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submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by CrypticCoffee@lemmy.ml to c/degoogle@lemmy.ml

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blackeco.com/post/25574

And since you won't be able to modify web pages, it will also mean the end of customization, either for looks (ie. DarkReader, Stylus), conveniance (ie. Tampermonkey) or accessibility.

The community feedback is... interesting to say the least.

It does seem that using Chrome (or Chrome based browsers) is just going to going to perpetuate this. Firefox has never been more important IMHO.

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[-] exohuman@kbin.social 57 points 11 months ago

This is why tech monopolies are bad. Google waited until they had a near monopoly on the browser engine and then pulls this shit. Alternatives still exist though, and people will vote with their actions by either not using Chrome or not using those websites that have DRM.

[-] CrypticCoffee@lemmy.ml 14 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I fear the number of sites taking that hit would be so many that we may feel excluded from the web. It feels really dangerous and we need more people on FF asap to make it clear to businesses that this is too costly to be worth it and they're losing a lot of users.

[-] fiat_lux@kbin.social 55 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Bug: violation of w3c code of ethics issue was opened 15 hours ago.

It was closed 14 hours ago with the status "completed" without further comment.

The guy who closed it posted an entry a day earlier called "So, you don't like a web platform proposal" on his rarely used blog. It has the appearance of telling people how to critique proposals in a professional way, while being completely dismissive of any communication attempts simultaneously. Perhaps he needs to reflect a little more on his blog entry's subheading "We're all humans", because he doesn't seem keen to address how users who rely on Assistive Technology are going to be able to use his DRM Web.

Edited to add: The code of ethics is for people who work at the W3c, so not entirely applicable anyway.

[-] frustbox@lemmy.ml 47 points 11 months ago

You should absolutely have web environment integrity. Your browser should not allow the website to do things that you don't approve of, so the integrity of your computer can be ensured.

Wait, that's not what they mean, is it? Oh no … 🙄

Yea, I feel like Google has this a bit backwards. As always, I like to turn the metaphor on it's head. You're not visiting a website, you're inviting a website. You're allowing the website to use your system resources, bandwidth, CPU cycles, etc. And what you do with your own system is none of the websites business. They can protect their business model on the server side, if they need to. But maybe they just need better business models.

[-] Sanctus@kbin.social 21 points 11 months ago

Boosting because this is how we should see websites. You dont visit them you download them. Websites are vampires that must be invited inside to use your system's resources to do whatever it does.

[-] dpflug@hachyderm.io 2 points 11 months ago

@frustbox
Time to go all in on Gemini, or something like it?
@CrypticCoffee @degoogle

[-] quortez@kbin.social 34 points 11 months ago

Just what the web needed, SafetyNet in your browser. Does anyone have the EFF on speed dial?

[-] Anticorp@lemmy.ml 23 points 11 months ago

Google is fucking evil, and they even admitted it when they changed their motto from Don't Be Evil.

[-] MrMamiya@feddit.de 18 points 11 months ago

Let them burn it down for us.

[-] Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 17 points 11 months ago

Time to bring back Gopher but with blackjack and hookers.

[-] linearchaos@lemmy.world 16 points 11 months ago

That's how we GOT Firefox.

[-] curryandbeans@lemmy.world 13 points 11 months ago

It kinda feels like I’m being chased offline

[-] mustyOrange@beehaw.org 11 points 11 months ago

The concept of having third party "trusted" attesters just screams abuse, corruption, and data selling. What would their business model be? Direct payments from browser companies? Selling "anonymized" data? What if their data security is crap it just ends up being another vector by which leaks and scams can happen? I doubt the average web user is going to understand that all of their data is going to be going thru some man in the middle when they Google something

What about competition? What if attester A has major ties with Microsoft edge and decide to block Firefox users? Or what about smaller third party apps that are made for accessibility reasons? Or hell - what about startups that are trying to enter the market?

