• Daniel@lemmy.ml
    ·
    edit-2
    10 months ago

    TL;DR: The article claims that the Brave web browser is bad and should not be used.

    The author points out that Brendan Eich, the creator of JavaScript, co-founder (and ex-CEO) of Mozilla, and founder of Brave, donated 1,000 USD in support of a proposition to ban same-sex marriage. Along with making the claim that Brave's goal is not to act as an ad-blocker, but instead to build and grow their own advertisement network, and he also believes that the network has several flaws:

    • Brave Ads paysout in a form of cryptocurrency, called BAT (🦇).
    • As BAT is a cryptocurrency there is high volatility.
    • BAT can not be redeemed for fiat ("actual") money directly from within the Brave Wallet.
    • The author also believes that "it [the network] has largely failed" but that it "has generated a lot of revenue for Brave," via the ICO (Initial Coin Offering; IPO for crypto).

    In addition to these key points the author also:

    • Claims that Brave prompted FTX, before the scandal.
    • Cites the The Brave Marketer Podcast where ex-CMO of Crypto.com Steven Kalifowitz shares an ambitious goal of being a "'brand like Coke and Netflix.'" The author then mentions that:
      • In 2023 there was a report from The Financial Times that Crypto.com traded against their customers.
      • In 2022 the company try to hide the severity of its layoffs.
    • Mentions Brave's integration with Gemini, and how the crypto exchange is under investigation for lying about FDIC insurance.
    • Mentions a partnership with the the 3XP Web3 Gaming Expo where they sponsored the Esports Arena and rewarded contestants with the BAT token.
    • Claims that Brave added affiliate/referral codes to URLs, such as "binance.us."

    Finally, the author lists Firefox and Vivaldi as alternatives to Brave, and ends the article with "Brave Browser is irredeemable, and you should not use it under any circumstances."

    I am human, please let me know if I've made a mistake.

    Edit: Fixed bat emoji and typo.

    • doublepepperoni [none/use name]
      ·
      10 months ago

      The author points out that Brendan Eich, the creator of JavaScript, co-founder (and ex-CEO) of Mozilla, and founder of Brave, donated 1,000 USD in support of a proposition to ban same-sex marriage.

      My impression was Brave got started after he got hoofed out of Mozilla or left on his own accord after the backlash for showing his ass to be a homophobe. Redditor types were of course very angry about this blatant disregard for frozen peaches and jumped onto his new venture in droves

    • viking@infosec.pub
      ·
      10 months ago

      As BAT is a cryptocurrency there is high volatilability (I don’t know if I spelled that right :/ ).

      Volatility :-)

  • buh [any]
    ·
    10 months ago

    I don’t use it because the UI and logo are ugly

  • CaptainBasculin@lemmy.ml
    ·
    10 months ago

    The fact is i don't care about these things. All it matters is that Brave uses Chromium, therefore I'll never touch it.

    • Neutron Star@lemmy.ml
      ·
      10 months ago

      plus they have Google Advert ID Permission in Android. Tell me who is more creep. Crypto-things can be disabled within a few clicks, While mozilla's trash can be disabled using a bunch of configuration in about:config

  • aaaaaaadjsf [he/him, comrade/them]
    ·
    edit-2
    10 months ago

    To be honest the best chromium based browser I've used (when I'm forced to use a chromium based browser) is the Samsung internet one. It has a dark mode that actually works and protects my vampire eyes lol.

    Never used brave because I heard all of the scammy ad network and crypto stuff years ago, immediately put me off it. Now learning that the creator probably hates me, it's just another reason not to touch it.

    • FlappyBubble@lemmy.ml
      ·
      10 months ago

      Unfortunately that Samsung flavour of chrome is hopekessly outdated. Always a few releases behind and shouldn't be used for security reasons.

    • Hazard@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      ·
      10 months ago

      I got a nice open source recommendation I think you'll like: https://github.com/uazo/cromite

      It has the same dark mode plus much more. I'll leave you to reading through it yourself though.

      • aaaaaaadjsf [he/him, comrade/them]
        ·
        10 months ago

        I've tried it, looks cool, and using the flag "enable with selective inversion of non image elements" really helps eliminate all the issues with dark mode

  • Fuckass
    ·
    edit-2
    10 months ago

    deleted by creator

  • ShimmeringKoi [comrade/them]
    ·
    10 months ago

    I don't use it because if I had to pause to laugh at the self-seriousness every time I opened a browser, I would get even less work done than I do now

  • heavyboots@lemmy.ml
    ·
    edit-2
    10 months ago

    I mean… I've been using Firefox since Google silo'd all log-ins together.

    On the other hand, search.brave.com is freaking incredible. It's so much better than Google, Bing or DDG at this point, it's shocking. I switched a couple weeks ago and it's surreal to see so many usable, useful results on the first page again.

  • drathvedro@lemm.ee
    ·
    10 months ago

    Please stop reposting this crap every fucking day. What's up with you and this exact article in particular anyway? Are you getting paid or something?

