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Clearly, Google is serious about trying to oust ad blockers from its browser, or at least those extensions with fuller (V2) levels of functionality. One of the crucial twists with V3 is that it prevents the use of remotely hosted code – as a security measure – but this also means ad blockers can’t update their filter lists without going through Google’s review process. What does that mean? Way slower updates for said filters, which hampers the ability of the ad-blocking extension to keep up with the necessary changes to stay effective.

(This isn’t just about browsers, either, as the war on advert dodgers extends to YouTube, too, as we’ve seen in recent months).

At any rate, Google is playing with fire here somewhat – or Firefox, perhaps we should say – as this may be the shove some folks need to get them considering another of the best web browsers out there aside from Chrome. Mozilla, the maker of Firefox, has vowed to maintain support for V2 extensions, while introducing support for V3 alongside to give folks a choice (now there’s a radical idea).

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[-] DarkCloud@lemmy.world 175 points 1 month ago

I downloaded Librewolf today - the privacy oriented fork of Firefox!

Good to see there are browser variants that aren't just Chrome.

[-] Album@lemmy.ca 29 points 1 month ago

yep firefox with arkenfox for me, same deal as librewolf. And Mull on mobile.

Switched about 2-3 months ago thinking it might be difficult or impact me negatively or something but its been easy and great.

[-] kitnaht@lemmy.world 21 points 1 month ago

You know the problem I have with Librewolf? -- Fuckall nobody knows how to spell it.

The beauty of Firefox is that even the densest idiot knows how to spell those two words. And with attention spans the equivalent of a gnat, people need to have things simplified for them as much as humanly possible.

Fortunately enough, Firefox is about the only one with a renderer that isn't controlled by Google, but - even now they're shifting to a pro-advertising stance and backing off of the privacy orientation that they took just a year or two ago.

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[-] sandbox@lemmy.world 122 points 1 month ago

We’re going to have a serious problem on our hands soon with compatibility. I’m a software dev and I’m already seeing a few issues here and there where Chrome is being treated as the default expected browser and features don’t work on Firefox.

Firefox doesn’t support a fair few Chrome features because of security and privacy reasons, such as WebHID, WebUSB, etc.

Devs, please stop using those features. I know it’s tempting, but they’re basically bribes to encourage you to sell out to Google. Don’t do it.

[-] cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 51 points 1 month ago

We’re going to have a serious problem on our hands soon with compatibility. I’m a software dev and I’m already seeing a few issues here and there where Chrome is being treated as the default expected browser and features don’t work on Firefox.

It's basically IE6 and ActiveX all over again.

[-] spookedintownsville@lemmy.world 19 points 1 month ago

Most "Chrome-only" web applications I have to use I can get around just by changing my user agent string and everything works fine. I try not to use that stuff when I can, though.

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[-] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 98 points 1 month ago

There's no need to wait. Just switch to Firefox now. All the cool kids have already done it.

[-] Soggy@lemmy.world 53 points 1 month ago
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[-] MC_Lovecraft@lemm.ee 85 points 1 month ago

I remember the internet before Google, and how game changing it was to have all of the internet indexed in one place (even if that wasn’t actually quite true back then). If you had asked me 15, 10, even 5 years ago if I would be cheering its downfall and yearning for a return to a simpler, far less centralized internet, I would have called you crazy. And yet here we are.

[-] DrGunjah@lemmy.world 39 points 1 month ago

You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

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[-] Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 73 points 1 month ago

I don't understand seemingly intelligent people who still blindly use chrome at this point...

[-] thatsnothowyoudoit@lemmy.ca 31 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

For those of us who work in (or love) tech - we (myself included) grossly overestimate how much the general public cares about, or cares to be informed about, this stuff. Heck, even people in tech who know better.

I wish it wasn’t the case but look how long and hard Microsoft moved on Internet Explorer and ActiveX back in the early days of the web.

Google and Chrome is just another bit of history repeating.

As an aside, I’ve been using Zen for about a week and it’s been wonderful. Easy transition from Firefox because it largely is Firefox, so all my containers, extensions, and settings carried over. Zen’s workspaces provide exactly the promise I’d hoped “tab groups” brought with Safari (but never worked right). I just wish there was an equivalent to the Hush plug-in on Safari (even after a year of full-timing FF, consent-o-matic is quite poor).

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[-] FinalRemix@lemmy.world 29 points 1 month ago

I kinda have to at work. Our classroom computers reset between classes and Chrome is the only browser installed. I might ask IT about that, moving forward, given uBlock getting neutered soon.

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[-] stebo02@lemmy.dbzer0.com 26 points 1 month ago

It's not about intelligence it's about what keeps you up at night. Most people aren't bothered by cookies and ads, somehow.

this is something i cannot understand. my brain would fking die from the seizures the modern, ad infested web induces.

