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I found what appears to be a very cool extension for Google Chrome - a Dropbox addin that lets you compare versions of files in your Dropbox by using a diff tool.

enter image description here

Like most Chrome extensions, this one has some warnings about permissions:

This extension can access:

  • Your data on dropbox.com and www.dropbox.com
  • All data on your computer and the websites you visit

My default instinct is to download the source of the extension and look through it, but the only button I see is "Add to Chrome"

Since Google Chrome is supposed to be "open source," and there is a nice community repository for downloading extensions, I would have expected to see something like "download the source code."

My questions are:

  • How do you download the source for an extension prior to installing it?
  • What other ways can you "do your homework" and make sure an extension is safe besides looking at reviews and/or looking through the source code?
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Please use the provided image uploader in the future when adding images to your questions and answers. – Gareth Sep 19 '11 at 2:17
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migrated from stackoverflow.com Sep 18 '11 at 21:54

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1 Answer

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There is Extension Gallery and Web Store Inspector extension that would show you source code and tell which features and API methods are used.

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That's a pretty amazing tool. – cwd Sep 18 '11 at 20:43
Wonderful idea! – cvsguimaraes Sep 18 '11 at 20:58
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Does anyone else see the irony of this inspector? Hmm? – William C Sep 19 '11 at 0:25
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