The question is: switching to what? Firefox is the only browser that is not Chromium based, ie not 95% written and maintained by Google themselves. Every other Google Chromium fork will need to maintain an increasingly complex set of changes to the Google repository, and I imagine Google will start removing non-compliant extensions from their extension store.
So not only will the battle have to be fought by the browsers, it will also have to be fought by maintainers of add-ons like uBlock Origin.
The problem is that Google directly controls not only two out of every three browsers that connects to the internet, but also many web standards, a couple web frameworks, and a whole lot of funding that goes to Mozilla.
By all means, vote with your feet, but Google can basically do to the internet what Walmart did to retail.
I went from Netscape to Mozzila and from Mozilla to Firefox and, guess what… my browser never fucked me up in the name of maximizing corporate profits.
Google was already a wholly untrustworth Ad Company With A Tech Arm back when they invented Chrome, and shit like this was already back then a question of WHEN, not IF.
My recommendation is librefox and if you really want a chrome based alternative I’d suggest Thorium (although I don’t know what thorium will do when this is implemented I’m hoping they don’t follow it.)
Web browsers using Gecko (Firefox’s engine): GNU IceCat, Waterfox, K-Meleon, Lunascape, Portable Firefox, Conkeror, Classilla, TenFourFox. Edit: and Fennec
Web browsers using the Goanna engine (which is a fork of Gecko): Pale Moon, Basilisk.
Flow is a web browser with its own proprietary browser engine.
The other active engines listed are: WebKit (Apple’s engine), and Blink (Google’s engine, which they forked off of WebKit, and which is used for Chrome, Chromium, and countless other browsers).
Pale Moon still supports the even older extension model. I used it briefly until my extensions got updated to the newer format. I still kinda miss the old theme engine.
It’s easy, but it’s not good for the web as a whole. The field is so complex that only a company as big as Google or Apple, or a company funded in large by Google, can even have a single seat at the table, let alone most of the seats.
Because using Chromium and Chromium-based browsers reinforces Chrome’s market share dominance which will harm comparability as more and more sites will only be tested against Chrome and in many cases refuse to serve pages to other browsers without user agent string fuckery.
It also cultivates dependence on Google for the extension ecosystem, etc
That is not my fault. 99% of those people are just using Chrome. I’m not going to use another browser that offers a degraded experience just to try to right the wrongs of the world. That is not my responsibility. When even a modicum of people start giving a shit about things like web standards, I will too.
Firefox is entirely funded by Google, telemetry and ad networks also, so frankly I’m not sure they’re any better.
I don’t get your point, so I’m not sure what to elaborate on. Chromium source code is still controlled and gatekeept by Google, and it’s full of proprietary Google garbage ranging from the obvious to the hazardously subtle.
I see the disconnect now. You’re mistaking “open source” for 'inherently good."
Because the source code is preloaded with Google crap which infringes heavily on the privacy of end users and internet health in general, the forks either have to either maintain an increasingly complex list of patches to apply to fix what Google does to Chromium (the browser that runs two thirds of the web) or simply accept it.
The question is: switching to what? Firefox is the only browser that is not Chromium based, ie not 95% written and maintained by Google themselves. Every other Google Chromium fork will need to maintain an increasingly complex set of changes to the Google repository, and I imagine Google will start removing non-compliant extensions from their extension store.
So not only will the battle have to be fought by the browsers, it will also have to be fought by maintainers of add-ons like uBlock Origin.
Very messy.
Switching to what? Firefox. I don’t see the problem here. Install Firefox and forget those monopolistic enshitifying fucks.
But switch to what?
The problem is that Google directly controls not only two out of every three browsers that connects to the internet, but also many web standards, a couple web frameworks, and a whole lot of funding that goes to Mozilla.
By all means, vote with your feet, but Google can basically do to the internet what Walmart did to retail.
I use Gnome BTW
I went from Netscape to Mozzila and from Mozilla to Firefox and, guess what… my browser never fucked me up in the name of maximizing corporate profits.
Google was already a wholly untrustworth Ad Company With A Tech Arm back when they invented Chrome, and shit like this was already back then a question of WHEN, not IF.
My recommendation is librefox and if you really want a chrome based alternative I’d suggest Thorium (although I don’t know what thorium will do when this is implemented I’m hoping they don’t follow it.)
For anyone interested, as of November 2023:
Web browsers using Gecko (Firefox’s engine): GNU IceCat, Waterfox, K-Meleon, Lunascape, Portable Firefox, Conkeror, Classilla, TenFourFox. Edit: and Fennec
Web browsers using the Goanna engine (which is a fork of Gecko): Pale Moon, Basilisk.
Flow is a web browser with its own proprietary browser engine.
The other active engines listed are: WebKit (Apple’s engine), and Blink (Google’s engine, which they forked off of WebKit, and which is used for Chrome, Chromium, and countless other browsers).
I’d no idea there’s a browser called Conkeror. That’s prertty funny since WebKit was based off of KHTML used in KDE’s Konqueror browser.
Fennec is also using Gecko.
And Mull
I use firefox, but Id never head of these alternatives.
Anyone who does have reviews? Pros, cons, reasons to use them beside variety?
Pale Moon still supports the even older extension model. I used it briefly until my extensions got updated to the newer format. I still kinda miss the old theme engine.
I thought it was pronounced Kay Melly-on, so I never tried it because of the silly name.
Pihole will be unaffected.
Yet infinitely easier than building a new browser from the bottom up
It’s easy, but it’s not good for the web as a whole. The field is so complex that only a company as big as Google or Apple, or a company funded in large by Google, can even have a single seat at the table, let alone most of the seats.
I hear people say Chromium is bad for the web all the time but they all seem to think that Chromium = Chrome.
Chromium is bad for the web.
Okay, would you like to elaborate beyond what I just said?
Because using Chromium and Chromium-based browsers reinforces Chrome’s market share dominance which will harm comparability as more and more sites will only be tested against Chrome and in many cases refuse to serve pages to other browsers without user agent string fuckery.
It also cultivates dependence on Google for the extension ecosystem, etc
That is not my fault. 99% of those people are just using Chrome. I’m not going to use another browser that offers a degraded experience just to try to right the wrongs of the world. That is not my responsibility. When even a modicum of people start giving a shit about things like web standards, I will too.
Firefox is entirely funded by Google, telemetry and ad networks also, so frankly I’m not sure they’re any better.
I don’t get your point, so I’m not sure what to elaborate on. Chromium source code is still controlled and gatekeept by Google, and it’s full of proprietary Google garbage ranging from the obvious to the hazardously subtle.
What? Chromium is open source. That’s how Chromium-based browsers even exist.
I see the disconnect now. You’re mistaking “open source” for 'inherently good."
Because the source code is preloaded with Google crap which infringes heavily on the privacy of end users and internet health in general, the forks either have to either maintain an increasingly complex list of patches to apply to fix what Google does to Chromium (the browser that runs two thirds of the web) or simply accept it.