this post was submitted on 30 May 2024
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Shit like this is exactly why competition is of utmost importance. The internet was never meant to be single-handedly controlled by a corporation with private interests, and more importantly, private pockets
If we don't see a somewhat significant rise in Firefox usage increases after this, then I fear that battle is already lost. People can complain a lot but doing something as easy as switching browsers seems to be the hardest thing for most of them.
Honestly I don't think most people know or even care.
You Grandma and her Chromebook don't care though. The numbers aren't in our favor, but Mozilla absolutely dominating in the features and privacy arenas is.
My grandma is dead. And before that she used Linux Mint & Firefox.
Exactly
Even if Firefox were to win it's still a bleak future because the ridiculously complexity and scope of browsers prevents new ones being made. Without the possibility of newcomers either the war never ends or there is one victor. We should start to abandon browsers in favor of apps that focus on each part of the browser (e.g. why does a browser need to render video to the screen when the user already has an app for that).
"Destroying an empire to win a war is no victory, and ending a battle to save an empire is no defeat."- Kahless
Fuck that. I'm not switching between apps for every god damn function my browser does. I intentionally decline to install apps when I can just use the browser.
What's the difference?
I'm sure there are a lot more reasons, that's just what came into my mind
Apps being created seperatly doesn't mean they can't interact with each other, so I don't see those concerns as a problem. Is there anything fundamentally preventing the creation of new apps to do tasks currently exclusive to browsers?
Isn't the possibility of single apps getting bought out an argument against having all your eggs in one basket? 🙃
i think i would get notified in some way if the Mozilla Foundation changes ownership, and since it's open source that is not much of an argument. open source is getting more common the last few years, but it's definitely not common
sure, it doesn't mean they can't. everyone making their own app also means that they don't per default.
and you didn't touch the point regarding NO ADBLOCKING IN APPS while the whole debate here is because alphabet doesn't want effective adblocking in their browser.
I don't know what to say regarding your claim of no ad blocking in apps because I don't understand why you think that. I disagree because it's the same game just in different apps, depending on the medium:
domain based blocking systems are nice for a base level of ad removal, they do nothing if the ads are coming from the same domain. sponsorblock is nice, but it's the work of volunteers to remove those ads - if youtubes userbase were splintered over thousands of apps it wouldn't be feasable.
i don't know when i have seen just text-based ads in the last 10 years. those are an non-issue, even for me. the issues are scripts, user profiling and tracking.
the big difference is: the browser gives webpages/apps a standardized environment where the user has the last word regarding what runs on it or not (if you are not using chromium anyway). in apps, the user doesn't have that luxury, especially regarding tracking and profiling.
I value software freedom so I don't promote proprietary apps that prevent users doing their computing the way they want. There's not much I can do about how companies mistreat their users. Just contribute to free (open source) software, advocate for a culture that values freedom over convenience, and advocate for laws against proprietary software.
Until apps allow to install ubo I’ll stick to a browser instead of having less control than with manifest v3 and chrome/ium
If the code of your app is like uBlock-Origin then you have the freedom to remove ads from your software. If an app dictates how you do your computing that's a bigger issue than reckless feature creep leading to the end of browsers.
In my experience people have a poor understanding of the software they use, it just needs to continue working as it always has.
I do. I'd be surprised if we see any kind of increase.
Firefox is going to slide into obscurity. They've been in a downward spiral for the last few years. So much money wasted on so many failed projects. They're a shadow of their former selves. The features of firefox are improving of course but by every metric that matters they're on life support.
I'm not asking this facetiously but: is there an easy way to migrate my bookmarks, tabs, and pinned tabs easily to Firefox? I looked maybe a year ago but didn't find a 1 to 1 easy switch way to go to Firefox.
To be clear: my personal laptop is all Firefox, but I don't use it all the time. My main desktop is an integration of all three (please don't judge), but I'd like to go full Firefox if it was convenient.
Use the export/import options
Every browser has import / export functions. This is a standard feature for many many years.
I get your point, but the easier you make it to switch the more people will make the change.
I'm not saying this facetiously but I just don't understand what could possibly be so important that you need a "1 to 1 easy switch way".
Import your bookmarks. Pin some tabs.
Convenience, similar to ninite.com. Sure I could download each installer one by one, but when it was made simple I now use it all the time.
Similarly with Firefox: the easier you make it to switch from any Chromium based web browser, to Firefox, the more people will make the switch. To me your comment is equivalent to someone saying RTFM.
On the contrary.
With the time you've wasted complaining about having to RTFM you could've already imported your my little pony bookmark collection and be clop clopping off into the sunset.
You really don't need a manual.
You are absolutely correct, I could have done it a while ago. But while it is inconvenient, for me specifically, it's not top priority. Once there's a convenient method I'll be all about it.
In retrospect maybe having the worlds most popular browser and the world's biggest advertiser be the same person, was a bad idea.
Calling it the "Googlenet" now. The rest of us that don't suck Google dick can stay on the actual Internet.
It’s like AOL all over again
Same thing that happened with the internet also happened with capitalism. It's like you need some regulation to ensure competition. It could have been so awesome if we had what we were promised.