this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2024
20 points (88.5% liked)

Privacy

32173 readers
696 users here now

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

Related communities

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 month ago (2 children)

https://help.kagi.com/orion/faq/faq.html#oss

We're working on it! We've started with some of our components and intend to open more in the future.

The idea that "open-source = trustworthy" only goes so far. For example, the same tech company that offers a popular open-source browser also has the largest ad/tracking network in history, with that browser playing a significant role in it. Another company with a closed-source browser (using WebKit like Orion) is on the forefront of privacy awareness and technologies in its products.

So, does anyone here remember when all chromium browsers had a secret api that sent extra data to google? Brave, Opera, and Edge got hit by this one, but I think Vivaldi dodged it. They all removed this after they found out, but still...

When it comes to things like browsers, due to the sheer complexity and difficulty to truly audit chromium, I don't really consider chromium to be "open source" in the same sense as many other apps. Legally, you can see and edit the code. But in practice, it's impossible to audit all of it, and the development is controlled by a single corporation who puts secrets in it, or removes features that harm their interests (manifest v3). Personally, I consider Minecraft Java to be closer to open source than chromium is.

To say that:

The idea that "open-source = trustworthy" only goes so far

is really just a cop-out and excuse for not being transparent with their code and what they are doing.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago

100% agree.

If its not open source 1) you can't fully trust/audit. and 2) you'll be left in the dust should the company cease to exist as nobody can continue development.

If Firefox is not private enough use Librewolf. If you're interested in something new and exciting give Zen Browser or Floorp (both based on Firefox) a spin.

[–] autonomoususer 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

You know they're scamming when they think saying 'open source' enough will make us forget it fails to include a libre software licence text file.

some of our components

Blatant scam. That's not an app. The app is anti-libre software.