reasonable expectation that its users understand the risks, it stands to reason that the same could be said for WebUSB.

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The three prior times WebUSB has been mentioned on connect.mozilla.org:

• "Fully support Web USB and Web Serial"
  I support the spirit behind this post. I'm one of those "makers" who would benefit from both feature sets.
  My post is specifically suggesting a (temporary?) compromise regarding WebUSB by allowing Firefox Developer Edition users a means to access it until such a time that Mozilla is satisfied with working the kinks out.
• "We want BlueTooth back" (Only mentioned in the responses.)
• "Bring back PWA (progressive web apps)" (Only mentioned (burred) in the responses.)

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My argument in brief:

If Mozilla permits the use of unsigned plugins for its Firefox Developer Edition because of the reasonable expectation that its users understand the risks, it stands to reason that the same could be said for WebUSB.

[Jon]

Thanks for submitting an idea to the Mozilla Connect community! Your idea is now open to votes (aka kudos) and comments.

[Honza]

Thank you for reaching out! While I like the proposed idea, there has been a long discussion about Mozilla's position on WebUSB Web Specification:

You can follow up on standards-position repo:

https://github.com/mozilla/standards-positions/issues/100

and also here on Connect

https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/fully-support-web-usb-and-web-serial/m-p/62

[Tyeth]

Hey the GitHub issue has been locked for over a year.

All the objections from Mozilla seem to be around permission dialogues being not informative enough to help users understand the security implications of allowing a site to access hardware. That's a UX issue, not a reason to avoid implementing.