Meanwhile, Ladybird, the first new browser engine since the 90's to 100% the Acid3 JavaScript test, just secured $1 million in funding from the founder of GitHub. We, as responsible web users, need to do whatever it takes to break up Google's web oligopoly. The open web is at stake.
"Firefox added [ad tracking] and has already turned it on without asking you"
11–20 of 178 posts
Re: "Firefox added [ad tracking] and has already turned it on without asking you"
#12It is obvious why Firefox does this though; they have no income otherwise like Google does. Firefox users somehow think that using is "supporting" Mozilla/Firefox, but it is not, and they would not pay for the browser, or pay a subscription free. Privacy-friendly ads are a reasonable way for Mozilla to survive long-term -- if they are indeed privacy-friendly. Ultimately you probably either need a clean-room NGO that…
You can't reasonably claim "they would not pay for the browser, or pay a subscription [fee]" when it is not even possible for a user to donate to the Firefox project specifically.
Re: "Firefox added [ad tracking] and has already turned it on without asking you"
#13It is obvious why Firefox does this though; they have no income otherwise like Google does. Firefox users somehow think that using is "supporting" Mozilla/Firefox, but it is not, and they would not pay for the browser, or pay a subscription free. Privacy-friendly ads are a reasonable way for Mozilla to survive long-term -- if they are indeed privacy-friendly. Ultimately you probably either need a clean-room NGO that…
I would pay for a browser that was 100% ad- and tracking-free. I pay for an email account. I pay for YouTube. I pay for several streaming media services. I get that people are used to browsers being free, but no reason that can't change.
What stops you? Are you not satisfied with the ones on offer? Is there a compatability issue that's a show-stopper?
Re: "Firefox added [ad tracking] and has already turned it on without asking you"
#14It is obvious why Firefox does this though; they have no income otherwise like Google does. Firefox users somehow think that using is "supporting" Mozilla/Firefox, but it is not, and they would not pay for the browser, or pay a subscription free. Privacy-friendly ads are a reasonable way for Mozilla to survive long-term -- if they are indeed privacy-friendly. Ultimately you probably either need a clean-room NGO that…
The thing is, you cannot pay for Firefox even if you wanted to*, so the assertion that people wouldn't pay is unproven (but has good circumstancial evidence). I'd still prefer they make a paid version without this crap.
* Donations to Mozilla go to a non profit which is separated from Firefox development and has questionable effectiveness in general
Re: "Firefox added [ad tracking] and has already turned it on without asking you"
#15The thread does not explain whether the behaviour of Firefox was actually changed when they added the check box, or if it is a new option to opt-out of something that could not be opted-out before.
I think this is the check box in question: https://pomf2.lain.la/f/8v4aq9sg.png
It is located at "Settings" -> "Privacy & Security" -> "Website Advertising Preferences" and is checked by default.
Re: "Firefox added [ad tracking] and has already turned it on without asking you"
#16Meanwhile, Ladybird, the first new browser engine since the 90's to 100% the Acid3 JavaScript test, just secured $1 million in funding from the founder of GitHub. We, as responsible web users, need to do whatever it takes to break up Google's web oligopoly. The open web is at stake.
I read the Ladybird FAQ for their rationale, but building a new browser in 2024 using an unsafe language is such a facepalm it’s hard to take the entire project seriously.
Re: "Firefox added [ad tracking] and has already turned it on without asking you"
#17It is obvious why Firefox does this though; they have no income otherwise like Google does. Firefox users somehow think that using is "supporting" Mozilla/Firefox, but it is not, and they would not pay for the browser, or pay a subscription free. Privacy-friendly ads are a reasonable way for Mozilla to survive long-term -- if they are indeed privacy-friendly. Ultimately you probably either need a clean-room NGO that…
You can't reasonably claim "they would not pay for the browser, or pay a subscription [fee]" when it is not even possible for a user to donate to the Firefox project specifically.
Its rather annoying that theres no way to support firefox without sending money to a Mozilla ceo who could use it for some silly side project
Re: "Firefox added [ad tracking] and has already turned it on without asking you"
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would pay for a browser that was 100% ad- and tracking-free. I pay for an email account. I pay for YouTube. I pay for several streaming media services. I get that people are used to browsers being free, but no reason that can't change.
What stops you? Are you not satisfied with the ones on offer? Is there a compatability issue that's a show-stopper?
What paid browsers are on offer with good technology? The only ones I'm aware of are still chromium based or I think mac only, so that's a pretty bad feature set.
Re: "Firefox added [ad tracking] and has already turned it on without asking you"
#19It's new. That misfeature was checked for me, even though I had "strict privacy protection" set, the level that comes with a warning that it might break some websites. And even though I had "Do not track" checked. On two different computers.
This version of Firefox, 128.0, was auto-installed by Ubuntu update.
Has someone filed a bug report on Firefox yet?
Re: "Firefox added [ad tracking] and has already turned it on without asking you"
#20"Google/Firefox claim their tracking features are not "tracking" because they use something called "differential privacy". I don't have room to explain this class of technology, but I sincerely consider it to be fake."
Differential privacy is not fake, although quite complex to do in practice.