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If you care about privacy, it’s time to try a new web browser

nytimes.com

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Re: If you care about privacy, it’s time to try a new web browser

#81

Post by kerng »

xnx wrote: post #51
xoa wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As such, Safari is basically the new IE6 — it lags all other modern browsers and prevents websites from taking advantage of nice new features. I strongly disagree with you. The new IE6 is Chrome: overwhelming dominance of the web to the extent that Google can dictate "standards" themselves and users begin to lose the ability to use other browsers because "site works best(only) in Chrome", and I think that having my…

For me the primary characteristic of IE6 was not that it had a large market share like Chrome, but that it didn't update for over 5 years. Chrome is nothing like IE6 in that regard. The web would be better off if iOS users could benefit from the full Chrome codebase.

The high number of security vulnerabilities is also something both IE and Chrome share.

Re: If you care about privacy, it’s time to try a new web browser

#82

Post by salamandersauce »

dtx1 wrote: post #42
clairity wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "The amount of text necessary to explain to the average NYT reader what a rendering engine is probably more then the allotted text size..." it's not that hard to summarize: a rendering engine transforms html into pixels on the screen. most people will have at least a vague idea of what html and pixels are. there's no further need to dive into the details where that description is less than 100% accurate (e.g., sree…

> most people will have at least a vague idea what html and pixels are. there's no further need to dive into the details where that description is less than 100% accurate (e.g., sreen readers). I doubt very much the average person on the street has a clear idea what a pixel is, let alone what HTML is. And even your description is so incomplete it's wrong since the safari engine also includes JavaScript execution, med…

I think you can do an ok job. Something like the "The rendering engine's job is to translate the computer languages of the web into the picture you see on the screen. Like human translators two rendering engine's might not understand the same things the same way and differences can occur."

Screen readers are a distraction. Even completely blind readers would have a concept of what is displayed on a computer monitor even if they've never seen it.

Re: If you care about privacy, it’s time to try a new web browser

#83

Post by fastball »

bejelentkezni wrote: post #41
fastball wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like Brave is best of both worlds in this case. It's a Chromium browser with a focus on privacy.

Brave is spyware[1][2]. 1. https://spyware.neocities.org/articles/brave.html 2. https://digdeeper.neocities.org/ghost/browsers.html#brave

Those references seem a bit circular.

And the author of those sites and I have very different views of what Spyware is. To me, spyware is software that spies on you without your knowledge.

The only thing that would even begin to qualify that is mentioned by [1] is telemetry, which Brave explicitly asks you about and which you can easily disable.

Re: If you care about privacy, it’s time to try a new web browser

#84

Post by Mediterraneo10 »

dtx1 wrote: post #19
franklyt wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can’t believe this was overlooked by a prestigious publication.

Doesn't surprise me at all. The reality is that journalists are just that, journalists. They rarely have any relevant expertise about what they write. Coupled with strict limits on content size enforced by publishers and an audience that often understands even less about the topics discussed you get major errors like these. The amount of text necessary to explain to the average NYT reader what a rendering engine is p…

> This is why podcasts and longform youtube content form actual experts is thriving while traditional media is dying.

It is kind of sad that the "longform content" that you mention as the new thriving alternative to traditional media, is rather time-infefficient audio and video. I regret the dearth of longform reliable text.

Re: If you care about privacy, it’s time to try a new web browser

#85

Post by questionErAll »

oneplane wrote: post #75
xnx wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me the primary characteristic of IE6 was not that it had a large market share like Chrome, but that it didn't update for over 5 years. Chrome is nothing like IE6 in that regard. The web would be better off if iOS users could benefit from the full Chrome codebase.

That might be, as you point out, the primary thing for _you_. At the same time, Safari updates plenty of times, just because they don't shout about it doesn't mean it's not happening. Same goes for the backing engines (including Blink and V8 in Chromium and derivatives like CEF and node; but also WebKit and the likes). The web would be better if it wasn't dominated by a very small set of platforms. Adding 'a few more…

> That might be, as you point out, the primary thing for _you_.

I'd be willing to bet that most people would consider that the primary characteristic of Safari that reminds them of IE. The market share was important to the IE hate but it wasn't because "everyone had it" it was because "everyone had it and it sucked" (sucked~= lagged/slowed development/entrenched users with shitty and unique experiences). Don't get me wrong Chrome also shares some of those secondary (imo) characteristics but I imagine when people speak of "IE" it's because of the , what the parent comment and I, consider the primary characteristic.

> The web would be better if it wasn't dominated by a very small set of platforms. Adding 'a few more browsers' on a single operating system hardly helps.

