Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Telemetry isn't inherently bad or privacy violating. How can you tell?
It's open-source software.
LibreWolf – A fork of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom
271–280 of 310 posts
Re: LibreWolf – A fork of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom
#272Earlier quoted context omitted.
We use the telemetry data as input to many product and business decisions. It is very important.
If that was entirely true, then better communication with users would probably be the ideal substitute for it.
Re: LibreWolf – A fork of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom
#273Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have been burned often enough by software that auto-updates itself that I am positive I don't want it enabled by default on _my_ systems. Anywhere from between "this feature I really liked is gone" to "now it crashes every five minutes." Perhaps more importantly, companies that offer software that can auto-update itself, can also make it so that the software uninstalls itself. Or worse, installs something you don't…
I’m sorry but if you think that disabling auto-updates on goddamn browsers, then you may not be as technical a user as you think of yourself. Browsers run untrusted code 0-24, which get JIT compiled to machine code through a very complex and bug-prone process. Add to that that desktop OSs are quite lacking when it comes to sandboxes, so even with browser sandboxes, the potential for serious damage is quire hard. So,…
So, stopping to be a junkie is must.
edit: Blablala
Didn't you get the analogy? If your'e using software equivalent to the mindstate of some longtime crackhead with shrunken brains, there isn't much you can do to get the brain repaired.
You could pretend to do so, but you could also just switch off/disable the dangerous stuff, even if it locks you out from some content. Which could be seen as another addiction. So stop accessing that, too.
Re: LibreWolf – A fork of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom
#274This brings up the questions: How can i disable as much telemetry as possible when using the standard Firefox? What am i missing if i go to , search for "telemetry" and set everything to false ? Are there drawbacks to blocking the hostname incoming.telemetry.mozilla.org in Pi-hole?
https://blog.mozilla.org/netpolicy/2019/12/31/bringing-calif...
Re: LibreWolf – A fork of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom
#275Earlier quoted context omitted.
(Mozilla dev here, not speaking for Moz) "grab telemetery" - that data is really, really useful in making development decisions, and we are hyperparanoid about what we collect. From an armchair, it may seem like you can make the right guess about how to eg adjust garbage collection scheduling priorities, but actual data always surprises you in one way or another. It can make the difference between spending a month on…
> I really don't like to speculate on executive pay, but I'm pretty baffled why this is seen as such a big deal. They lay off 250+ people - many of whom are the very people needed to make the technical improvements many users desire - while the executives get pay raises. You wonder why it's a 'big deal'?
Re: LibreWolf – A fork of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom
#276Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’m sorry but if you think that disabling auto-updates on goddamn browsers, then you may not be as technical a user as you think of yourself. Browsers run untrusted code 0-24, which get JIT compiled to machine code through a very complex and bug-prone process. Add to that that desktop OSs are quite lacking when it comes to sandboxes, so even with browser sandboxes, the potential for serious damage is quire hard. So,…
Junkies snort, sniff, drink, eat, inject untested stuff all the times, which get's metabolized to hot shit, frying their neurons, trying their livers, trough a very complex and bug-prone process with the occassional OD. Add to that that rational thought is quite lacking when it comes to judgement. So, stopping to be a junkie is must. edit: Blablala Didn't you get the analogy? If your'e using software equivalent to th…
Re: LibreWolf – A fork of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom
#277Maybe I’m missing something but it looks like there aren’t actually code changes, rather a repackage with a strict policy file: https://gitlab.com/librewolf-community/settings/-/blob/maste... I was wondering how they could instantly patch nightly builds and this seems to be the approach. Good idea and nice to have a build pipeline that allows tweaking Firefox to this degree.
Their patches can be found here: https://gitlab.com/librewolf-community/browser/common/-/tree...
While I’m grateful to this project for calling attention to the privacy issues with Firefox, most of the effort spent on this seems like replacing the brand.
People could get nearly all of the benefit by copying the policy.json file.
Re: LibreWolf – A fork of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom
#278Earlier quoted context omitted.
What is privacy really? The browser? The ISP gets your data, the site gets metrics, and VPNs will just redirect traffic.
Having control over which information about yourself, your life, your habits, etc. you choose to give out, when, for how long, and to whom. It's not this convoluted. Give people their privacy.
I argued with someone about how we shouldn’t expect privacy with a cell phone, I don’t see how a 24/7 location tracking device that reads data telemetry (even if you use a custom privacy rom you connect to the towers and send telemetry) can ever be seen as private. PCs are usually compromised with Intel ME or AMD ST (unless you have a specially modded one or use old government contracted ones with them disabled).
Re: LibreWolf – A fork of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom
#279Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let's stop making privacy a techie-only thing, though. This should be a question a user chooses the first time they boot the browser, and Firefox should do its hardest to honor it.
Telemetry isn't inherently bad or privacy violating.
Re: LibreWolf – A fork of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom
#280Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you read that tweet, it mainly says that they made the choice based on DRM licensing. Well, plus a vague "it lost on many dimensions in a head to head comparison enumerating gaps vs. Chrome". Which I can't argue, because there are no specifics to disagree with. That said, I work on Gecko and it is indeed an old crufty codebase with numerous issues. From what I've seen of Blink, it seems surprisingly similar (overa…
The continuous struggle to get Gecko used by any non-Mozilla project should also carry weight: there are many reasons why Apple went with the arguably-inferior KHTML engine when they started their own browser, and why the resulting library was quickly adapted all over the world - when arguably Gecko had had by then a headstart of a decade or so. Reportedly, embedding WebKit in one's codebase was basically trivial, wh…