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Taking a break from Adblock Plus development

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Re: Taking a break from Adblock Plus development

#91

Post by rvern »

ilikepi wrote: post #24
bmn__ wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The matrix functionality is available in uBlock Origin, no need to install both. Simply enable advanced mode.

The matrix (and its corresponding rules syntax) in uBlock Origin is not as powerful as in uMatrix. In uBO, you can specify how to handle traffic between two origins. You can also choose which type(s) of content can be loaded from a particular origin. However, you cannot specify both at once. For example, you can't create a rule in uBO to allow only image requests from google.com to googleusercontent.com. The uMatrix…

> For example, you can't create a rule in uBO to allow only image requests from google.com to googleusercontent.com.

Sure you can:

  google.com googleusercontent.com image block
See https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Dynamic-filtering:-ru....

The only reason you'd use uMatrix is if you create rules that can't be done with the matrix frequently enough.

Re: Taking a break from Adblock Plus development

#92

Post by stirner »

mgbmtl wrote: post #21

Many comments are bitterly unfair against ABP. Wladimir/Eyeo changed how we use the web, gave us means to fight back against abusive advertising. They built a business model to make the extension sustainable and find a strategy to legitimate themselves, fight in the courts, etc. Not to mention that ABP never tried to close the market. Alternatives were easy to build thanks to EasyList. Today there are many alternativ…

ABP’s filter list syntax is underspecified with vague, conversational English; some members of the community have tried to formally document the more common pieces of syntax but it’s far from complete. Instead of using a simple-to-parse CFG or regular expressions, ABP appears to have arbitrarily added new bits of syntax as they please. I’d encourage you to attempt to make an ABP filter list decoder before calling ABP alternatives “easy”.

Re: Taking a break from Adblock Plus development

#93

Post by calcifer »

ivanfon wrote: post #65

A bit unrelated, but does anyone else think the new NoScript has an absolutely awful interface?

Here [1] is a post by the NoScript developer explaining how the new UI works and which buttons map to which legacy functions. After reading it and letting myself adjust for a few days, I'm perfectly comfortable with the new version.

[1] https://hackademix.net/2017/12/04/noscript-quantum-vs-legacy...

Re: Taking a break from Adblock Plus development

#96

Post by mgbmtl »

Fnoord wrote: post #28
mgbmtl wrote: post #21

Many comments are bitterly unfair against ABP. Wladimir/Eyeo changed how we use the web, gave us means to fight back against abusive advertising. They built a business model to make the extension sustainable and find a strategy to legitimate themselves, fight in the courts, etc. Not to mention that ABP never tried to close the market. Alternatives were easy to build thanks to EasyList. Today there are many alternativ…

Come on, as if ABP innovated so much? ABP wasn't the first. I remember using an adblocker native in Firefox back around 2004 (and IIRC I even used on on Mozilla milestones). Back then, there were already /etc/hosts based alternatives (which also have always worked in Windows btw) as well, and a so-called personal firewall could also block ads. These existed for Windows 9x. We're talking end of '90s here. As for the c…

> "So could you explain us why you pick ABP over uBlock?"

On a philosophical level: I support the ABP strategy of "acceptable ads". I think it's a good way to legitimize the development of adblocking extensions. They also make it easy to disable those ads.

Technically: For a long time, ABP blocked more ads than uBlock. Maybe this is not as true today. For example: some adblockers didn't block ads in videos. I also appreciated the "Element Hiding Helper" extension (which has not been ported to webextensions). ABP was usually one step ahead of everyone else.

On performance: Firefox had ups and downs with regards to performance, and ABP was part of the problem. I remember reading a few blog posts from Firefox about the work they did to improve that. These days, I don't notice any difference, especially with Quantum/webextensions.