The only reason these attesters would be trusted is because the large companies say they are. Theyd be completely at the whims of Google and Microsoft. What a stupid fucking idea with little upside for the end user

[-] AVeryCleverName@lemmy.one 8 points 11 months ago

Who has read The Master Switch by Tim Wu? It's a great book and that essentially argues every mass communication medium started off as a decentralized playground for hobbyists before consolidating into a centralized profit seeking (or profit-seeking-enabling) entity. It the ends with the question of whether the same destiny awaits the internet.

I remember hoping it didn't, and that hope grows harder to maintain by the day. It's so fucking sad.

I just hope that even if this standard is implemented, the protocol maintains enough of it's flexibility for small enclaves of people who still believe in the technology's original vision to "opt out" of it.

[-] deCorp0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 11 months ago

I use Firefox and LibreWolf trying to avoid Chrome based browsers, but doesn’t Mozilla get the majority of the funding for Firefox development from making Google default search? I’ve purchased a few of Firefox’s paid features, VPN, etc hoping that it would contribute to getting them a new business model.

[-] CrypticCoffee@lemmy.ml 7 points 11 months ago

You're doing a great job and if more did what you did, they wouldn't have to rely on search revenues. They know most users switch search engines. Those defaults are what fund browser development. Firefox are not in the search engine market, and if they took that sacrifice, they'd go bust and wouldn't be in the browser market either. It sucks, and it isn't glamorous, but it is the only way they can financially compete in the browser market at all. Browsers are complex and millions of lines of code and only getting more complex. It is far from cheap.

[-] Peruvia@lemmy.ml 6 points 11 months ago

Denuvo for Chrome when?

[-] lntl 5 points 11 months ago

Just block ads with a local recursive DNS resolver.

[-] pjhenry1216@kbin.social 22 points 11 months ago

Doesn't help for things like YouTube ads or the like where the ads are delivered from the same domain. Also the attester may not validate your environment as safe. I didn't do s deep deep dive into what may be part of the attestation, but resolution of various domains (or ensuring they return some specific value) could easily make it's way in if they wanted.

[-] lntl 2 points 11 months ago

This is speculation. DNS is a tool enterprise uses to manage networks. It's unlikely that Google will upend this so ads can be watched.

There's a risk that IT departments nationwide would just deploy Edge or Firefox instead of Chrome to retain the ability to manage and secure networks. This is not what Google wants.

[-] pjhenry1216@kbin.social 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

They literally already do this with YouTube ads, what are you talking about? This is a thing that already happens.

Edit: there are already sites I can't visit due to work blocking some domains and those sites have the "disable your ad blocker" with no way to say no thanks. It isn't google that will break it. It'll be an attester and it'll be the site that chooses that attester.

[-] mohKohn@kbin.social 14 points 11 months ago

this is a social problem not a personal one. why are you proposing personal hacks already?

[-] lntl 5 points 11 months ago

You're confused. DNS servers are the backbone of the internet, not a "hack." Also, this isn't a social problem. Poverty is a social problem.

[-] CrypticCoffee@lemmy.ml 4 points 11 months ago

Out of curiosity what would you recommend? I'm aware of PiHole, but many struggle to get hold of a pi. Any other good options?

[-] noli@programming.dev 6 points 11 months ago

You can run pihole on any linux system, not sure how compatibility is with windows/macos. I used to just run it locally. It also has some speed benefits to run it on the same machine that consumes it

[-] linearchaos@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago

There are a number of pie hole in a container options as well

https://github.com/pi-hole/docker-pi-hole/

[-] pjhenry1216@kbin.social 1 points 11 months ago

With a little work involving Wireguard, you could setup a pihole on DigitalOcean for between $6-$7 ($4-$5 if you use their cheapest server, but I want to tinker a bit so wanted just a tad more power) a month. It's split tunnel configuration, so it only handles DNS. Essentially, no matter where I go, I can connect to the pihole and get its functionality. I get it on my phone no matter I'm on wifi or cell network. If something is blocked that I need real quick, I don't even need to configure the pihole, just disconnect from Wireguard temporarily. So, it'll run you the cost of the suggested retail cost of a pi4 and accessories basically each year.

