Seems to me that Lemmy is nothing but a Firefox promo platform these days. For weeks this is the one and only trending topic.
Lemmy is FOSS and largely used by anticapitalist tech nerds (I say this positively). Chrome is one of the most significant monopolies in tech. I don’t know why you wouldn’t expect this to be a common topic.
“But Chrome is slightly more convenient! Why would I suffer tiny inconvenience today in order to save me from way greater inconvenience later? Who am I? Some reasonable person?” - typical Chrome user.
We can’t forget that a lot of people have absolutely no idea that this is happening or what it means. Many folks just think the Chrome icon is how you access the internet and have no idea that there are other options. Helping to educate those folks is going to be a significant part of minimizing Chrome’s dominance.
This comment is 20 years old if you replace the word Chrome with Internet Explorer.
Vivaldi user since 2015. Never looked back.
Vivaldi is Chromium under the hood.
I’ve been removing Google services from my life bit by bit over the past year, and I have to say it is crazy how hard it actually is! They have inserted themselves into so many digital workflows, securing monopoly positions and preventing the rise of competitors and open ecosystems. In many areas the only alternatives are other tech giants, or accepting feature downgrades and having to set things up manually.
I’m really glad that the browser is one area where the transition is actually very simple and straightforward!
How many google services do you have? I just have one, and if I ever deleted it, all of the google apps I use would become worthless.
You need to have effective replacements.
This is why Apple is so popular… much more thoroughly integrated, in many cases a better product, and for the most part paying more than just lip service to privacy.
About the only Google services I still use is the search engine (while it is still marginally useful), and Maps (since so many people on FB Marketplace also use it, so sending an address using a maps link is the ideal solution).
#fuckingcapitalists
You have an alternative?
Capitalism but better Balanced
Not using Chrome is so easy. I mean, Firefox is right there and is a better browser to boot. I genuinely have no idea why people still use Chrome for everything.
some small problems i face is that
while i use youtube it runs slower.
and the quick image search feature using google lens is not present.
and telegram voice call does not work.
You can use a different frontend for YouTube. You’ve got Freetube for pc, Yattee for MacOS and iOS and piped on any platform. These solutions also protect your privacy and block ads.
My problem with these is that the quality is always bad. Usually 720p max and only H.264 instead of VP9. YouTube quality is already bad enough as it is and nerfing it even more feels awful.
I keep going back and forth with Firefox and Vivaldi. The chrome based browsers just tend to run better. I love firefox on mobile but on desktop it’s tougher for me to stick with. Also Mozilla seems to have a different goal for the future with all the other products and ai weirdness they recently announced.
Are those fractions of a second really worth your privacy?
All chromium browsers are supporting Google’s grip on the internet.
This is true. Which is why Mozilla needs to focus on making a better browser instead of adding their own ai bullshit.
Some websites load faster in Chrome. But the reason why Chrome is so ubiquitous is because for normal people, Google is still the plucky user friendly company they were in the early 00s.
To be fair, chromebooks are great devices for kids, and the family link platform makes keeping them “secure”, easier… a lot easier!!!
Actually that’s a fair point. I totally forgot about Chromebooks.
It grinds me a bit, as I did have a Linux version if Firefox installed on my Chromebook, but because the book is just a sofa device and doesn’t get any love (especially from the little shits), it runs dog slow, so I end up just using chrome on it, and suffer the pain of not having things synced between devices. Thankfully the most important thing, bitwarden is syncing, so I can manage the suffering.
Even on Chromebooks you can install Firefox.
Firefox is not the better browser in anything but privacy. Maybe it could win in customisability, but that’s something only a few percent of users care about.
It has longer load times and sometimes breaks sites entirely while using about the same resources. Yes, the reason for that is that website creators don’t deliberately support it, but the normal user only cares about functionality.
I still use it and recommend it to anyone that asks, but saying that it’s the better browser is just delusional.
Serious question. Is it actually better for the typical user? I don’t mean people commenting here. I’m thinking about the majority that don’t care about privacy, blocking ads, quality technology, etc. for those people, I’m guessing that Firefox is equivalent. Just another browser that works fine. So why switch??
I run into compatibility issues and weird bugs with firefox a lot. I’m still using it as my primary browser, but I have to keep a chromium based browser ready for times when a website won’t work in firefox. I can put up with that personally, but I wouldn’t want to set up firefox on family/friend computers because I don’t want to get a call whenever something doesn’t work and they don’t know why.
Chrome based browsers also have some super useful features (like tab groups) that firefox doesn’t have a good alternative for.
Interesting. I’ve heard this many times from people here on Lemmy. I’ve been running Firefox for ~6 months now (previously Brave) and haven’t seen these issues yet. I don’t even have a chromium based browser available on any of my devices.