Re: Taking a break from Adblock Plus development

#97

Post by UncleEntity »

Fnoord wrote: post #90
UncleEntity wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Good for you. If I need to be happy every time I opt-out "when I hear about it" which is often "when I already used the software" and get USDs for every hour I didn't opt-out even though I'd have loved to opt-out right away, then I'd be one hell of a happy Richie Rich. It's not like they owe me anything, I downloaded their software for free and use it for free with absolutely no expectation other than "I'll use it…

I know its strange in 2017 and for youngsters in general (and that's NOFI; its a general observation and zeitgeist; I don't know your age nor am I interested in such) but it is important to note that "for free" doesn't equal "go use my PII for profit" or "go help others receive my PII" or "I will allow you to use my computer as part of your cloud without my consent". Glad we're getting GDPR in EU. I hope other countr…

> I know its strange in 2017 and for youngsters in general (and that's NOFI; its a general observation and zeitgeist; I don't know your age nor am I interested in such) but it is important to note that "for free" doesn't equal "go use my PII for profit" or "go help others receive my PII" or "I will allow you to use my computer as part of your cloud without my consent".

Which is why you should use some due diligence before (and after) choosing which products you use. It's not like anyone's forcing you to sell your soul so you can find out your best friend's dog Fluffy just went to the groomers and here's the pictures.

I see this like those people who go and buy a house next to an airport then go crazy complaining to the city about airplane noise, they benefit from cheaper prices (because most people don't actually want to live next to an airport) but then feel entitled enough to feel everyone else should bend over backwards for their personal preferences.

> Glad we're getting GDPR in EU...We'll have to see how it works out in practice though.

Produce a digital wasteland IMHO...like the tariff wars that (partly) led up to the Great Depression.

Re: Taking a break from Adblock Plus development

#98

Post by ilikepi »

rvern wrote: post #91
ilikepi wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The matrix (and its corresponding rules syntax) in uBlock Origin is not as powerful as in uMatrix. In uBO, you can specify how to handle traffic between two origins. You can also choose which type(s) of content can be loaded from a particular origin. However, you cannot specify both at once. For example, you can't create a rule in uBO to allow only image requests from google.com to googleusercontent.com. The uMatrix…

> For example, you can't create a rule in uBO to allow only image requests from google.com to googleusercontent.com. Sure you can: google.com googleusercontent.com image block See https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Dynamic-filtering:-ru... . The only reason you'd use uMatrix is if you create rules that can't be done with the matrix frequently enough.

That doesn't work for me. If I enter that rule into the "My rules" editor, and click the "Save" button, the rule is immediately deleted. Also, the documentation you link to entirely confirms my assertion that you cannot combine type-based and hostname-based rules. For example:

    Note that with type-based rules, the destination hostname is always *, meaning "from anywhere".

Re: Taking a break from Adblock Plus development

#99

Post by Feniks »

mgbmtl wrote: post #21

Many comments are bitterly unfair against ABP. Wladimir/Eyeo changed how we use the web, gave us means to fight back against abusive advertising. They built a business model to make the extension sustainable and find a strategy to legitimate themselves, fight in the courts, etc. Not to mention that ABP never tried to close the market. Alternatives were easy to build thanks to EasyList. Today there are many alternativ…

Pretty sure ABP wasn't the first adblocker. Just the one that made it to mainstream popularity.

Re: Taking a break from Adblock Plus development

#100

Post by Feniks »

digi_owl wrote: post #75
Ndymium wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vivaldi is much more than a reskin of Chrome though. It has customisable UI (with color themes), vertical tabs, tree style tabs, tiled tabs, tab stacks, mouse gestures, tab hibernation, session saving for later, reader mode (and a bunch of others) builtin, speed dial, custom history page, web panels (a docked website on the side of the browser). Haven't used Chrome in a while though so not sure if some of those have…

I call them reskins because they can't really affect anything beyond the UI. For example Google has implemented a more restrictive policy regarding Flash in recent Chrome releases, and it has found its way into said browsers basically unmodified.

Yep. On paper we have a LOT of different browsers.

In reality everything relies more or less on Chrome and Firefox.

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