Please meet our newest Friend of Add-ons: Yuki “Piro” Hiroshi. A longtime add-on developer with 37 extensions and counting (he’s most proud of Tree Style Tab and Second Search), Hiroshi also recently filed more than two dozen high-impact WebExensions bugs.
Hiroshi recently recounted his experience porting one of his XUL add-ons to WebExtensions in the hopes that he could help support fellow add-on developers through the transition. He likens XUL to an “experimental laboratory” that over the past decade allowed us to explore the possibilities of a customized web browser. But now, Hiroshi says, we need to “go for better security and stability” and embrace forward-thinking API’s that will cater to building richer user experiences.
While add-ons technology is evolving, Hiroshi’s motivation to create remains the same. “It’s an emotional reason,” he says, which took root when he first discovered the power of a Gecko engine that allowed him to transform himself from being a mere hobbyist to a true developer. “Mozilla is a symbol of liberty for me,” Hiroshi explains. “It’s one of the legends of the early days of the web.”
When he’s not authoring add-ons, Hiroshi enjoys reading science fiction and manga. A recent favorite is The Hyakumanjo Labyrinth, a “bizarre adventure story” that takes place on an infinity field beyond space and time within an old Japanese apartment building.
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Noitidart wrote on