Firefox 3 and security certificates

[Walrii]

Sim9, we haves a problem :P

I tried to visit https://productivity.editingarchive.com/simworld/wiki/ProTip in Firefox 3 beta 3 today.

Here is what Firefox gave me (note that it did not give me a popup saying this, instead it immediately redirected me to a page load error page, similar to what happens if a page times out):


Secure Connection Failed

productivity.editingarchive.com uses an invalid security certificate.

The certificate is not trusted because it is self signed.

(Error code: sec_error_ca_cert_invalid)

* This could be a problem with the server's configuration, or it could be someone trying to impersonate the server.

* If you have connected to this server successfully in the past, the error may be temporary, and you can try again later.

Or you can add an exception...

(Then, it lets me click "add an exception" where I can... well... I think you know)

Now, I realize that yes I can add an exception and then view the site, but do you really think that most Firefox users will do the same? Maybe... maybe not.

As Firefox 3 approaches stable, I see this as becoming a real problem when new users click a link and get a massive error page. Some might read it, but I think many will just turn right around and go to some other website). Presumably every Firefox user will eventually switch to 3 when it comes out.

[Google]

[Sim9]

Protip: Don't use Firefox 3 :P

Only staff areas are SSL signed, so I think that limits the audience somewhat. I don't want to purchase a SSL certificate (another potentially expensive recurring cost? No thanks!) for our internal use, and I don't want to continuously replace CACert certificates every X days (which probably you'd also have to add an exception for anyway).

There's nothing wrong with self signed certificates -- at least it certainly doesn't have any real assurances over a 'trusted authority', and Mozilla just needs to get over themselves and whatever huge bribes/'donations' the signing companies are paying them.

[Walrii]

Ooookay. I thought I'd let you know. :)