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Browsers are essential and how operating systems are holding them back (2022) [pdf] (2022)

research.mozilla.org

81–90 of 349 posts

Re: Browsers are essential and how operating systems are holding them back (2022) [pdf] (2022)

#82

i think mobile users are unaware how good firefox+ublock origin is. i constantly get bombarded by disgusting adds while browsing news portals, cooking recipes, etc. imagine reading about some great cooking ideas and midway through you see an advertisement for "revolutionary medication for foot fungus" with before and after pictures to show. and yes this happens even in "private" tabs. if anything mozilla should give…

I do try and evangalise for it when I'm with others and they complain about ads on their android web browsers. But it's a tough sell these days.

Re: Browsers are essential and how operating systems are holding them back (2022) [pdf] (2022)

#83
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And how would you define "commercial operating system"? Is Android one or is it "Linux"?

No; and No. Anything that is not licensed as "Free Software" or "Open-Source software" is "Commercial Operating System".

How does Red Hat Enterprise Linux fit into that classification? It's both commercial and open source.

Re: Browsers are essential and how operating systems are holding them back (2022) [pdf] (2022)

#84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Excuse me, your conclusion doesn't seem to follow from your premises. I mean, "Please OS vendor I want something simple. That hidden `sideload` option is complicated, please lock down my machine." Like, seriously? No one's that stupid. Sure most people want a decent, clear default option, but no one want that to be the only option. At least not for themselves. Because for some reason I see many people arguing that ot…

"No one's that stupid" 99.9% of people are not like you. They barely even know the difference between Windows and Google. People who got online when smartphones entered the scene have a difficult time when I try to explain what "folders" and "files" are. I do a lot of tech support for family and friends. They NEVER enter settings or preferences for their OS or their browser. They're afraid they'll "break something".…

>They're afraid they'll "break something".

Right? I feel like my non technical social connections have an even greater learned helplessness from interacting with any sort of open to customization technology because they've learned that everytime they touch something the tool stops working in a way they don't understand. Most people are not going to spend days to weeks, and definitely not months to years learning how to tinker with and expertly maintain their technology.

I feel like technologists in this forum are acting like blacksmiths who would scoff at any of us for having purchased a hammer, rather than smelting the ore, forging the head, and carving the handle so we could have one that fit our needs perfectly.

Re: Browsers are essential and how operating systems are holding them back (2022) [pdf] (2022)

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just one example is forcing you to open links in edge regardless of your "default" browser: https://betanews.com/2021/05/07/force-web-links-open-in-defa...

As I see this is not about opening normal links This is about opening link targeted to edge "Copy the following test link: microsoft-edge: https://www.betanews.com "

Isn't that just using Application URL scheme? MacOS does this too.

Re: Browsers are essential and how operating systems are holding them back (2022) [pdf] (2022)

#86
Browsers are doing well. I'm more worried about the fact the browser is turning into the entire operating system these days. Even the apps use the browser engine for a lot of functionality these days.

It's like a parasite, the OS is being eaten inside out. I'd be fine with this, it's a typical disruption process.

Except the browser stack is full of legacy features, is bloated, and I'd hate for this to be the de-facto platform for "everything" going forward.

The joke that JavaScript will become a virtual machine which will then be implemented in hardware and be the only way to do everything is not THAT far from reality.

Re: Browsers are essential and how operating systems are holding them back (2022) [pdf] (2022)

#87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Excuse me, your conclusion doesn't seem to follow from your premises. I mean, "Please OS vendor I want something simple. That hidden `sideload` option is complicated, please lock down my machine." Like, seriously? No one's that stupid. Sure most people want a decent, clear default option, but no one want that to be the only option. At least not for themselves. Because for some reason I see many people arguing that ot…

"No one's that stupid" 99.9% of people are not like you. They barely even know the difference between Windows and Google. People who got online when smartphones entered the scene have a difficult time when I try to explain what "folders" and "files" are. I do a lot of tech support for family and friends. They NEVER enter settings or preferences for their OS or their browser. They're afraid they'll "break something".…

>People who got online when smartphones entered the scene have a difficult time when I try to explain what "folders" and "files" are.

Not just the grandpas and grandmas either:

https://it.slashdot.org/story/21/09/23/163212/todays-student...

Re: Browsers are essential and how operating systems are holding them back (2022) [pdf] (2022)

#88

i think mobile users are unaware how good firefox+ublock origin is. i constantly get bombarded by disgusting adds while browsing news portals, cooking recipes, etc. imagine reading about some great cooking ideas and midway through you see an advertisement for "revolutionary medication for foot fungus" with before and after pictures to show. and yes this happens even in "private" tabs. if anything mozilla should give…

Its really buggy on android. I find Brave to be much brave on mobile, and on desktop its much better on the security side, especially on Linux.

Re: Browsers are essential and how operating systems are holding them back (2022) [pdf] (2022)

#89
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>...(or better yet, Firefox Nightly) ... I think this is some of the disconnect between users on this site who don't understand why people would possibly actively choose iOS even with the lockin. Most people do not want to use a product that is constantly updating and adding features in that are going to be taken out shortly, for something as basic nowadays as web browsing. If you're on the cool new technology people…

Is it really a feature to not be allowed to use non-webkit Chrome on my iPhone, even if it might unlock superior features? Is it a feature that Google Fi can't work optimally on iPhone thanks to their anti-competitive restrictions? Is it a feature that I have to use Siri, which is way inferior to Google Assistant, when communicating in CarPlay? Is the planned obsolescence a feature too? My 12 year old Mac laptop is d…

For the average of users they don't really mind if they're using WebKit or whatever stack underneath. My family just wants to open Safari and browse, and they don't give a shit about any of Apple's business.

Re: Browsers are essential and how operating systems are holding them back (2022) [pdf] (2022)

#90
post #38

Just reading the beginning, it looks like they're mainly complaining about proprietary OS vendors restricting users' choice in browsers through various shenanigans. Linux users (for desktop systems) don't have this problem, and for mobile, Android users can easily install Firefox (or better yet, Firefox Nightly) through the Google Play store and set it to be the default browser. Basically, if you want to have choice…

>...(or better yet, Firefox Nightly) ... I think this is some of the disconnect between users on this site who don't understand why people would possibly actively choose iOS even with the lockin. Most people do not want to use a product that is constantly updating and adding features in that are going to be taken out shortly, for something as basic nowadays as web browsing. If you're on the cool new technology people…

I am a user of browsers and though I like it the most the Firefox drives me crazy with the constant updating notices. I will never let any program auto update itself if I have a choice - sorry, I like to know if something is happening with the things I use - but the frequent bugging of the Firefox to update, update, update, update, update, update, update, update, update, update, update, update is driving me mad! Why the f*ck update?! The current version works just great!! One or two brought me noticable and interesting (thought still marginal in the overall purpose) changes throughout a perhaps 5 years window, the rest just bugging me and pushes self advertising 'what monumental new things we brought to you' pages on next start. Breaks the flow of use frequently, it is a user hostile behaviour. Do security ONLY updates (or better yet, work slower and bring a secure version to us in the first place please!) and let me look for new features on my own time, ok?!

(this is a very bad trend in the software industry, pushing updates on the user like if the software had the same importance to the user like it is for its developers, if the life's purpose for the user was to keep it the most updated and satisfy the software packages' needs, no, not at all, for users it is a tool not the center of admiration that want to nurse and cherish. it is a bad trend but that is not an excuse to do bad as well but a reason to make it better please)

Rememeber! : https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EtwnnQLUUAI9O7g?format=jpg&name=...

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