[-] Echo71Niner@kbin.social 0 points 11 months ago

good suggestion!

[-] artaxthehappyhorse@lemmy.ml 5 points 11 months ago

Use DRM to encrypt site content. Use DMCA anti circumvention clauses to make ad blocking effectively illegal. Turn everyone into your little b-tch sheep and expose them to unskippable totally irrelevant ads over and over. Execs and shareholders profit.

[-] azuth@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

It's also going to be used to enforce locking down of Android (custom roms, root). You don't have to read very far to find "secure" Android device or them being inspired by Play Integrity.

[-] CrypticCoffee@lemmy.ml 3 points 11 months ago

I hope you're wrong. As someone on GrapheneOS, that would suck. By that time, I hope other Linux mobile options are more mature.

[-] deCorp0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 11 months ago

When tech companies say we’re doing this for security, it’s not about our security. It’s about securing more profits for their shareholders.

[-] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 2 points 11 months ago
[-] CrypticCoffee@lemmy.ml 2 points 11 months ago

Yup, it was a cross post. I didn't write that bit. :)

[-] gapbetweenus@feddit.de -5 points 11 months ago

Dang, I liked chrome - ff felt bloated and I could never get into safari. Anything else I could try?

[-] Cabrio@lemmy.world 29 points 11 months ago

Firefox is faster than Chrome as of the latest builds.

[-] gapbetweenus@feddit.de 5 points 11 months ago

Never had any issues with speed of any browser, so I don't really get that - bloated mostly in the the sense of UI. But it's also been I think some years since I tried, maybe it's time to try it out again.

[-] CrypticCoffee@lemmy.ml 7 points 11 months ago

Bloated is a weird nebulous term. Chrome is bloated because of telemetry. Bloat generally means things in the software that are not needy.

I think clunky is the term you're looking for. I cannot think of what it has in the UI that isn't needed.

[-] gapbetweenus@feddit.de 3 points 11 months ago

It's a complete subjective feeling, I switched to chrome because it felt lighter and was easier to synch over several devices. Just checked FF out and it looks very different to the last time I saw it, so I will try it.

[-] CrypticCoffee@lemmy.ml 7 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Good luck. Credit to you for trying again :). There is FF sync where you can sync between devices easier also.

[-] pjhenry1216@kbin.social 2 points 11 months ago

If you haven't tried in recent years, I'd suggest doing it again. Just as chrome has significantly increased in size and resource usage from its days of advertising how quick and light it is (it didn't stop advertising those points for no reason), Firefox has improved dramatically. I forget what post I was on but someone said there's always someone who badmouths Firefox simply because they haven't tried it recently. It really is true. Tech evolves so quickly these days, there's no reason to not give it a shot again.

[-] pedro@lemm.ee 3 points 11 months ago

Wans't there a huge speed difference on the Google websites with Firefox at some point? I've always used Firefox and will never go to chrome but damn YouTube/maps/... feel slow on Firefox

I'm sure it's not intentional /s

[-] ohlaph@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

I felt the same way a while back but the updated version is worth trying.

[-] Virkkunen@kbin.social 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

On synthetic tests on Windows 10/11, sure, but on real world usage it's quite clear the Firefox is on the slow end of the stick, on Windows, Mac, Linux and specially Android

[-] photonic_sorcerer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 20 points 11 months ago

I felt similarly until I reinstalled Firefox a few months back because of this. It's actually gotten a lot better imo. I won't be going back to Chrome in any case.

[-] SirElliott@beehaw.org 4 points 11 months ago

I personally like LibreWolf , a privacy-focused version of Firefox that has Ublock Origin installed by default and has unnecessary things like Mozilla Pocket removed.

Another option is Ungoogled Chromium, which is just Google Chromium with Google web services removed.

this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2023
396 points (98.8% liked)

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