Regardless, I hear you about not wanting to be personal support for friends and family. That’s annoying
People inevitably bring up compatibility issues in Firefox when this subject comes up, and nobody ever has specific examples.
Because normies were using IE, then enough of them had their “tech enthusiast” grandson show them Chrome in 2010 and now that’s all they use.
So my gut instinct is to go to Firefox (again), but how can it compete? It’s down to like 2% market share, there’s a serious portion of the web that Firefox just can’t render anymore, and there’s all this press about the CEO getting this monsterous golden parachute.
So realistically what can anyone do but continue to use the only browser people ever really test sites for anymore, or swear allegiance to either Microsoft or Apple?
Firefox can always compete, because if it ever stopped existing Google would have an antitrust case on their hands. For the same reason, Google cannot violate web standards, like what has happened in previous browser wars.
I don’t agree that Firefox is unable to render a portion of the web, I’ve been using it for years and have never once run into a website that had a problem with my browser. I thought once that studentaid.gov did, but that turned out to be a problem with extensions. I’ve seen more websites that have issues with me using Linux than with Firefox.
Yeah, I’ll never use Chrome again. Google has always been shady, but this latest round of anti-features is unbelievable. I’m shocked there’s been no anti-trust suits related to what they’re doing with Chrome. Firefox is just a better browser with way more security options and extension support. That alone is enough for me to stick with it.
Regulators are blind to this, it’s too technical.
Security? No. Privacy? Of course (assuming you don’t use vanilla FF). Is it much easier to escape the sandbox in Gecko than Chromium. Doesn’t matter what options they give you in the settings titled “Security”.
I post Contra Chrome every time Chrome and spyware are mentioned, but I’ll post it here again.
IMHO, people in corporations should acknowledge that there is a growing user base for Firefox and give it as much priority as chrome. That way people in an organization can at least explore a different browser than chrome (especially the non-tech folks).
The reality is that companies test all their websites in Chrome. Any automation testing will also be focused on Chrome and Safari. Also majority of the developers use Chrome dev tools for debugging. I don’t see that changing anytime soon. I feel that Firefox is like a second class citizen in their book.
But hey, that might be a good thing too. All the tracking B.S will be developed for chrome and We can continue to enjoy privacy with good old firefox.
I’ve used Firefox for years. It’s always been the underdog imo.
If it ever becomes the top dog, I’ll switch! To the next privacy underdog. More competition is good.
At one point it was the top dog - this was before google was even in the browser market mind you. Then they entered and used a lot of… Shall we say interesting marketing practices to usurp firefoxes dominant position - it wasn’t all due to chrome being better.
what are the other options
firefox is still not there in terms of language support and translating like chrome has etcetera
not bashing firefox or chrome honestly asking what else is there?
epiphany browser is even further behind
still waiting for anything that isnt mozilla or google based.
Thorium, oh good another chrome browser librewolf, oh good another firefox browser
PLEASE I BEG OF YOU, GIVE ME SOMETHING THAT ISN’T TAINTED.
The one feature that I really liked that’s still in chromium other than Google cast is still Web Apps.
I like to be able to make a desktop application out of a web page. Firefox has this feature with PRISM a while back. Did it ever come back?
I do believe there is either a flag or an add on that gives you this option again. I haven’t used it in a while so don’t quote me on that.
Found it. It is an add on. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/pwas-for-firefox/
The add-on is pretty hacky in my experience. I want native PWA support.
Let people use whatever they feel like, ffs.
And that is why soon there shall be a monoculture of browser and all control shall be ceded to massive corpo.
Thank Mozilla’s (mis)managemet for that.
So you are supporting the even greater evil to spite Mozilla? It’s not mozilla pushing manifest v3 that will cripple ublock origin.
Yes. Mozilla doesn’t deserve it’s reputation or its status. And I don’t need Ublock Origin. Stopped using it years ago.
Nope, it is ignorant users misleading other users as the subject is firefox’s behavior and not the corporate behavior just as the reason to avoid chromium crap is the behavior of chromium crap and the actions of googliebet are an entirely different issue just as Mozillas are.
I’ve been repeatedly surprised by how many people are willing to defend Mozilla by saying every other corporation pays their CEOs too much too. It’s as if Mozilla can do no wrong, as long as other companies are doing worse somewhere else.
And if that’s the standard people hold it to, well, they’re basically condemning it to have no value whatsoever
No one ever remotely gave mozilla a pass by warning that firefox is the last bastion against a return to the proprietary web we barely fought off with IE6.
I can link to some comments if you want. But I think it’s fair to assume that on the internet, people will come up with the dumbest opinions possible
That’s what I have noticed as well. Mozilla always gets a free pass.
Off topic remains off topic.