    • whou@lemmy.ml
      hexagon
      ·
      10 months ago

      well, I just came across the article on Mastodon and wanted to share it. I mean jeez, imagine sharing and wanting to discuss interesting topics just for fun?

      and I posted the article on !technology@beehaw.org and then cross-posted it here, because I thought it was also an interesting community to discuss it. I saw a bunch of people cross-posting it elsewhere, so if you're seeing it a bunch of times then it's probably because those communities probably also have something in common with the article. I personally think every community have different people and different discussions to have, so I don't see it as particularly bad.

  • FIST_FILLET@lemmy.ml
    ·
    10 months ago

    did not know about the founder’s past, cheers for this. whenever i’m forced to open a chromium browser for something from now on, i’ll be using vivaldi.

  • PatFusty@lemm.ee
    ·
    10 months ago

    These are pretty unconvincing reasons to tell people to stop using brave...

        • rjs001@lemmygrad.ml
          ·
          10 months ago

          If someone is clearly just trying to be a trolling contrarian then there is no point in trying to change that person’s mind

          • SaltyIceteaMaker@lemmy.ml
            ·
            edit-2
            10 months ago

            So im trolling now because i have a different opinion? Explain that to me please. because based on the replies and upvote/downvote ratio on my comment, more people seem to agree than disagree with me.

            By that same logic you use im gonna say you are trolling as you seem to defend an "article" that should be objective but is littered with personal opinion's and facts wich are non relevant to the "product" that the article is about

            • rjs001@lemmygrad.ml
              ·
              10 months ago

              Because you obviously didn’t read the article. You claim the opinions are irrelevant which shows me that you took no time to actually read it. You are a troll because you are commenting obviously contrarian opinions that no reasonable could hold. It also appears more people agree with me than you by ratio as a higher percentage of the votes on the image I shared are positive than on the ridiculous noise that you spew with your comment. Go back to your Fox News and allow people who actually take time to read the article to discuss it

              • SaltyIceteaMaker@lemmy.ml
                ·
                10 months ago

                I did infact read the article and the irrelevant opinion i'm referring to are things likethe fact that the ceo donated against same sex marriage wich while i don't agree with that has nothing to do with the browser at hand.

                Also saying it's not reasonable to hold such an opinion is just another opinion to debate over, just not in this threat.

                The thing with the up/downvotes: i say i stand corrected. I didn't look at your ratio. I apologize.

                Assuming i am watching fox news is:

                1. Wrong. (I don't even live in the us) &
                2. Unprofessional as it seems to be used as an insult in this case. (Excuse me if i am mistake)

                Also It seems like you are trying to passively (or actively with that one) insult me on multiple occasions in this discussion.

                I refuse to partake in a discussion where the other person tries to reinforce their point with insult's.

                Please only reply if you can stay "formal" (or as formal as one is to strangers on the internet)

                • rjs001@lemmygrad.ml
                  ·
                  10 months ago

                  -Defends homophobes -Tries to ensure formality when that angers people.

                  Donations are relevant as that’s where the money may go that you give him by using the browser.

                  Living in the US or not, not sure how that’s relevant. It’s accessible in other countries so where you live isn’t relevant.

                  You act as though where your money goes is irrelevant to using a product and then scoff when others (rightfully) point out that that’s ridiculous.

  • Albinjose5219@lemmy.ml
    ·
    10 months ago

    The best browsers are forked ones. Use librewolf,mullvad,ungoogled chromium,vanadium,mulch (android).

    • zahel@lemm.ee
      ·
      10 months ago

      I've had my firefox settings/setup with multi-account containers, etc. dialed in for years. Never had any reason to change that. Librewolf is nice for people who don't already have existing & configured installations of firefox to have it basically configured by default.

  • HughJanus@lemmy.ml
    ·
    edit-2
    10 months ago

    I don't see any of this as legitimate reasons to stop using Brave.

    • yes the CEO donated $1k some 10 years ago to anti-LGBT stuff, and that's bad, but kinda small fries in the totality of factors.

    • ads. Firefox has ads and trackers just like Brave. You can disable them on either.

    • you can also disable crypto.

    • hijacking affiliate codes is unethical and should be stopped but don't actually affect me in any way.

    What else ya got?

    • phej@reddthat.com
      ·
      10 months ago

      The "anti-LGBT stuff" is enough imo. It may be "small fries", but I'd rather not support someone (or their company) when they clearly don't support me.

    • lieuwex@discuss.tchncs.de
      ·
      10 months ago

      hijacking affiliate codes is unethical and should be stopped but don't actually affect me in any way.

      I mean, alright. But you could say "I don't care" about any infraction of freedom and/or trust. I trust software to not modify my intent, any software that does so without asking can not be trusted in any way.

      • HughJanus@lemmy.ml
        ·
        edit-2
        10 months ago

        Agree to disagree, I suppose. It's worth it for the comprehensive privacy features.

    • bankimu@lemm.ee
      ·
      edit-2
      10 months ago

      CEO donating to what's cause is ideology that should be separated from you assessment of the product.

      I don't care about this, sounds like another Hogwarts fiasco.