• memory_adept [he/him]
      hexagon
      hexbear
      27
      1 month ago

      just continues the general trend of who they hire and their statements about further rationing how many features are rolled out based on how customers use them

      they have been going into more stuff like Pocket recently, specifically, more monetized, so it is good you mentioned it

      there are ofc two ways that can go, increasing the overall share that is afforded to FF and thunderbird as a result of more monetization like the phone relay addon, or just stripping those down to the bone bc investoids say so

      why would i be optimistic? idk

      • dannoffs [he/him]
        hexbear
        10
        1 month ago

        I like pocket, I've been using it since it was Read it Later. It's integrated with my kobo e reader by default and works great.

        • memory_adept [he/him]
          hexagon
          hexbear
          6
          1 month ago

          my support of pocket again hinges entirely on whether they keep putting money back into the good shit or it becomes a process of stripping down what remains of mozilla and making shit like that

  • itappearsthat [he/him]
    hexbear
    28
    1 month ago

    are they an actual free speech proponent or like a free speech for everybody who follows the state department line proponent

  • blobjim [he/him]
    hexbear
    28
    1 month ago

    I wish another country developed their own browser engine. Or their own web protocols and standards. It's insane that countries like Russia and China continue to invest absolutely nothing in taking control of the most common software systems people use away from the US.

    • Formerlyfarman [none/use name]
      hexbear
      10
      1 month ago

      There is yandex browser, i used to have it in my phone but for some reason it wss deleted and now my phone provider does not let me install it. But its there. That being said the yandex guy is somewhat sus but since the company is in russia its generally more free than american search engines browser.

      • alexandra_kollontai [she/her]
        hexbear
        7
        1 month ago

        Every browser is Chrome, except for Firefox. It's impossible to make a new browser: https://drewdevault.com/2020/03/18/Reckless-limitless-scope.html

        • Formerlyfarman [none/use name]
          hexbear
          3
          1 month ago

          Wow. I dont think ive read that many words in my lifetime. But couldnt they mske a simpler browser with less features?

          • alexandra_kollontai [she/her]
            hexbear
            2
            1 month ago

            Sure, there does exist a browser called Dillo, which recently got an update letting it connect using modern HTTPS encryption. It's a lighter weight browser with fewer features. It sort of works? You can load some pages, submit some forms. The link above shows off some screenshots, where you can see the article is readable, but the page layout is a funky and some of the colours are wrong. A notable missing feature is JavaScript. Any kind of dynamic content on the web relies on JavaScript, which is sometimes option, but these days many sites load the entire page using JavaScript because they're assholes.

            You can use Dillo, but you can't realistically switch to Dillo in 2024, because you wouldn't be able to read many news sites, do online shopping, or visit hexbear.net. They just won't load, you won't be able to read them.

            To be viable for everyday or popular use, it would need JavaScript, a DOM, and to be available on smartphones. These are basically impossible tasks (and the Dillo project isn't interested in doing that anyway).

            • Formerlyfarman [none/use name]
              hexbear
              1
              1 month ago

              Thank you for the tougthful response. Now that you mention it. I think this maigth be a problem with software development in general. Because people have been piling black boxes nobody knows how some elementary things work.

              So many aplications are still single threaded or fail to utilize ram.

              Wheras before even small game companies had their propietary game engines now even the biggest actors have to recicle 15 old engines wich are mot desinged to make use of proper hardware. I hear the chinese have problems with their videocard drivers.

              Is this also a problem for industry at large where catching up involves following several steps that are very expensive and unprofitable?

              Or is it more excacerbated in software because the propensity to use black boxes?

      • memory_adept [he/him]
        hexagon
        hexbear
        2
        1 month ago

        Yeah they are sus indeed but the translation is sooooo good I want a better mobile option

    • RustCat [he/him]
      hexbear
      9
      1 month ago

      I agree with web browsers, so much lock-in for no gain for consumers.

      But for web standards and protocols, well... Why? It's a huge amount of work for basically no gain. 99% of the web works fine right now and is supported by open source stuff. The government can't stop China from cloning public GitHub repos.

      • blobjim [he/him]
        hexbear
        4
        1 month ago

        Because web "standards" are shaped by Google and western companies for the things they want (ads and tracking). And being able to clone a repsoitory is not the same as having intimate knowledge of how it works, to maintain it or add on to it or the ability to contribute to it and shape its direction.

        I think some part of the reason why open source software has been so accepted is that it is mostly under the control of the US. The US Congress wanted to restrict RISC-V because China is one of its main implementors.

      • iridaniotter [she/her, they/them]
        hexbear
        10
        1 month ago

        A funny outcome would be America cutting itself off from international web standards due to communist infiltration of open source code.

        Show

  • Luna [she/her, they/them]
    hexbear
    17
    1 month ago

    I think Servo (another browser engine) is now being developed by The Linux Foundation, hopefully that goes somewhere. I believe it is also mostly rust, so it would be safe from memory-based security issues. servo.org

    • itappearsthat [he/him]
      hexbear
      15
      1 month ago

      It's primarily being developed by Igalia, a worker-owned cooperative!

      • Luna [she/her, they/them]
        hexbear
        7
        edit-2
        1 month ago

        I think it's still in development, it seems like they have nightly builds but they don't guarantee security at all. I would say it's not ready yet, so on Firefox I shall remain.

        On the website:

        These pre-built nightly snapshots allow developers to try Servo and report issues without building Servo locally. Please don’t log into your bank with Servo just yet!

        Edit Again: Yeah I just downloaded the nighly build, very barebones, doesn't render much. I'm assuming it's not even close to being finished, but something to look forward to, I guess.

    • machinya [it/its, fae/faer]
      hexbear
      6
      1 month ago

      i have been waiting for servo for years and sadly it doesn't looks like it will be usable any time soon, which is really a shame since firefox has been getting worse for a while

    • memory_adept [he/him]
      hexagon
      hexbear
      4
      1 month ago

      apparently I'm a skill-issued casual, I didn't see this or the Bill Kristol bit ty

  • Evilphd666 [he/him, comrade/them]
    hexbear
    9
    1 month ago

    Tried saying Mozilla had its issues. I know this was back in 2018 but....Nichole Wong (Mozilla) teamed up with a who's who of Clinton operatives and neocon gouls (i.e. Bill Kristol) to develop the whole "Russia! Russia! Russia!" Spiel and kick off this new Red Scare.

    • memory_adept [he/him]
      hexagon
      hexbear
      8
      1 month ago

      whatever fuck em i can't remove default search engines from thunderbird anyways forking all their shit is already mandatory