It probably doesn’t help that, up until days ago, the biggest articles written about this were by a guy with a history of wanting Mozilla – and a handful of other companies – to fail, not because of bad behavior but because of a personal/political vendetta. (For comparison, he’s put out content supportive of Twitter despite its CEO.)
I guess it’s easy to say that any critic is one of his sycophants, but I’ve heard the criticism growing louder even within Mozilla’s own communities.
Which is all also irrelevant to the browser behavior.
Actually no, thanks to Mozilla becoming a shittier company, it’s making Firefox worse in the process. For example, since Firefox 119, it’s been shipping with a data-sucking sidebar that it never announced in its release notes.
Nobody’s stopping you. Just saying it’s either ignorant or stupid to, and actively makes the internet a worse place.
The internet will do fine, don’t worry. And no, I don’t use Chrome.
People using it, however, won’t.
Your statement means nothing.
What makes you so confident? It’s not as though the internet’s “fine” right now compared to where it was 20 years ago.
EDIT: I see your entire personality is hating Mozilla, and apparently that means people can’t hate Chrome too. Gonna just block this google shill.
LOL, who cares about Google. Take your meds, dude.
I see your entire personality is hating Mozilla
I’ve noticed a significant uptick in the number of users here who actively hate on Mozilla. Granted, Mozilla makes some baffling design choices (let me disable the QR code reader in the address bar on mobile FFS), but it’s never about that. It’s always about Mozilla being too “woke” or whatever.
Just the exact caliber of person you’d expect to use a browser such as Chrome, in spite of knowing better, and then to gloat about it.
Are you talking about me? I’ve been on FF for about 20 years, until Mozilla keept pushing crappy changes (despite unfavorable feedback from beta and nightly users). I ditched it in 2021 for something that works better for me. That, plus a bunch of controversies about Mozilla’s (mis)management, made me stop supporting them and advocating for FF. FYI, I don’t use Chrome, even if I use a chromium-based browser. And no, I don’t feel guilty because of this. Whay should I?
I guess it was more of a general statement. I didn’t intend to target you specifically, just a trend I’ve seen. I’ve seen people link to statements made by Mozilla about things like supporting LGBT+ rights, and taking issue with that sort of thing, or who say they don’t care if the Brave CEO is actively disseminating bigotry. Y’know, the type of person who watches the Quartering and complains that we’ve become too “woke” and too sensitive.
I don’t think you should feel guilty. Even if you’re one of the people I’m describing above, I don’t think you should feel guilty. I just think you should opt to change. According to every therapist I’ve seen, guilt is pretty counterproductive for everyone involved.
I’m all for LGBT+ people rights and whatever. Eich is not my friend and I don’t agree with his personal views. Still, the “tool” they make is more appealing for me than competing “tools”, so…
I don’t actually feel guilty, of course. That was just an overstatement.
Does google listen to your feedback?
I don’t use Chrome
let people burn tires in their backyard if they feel like it, ffs
One thing is illegal, the other is not. Try a different analogy.
If your morals and ethics hinge on legality, then I’ve got some bad news for you…
I’m not the one making absurd comparison.
You said, “One thing is illegal, the other is not,” which is directly equating legality with ethics/morality.
Edit: If I’m somehow misinterpreting this statement, then perhaps you can explain how legality is relevant here? Everything we do is ultimately an ethical and moral choice. It’s up to us to determine what the responsible choice is. Here I think the choice is pretty clear.
Don’t like Mozilla? Great, then use one of its many forks, such as Librewolf, Waterfox, Mull, Fennec, etc.
I fail to see the lack of morality on chosing a browser over another. People use what works best for them. If for most people what works best is Chrome, well, I don’t feel there’s anything wrong in their choice. Buring tires “is wrong” regardlessly.
Everything the Nazis did in the Third Reich was legal. People who resisted them were breaking the law. Maybe we should evaluate things by their impact (pollution/invasion of privacy) rather than their legality.
Fine. People, stop buying stuff on Amazon, then.
I like how you say that as if its impossible.
I stopped buying things off of Amazon many years ago because they don’t respect privacy and are unethical.
Well done. Same here.
Now, please actively bother other people (IRL family and friend, not strangers on the internet) they must do the same.
People here on the Fedi seem so eager to teach others what is best for them.
If only you had made this comment regarding AI plaigirism, you’d be swimming in the upvotes instead
If I cared about upvotes (scores are disabled on my end, btw), I’d simply write “use Firefox” over and over, which is what most people on the fediverse like to do (as if Mozilla was any better, nowadays).
but see, they wont. thats the problem.
google/microsoft are circling the wagons and are about to prevent anything but chrome and edge to be ‘official browsers’
so, to your point, yes we want everyone to use what they want. but continuing to use chrome will kill the very ecosystem that allows the choice you want to have.
Those of us that lived through the active X nightmare are well aware of the danger monoculture creates. Shame educating others is considered offensive to the sheep.