Now that's a hot take. Can I assume you're an Mac user ? honest question

Re: If you care about privacy, it’s time to try a new web browser

#86

Post by Mediterraneo10 »

caslon wrote: post #36
wussboy wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both of your comments in this thread confuse me. “Don’t use these tools which greatly increase your privacy and security because of some minor potential flaw.” To me it sounds like you don’t want to get in to the lifeboat because you might get a sliver climbing in. And you encourage others to stay out as well. Odd.

I agree with Mozilla's views politically, but Pocket is proprietary. It's a major flaw. Something proprietary (I know the Firefox integration is free now, but the server isn't), controlled by an American corporation, turned on by default, that sends content to the user. If it was only an RSS reader, fine. But it sends arbitrary content to the user from Pocket's servers! What if there's an RCE? Their refusal to free P…

Generally on F-Droid if an app talks to a non-free server component, the app is labeled "this app promotes non-free network resources", but the majority of Free Software-loving nerds install that app anyway. After all, it still beats using stuff like the Google Play Store. So why is Firefox doing the same thing so heinous that people would completely refuse to use it, and use one of the proprietary browsers instead?

Re: If you care about privacy, it’s time to try a new web browser

#87

Post by [deleted] »

questionErAll wrote: post #85
oneplane wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That might be, as you point out, the primary thing for _you_. At the same time, Safari updates plenty of times, just because they don't shout about it doesn't mean it's not happening. Same goes for the backing engines (including Blink and V8 in Chromium and derivatives like CEF and node; but also WebKit and the likes). The web would be better if it wasn't dominated by a very small set of platforms. Adding 'a few more…

> That might be, as you point out, the primary thing for _you_. I'd be willing to bet that most people would consider that the primary characteristic of Safari that reminds them of IE. The market share was important to the IE hate but it wasn't because "everyone had it" it was because "everyone had it and it sucked" (sucked~= lagged/slowed development/entrenched users with shitty and unique experiences). Don't get me…

[deleted]

Re: If you care about privacy, it’s time to try a new web browser

#88

Post by JadeNB »

izacus wrote: post #17
franklyt wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can’t believe this was overlooked by a prestigious publication.

Honestly, I find NYTs privacy articles to be full of errors and deliberate omissions to drive the agenda. It's seriously made me question about their reputation.

I think the same is true of just about any non-specialist reporting organisation. Find the reporting they do on a subject on which you're an expert, and see how much they get wrong. Don't write them off for it—everybody gets stuff wrong—but read the stories on the material about which you're not expert with the same skepticism.

Re: If you care about privacy, it’s time to try a new web browser

#89

Post by fragile_frogs »

nwienert wrote: post #14
adrianh wrote: post #11

The author was testing these browsers on an iPhone — but neglected to note that Apple actually prevents other browser engines on iOS. So if you use Firefox or Brave on an iPhone, you’re simply using Safari with a different “skin.” This skin can clearly do some content blocking, and it can provide a different browser UI — but it cannot change the fundamental web technologies that are available in the browser. As such,…

Which is actually a good thing for the diversity of browser engines and preventing Google from commandeering web standards and “embrace, extend, extinguish”ing them. If Chrome was allowed on iOS be sure Google would dump unlimited money to get people to use it. Websites would further go down the path of only testing on Chrome, and Google would continue stuffing their browser full of oftentimes needless features. And…

> Which is actually a good thing for the diversity of browser engines

How is only allowing ONE browser engine good for diversity? If anything it hinders diversity and progress on iOS.

> Websites would further go down the path of only testing on Chrome

If only it would be possible to test Safari on a non Apple device, Apple is partial it fault here

> And answer this: how would allowing other engines increase privacy?

Because then there could be competition between Safari, Firefox, Brave etc.

Answer this: why do you let Apple dictate what Apps you can install on a ($700 - $1100) phone that you own?

Re: If you care about privacy, it’s time to try a new web browser

#90

Post by caslon »

Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #86
caslon wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with Mozilla's views politically, but Pocket is proprietary. It's a major flaw. Something proprietary (I know the Firefox integration is free now, but the server isn't), controlled by an American corporation, turned on by default, that sends content to the user. If it was only an RSS reader, fine. But it sends arbitrary content to the user from Pocket's servers! What if there's an RCE? Their refusal to free P…

Generally on F-Droid if an app talks to a non-free server component, the app is labeled "this app promotes non-free network resources", but the majority of Free Software-loving nerds install that app anyway. After all, it still beats using stuff like the Google Play Store. So why is Firefox doing the same thing so heinous that people would completely refuse to use it, and use one of the proprietary browsers instead?

There are other non-proprietary browsers, and Firefox is not innately better than any of them. Icecat for example. Or Epiphany. I really, really dislike Brave, and despise the person responsible for it, but even it's freer than Firefox in this regard.
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