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[-] dsilverz@thelemmy.club 15 points 1 month ago

The problem here is not just Chrome (as in Google Chrome) but Chromium, the web engine behind many browsers out there (such as Opera, Vivaldi, Edge, among many many others). For now there are two main web engines available, those being Chromium and Gecko (Firefox, Palemoon and many other Firefox forks). The deprecation of Manifest v2 is a Chromium change that includes (and focuses on) Chrome.

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[-] bokherif@lemmy.world 56 points 1 month ago

Man fuck google

[-] Harvey656@lemmy.world 43 points 1 month ago

While this will drive some users to Firefox, we all know it won't be enough. Too many people simple don't know, or don't care, it won't affect their lives in any meaningful way, or so they will believe. Google will be harming the tech illiterate and normies (sorry for the slur) because money, bullshit, and to drive the stake deeper into the monopoly. If you have older family members using chrome, sit them down and explain to them the dangers of the internet without adblock.

[-] setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 18 points 1 month ago

It gets me thinking. Tech literate people are the types to install blockers, and would be the same type of people both motivated and knowledgeable about how to switch browsers. On the line of thinking it seems like it is just going to drive them away from Chrome. Tech illiterate people remain unaffected since they are getting ads anyway.

But then on the other hand, if someone is tech literate then why are they even still using Chrome? Does such a person value whatever advantage Chrome theoretically provides over their ad-blocking?

[-] shneancy@lemmy.world 16 points 1 month ago

as a chromium browser user - i've been meaning to switch to firefox, and i know it'll take me maybe a day, but it feels like so much workkkk. In a similar fashion i've been meaning to switch to Linux for ages too. I guess it just hasn't gotten bad enough for me to take action

as long as my adblockers & script blockers work, i'm not forced to upgrade to win11, and win10 still has security updates i don't think it's pushing on my discomfort buttons strong enough. I know the day will come, but like with a lot of things in my life - why do something today when i can do it tomorrow?

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[-] sirico@feddit.uk 41 points 1 month ago

Waiting for Mozilla to shoot their own foot again

[-] ikidd@lemmy.world 41 points 1 month ago

Make sure to shit on them every fucking time anyone says the name "Mozilla", that'll help us not have anything except Chrome in a couple years.

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[-] USSEthernet@startrek.website 38 points 1 month ago

When is this happening? I've been telling my wife and kid that they need to stop using chrome for a year, but ublock is still working for them and blocking YouTube ads. They are the type that won't switch until it becomes a problem for them.

[-] LWD@lemm.ee 15 points 1 month ago

I think that's the point: Google has been shutting down Manifest V2 extensions one step at a time, and it's been experimenting with anti-ad-block tech on YouTube with one user group at a time.

[-] portside@monyet.cc 30 points 1 month ago

I've fully switched to Firefox everywhere. The only thing I'm missing is a lightweight browser which is not based on chromium for my potato tablet. jQuarks viewer is a good one but can be dumb sometimes, it opens image instead of the link for eg.

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[-] vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works 20 points 1 month ago

I find it funny how so many people are switching back to firefox but its been my default since I was like 10. I had crappy laptops when I was young and it was the only one that worked, it works amazingly for my modern computer.

[-] stoy@lemmy.zip 20 points 1 month ago

Yeah, I remember when Chrome was first released, I was already on Firefox, and I downloaded and tried Chrome....

I absolutely hated the UI, and kept on using Firefox.

Over the years, I have seen many articles about how Chrome is better because it is faster, I never had an issue with Firefox, so I kept using it.

The only time I swiched from Firefox since version 1.0 was when they launched the Australis redesign as it made it look like a boring chrome copy.

I swiched to Pale Moon, a Fitefox fork which kept the old UI, then when they released the Quantum redesign, I switched back.

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[-] aramis87@fedia.io 18 points 1 month ago

What's a good YouTube downloader these days?

[-] prole@sh.itjust.works 36 points 1 month ago

yt-dlp is the gold standard. Not only for YouTube either. Check out the man page, the amount of shit it can do is insane.

[-] rem26_art@fedia.io 32 points 1 month ago

yt-dlp is what i normally use, tho its only got a command line interface. I think someone's made a GUI for it, but I've never tried it.

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[-] falk1856@midwest.social 17 points 1 month ago

And we started with "Don't be evil"

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[-] AlternateRoute@lemmy.ca 15 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

The lack of HVEC/h.265 support is kind of a deal breaker in firefox (windows nightly builds don't count as done). I need it to view h.265 security cameras and the occasional movie streamed via browser.

Edit: For those suggesting multiple browsers I could just use Edge if I wanted to.. still better compatibility as it is essentially chromium.

I have a list of other things that don’t work reliably in Firefox such as various video conferencing tools so no, I am not going to switch to Firefox as my primary browser again anytime soon.

I was a Firefox user for many years but there are too many daily things I use now that prevent me from using it as a primary browser for work and causal use.

[-] ramble81@lemm.ee 25 points 1 month ago

Cool thing is you can run multiple browsers. So just use Chrome for your cameras and Firefox for everything else.

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[-] werefreeatlast@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago

Google, fuck you and your ads too:

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this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2024
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