Firefox is now the last major browser that still supports uBlock Origin • Hacker News Board

Re: Firefox is now the last major browser that still supports uBlock Origin

#731

Post by tonixx » Mon, Aug 17, 2026, 10:01 AM UTC

duskdozer wrote: post #369

xtracto wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I want my browser to prevent random extensions from directly reading web page data This is so funny to me. Coming from a Netscape Navigator world, when extensions first came out, they were supposed to allow the user to add functionality to websites. Why would someone install "random extensions" that they dont trust. And also, what would extensions do if not read and write data to websites? . Sign of the times I gue…

Extensions are set to auto update by default, and it's not obvious at first how to disable that. It's also disallowed to install an extension you've built from source on most release builds, without messing with a hex editor. So essentially, any extension you install is liable to be come a "random" extension, if for example, the author sells out, or something like the attacks on NPM were to happen.

[dead]

Re: Firefox is now the last major browser that still supports uBlock Origin

#732

Post by account42 » Mon, Aug 17, 2026, 10:08 AM UTC

culi wrote: post #621

WD-42 wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not illegal. But it’s a step too far for some.

It's unquestionably illegal to distribute. As in, if Mozilla (or anyone else hit by the DMCA) were to add it back to the store, they would be acting illegally.

Why do people keep repeating this BS. The DMCA doesn't grant random lawyers the ability to make things illegal. All does give platforms the ability to get out of lawsuits by pre-emptively taking down the things mentioned in the notification but that doesn't make not doing that illegal.

Re: Firefox is now the last major browser that still supports uBlock Origin

#733

Post by account42 » Mon, Aug 17, 2026, 10:12 AM UTC

lxgr wrote: post #101

michaelt wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I want my browser to prevent random extensions from directly reading web page data. To be honest, to me it sounds like you don't want browser extensions then. To me, directly messing with web page data and browser behaviour is the whole point of a browser extension - what else is a browser extension for?

Why should there not be a middle ground between “can do absolutely everything with all my data” and “is basically a glorified bookmark button” based on the level of trust I have for an extension?

Because the middle ground would require the browser defining what an extension can and cannot do which defeats the entire point of extensions.

Re: Firefox is now the last major browser that still supports uBlock Origin

#734

Post by account42 » Mon, Aug 17, 2026, 10:18 AM UTC

Forgeties79 wrote: post #450

maccard wrote: post #384

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You use a different browser, like Firefox.

A browser that is routinely dumped on by HN for not being perfectly managed lol

"How dare you complain that I pissed on your carpet when the other guy took a dump on it."

Re: Firefox is now the last major browser that still supports uBlock Origin

#735

Post by inigyou » Mon, Aug 17, 2026, 11:11 AM UTC

jimmydorry wrote: post #699

inigyou wrote: post #671

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does "entitled" mean here?

A valid claim. The unfettered access to. etc.

What does that mean? The CPU runs instructions, it doesn't have entitlements or claims.

Re: Firefox is now the last major browser that still supports uBlock Origin

#736

Post by inigyou » Mon, Aug 17, 2026, 11:13 AM UTC

culi wrote: post #617

inigyou wrote: post #451

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They pulled back on the websife change after backlash, but trust takes a long time to rebuild. Also, don't go by the FAQ. Go by the actual terms and conditions. Remember part of their original response to the controversy was to say "we don't sell your data, we just give it out in exchange for money" so I'm inclined to ignore anything from them that says "we don't sell" as they clearly don't know what it means.

The trust was lost because of the public's misunderstanding of the change. It was updated as a response to the overly broad legal definitions of "data sales" under laws like the CCPA. As your own link says, Mozilla explicitly stated: > It does NOT give us ownership of your data or a right to use it for anything other than what is described in the Privacy Notice.

Do you know what the "overly broad definition" of "sell data" they cited was? It was "to exchange personal information for money or other things of value".

That's not overly broad. That's what selling is. That's what they told us they were doing. So they told us they were selling our data.

Re: Firefox is now the last major browser that still supports uBlock Origin

#737

Post by account42 » Mon, Aug 17, 2026, 11:28 AM UTC

alt227 wrote: post #525

inigyou wrote: post #477

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Firefox is also the only "major" browser not installed on any device by default. People with windows use edge, people with mac or ios use safari, people with android use chrome. People with linux use firefox but those are extremely few since none of the machines you buy at the store have linux. It's really that simple. Marketing realism wins over technical excellence every single time . Do you know why Valve invested…

> Microsoft threatened to blacklist Steam from Windows That would never fly with consumers, Microsoft are big but not that big.

That's why they won't do it all at once. First they'll introduce a special kind of more limited application where Microsoft has to approve them before you are allowed to install them. Then they'll have some editions of Windows only allow those limited applications. Finally they'll keep expanding that until only $$$ enterprise customers can run applications that haven't been approved by Microsoft.

These big tech companies are well acquainted with managing consumer backlash for unpopular changes.

Re: Firefox is now the last major browser that still supports uBlock Origin

#738

Post by AstralSerenity » Mon, Aug 17, 2026, 1:50 PM UTC

niutech wrote: post #690

AstralSerenity wrote: post #589

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes you make decisions based on principle and future risk. Brave Software is a for-profit company that funded its start through Peter Thiel. Even if fine in the present, you cannot guarantee me the future of a Thiel-funded, VC-owned firm. Mozilla, in comparison, is a mature, non-profit with substantial goodwill and operational transparency. Everything past these details are just noise.

Mozilla has also a for-profit corporation.

No, Mozilla is a non-profit -- you may just misunderstand charitable structure optimization. It has a for-profit public-benefit subsidiary called Mozilla Corporation (Firefox).

This is common in non-profits for a number of reasons: protects the foundations assets, allows for engaging in commercial operations (Mozilla VPN, Anonym), greater flexibility, etc.

It is not a true for-profit company. All "profit" flows up to the non-profit and the non-profit parent retains complete, absolute control while being tied to the Mozilla mission.

Re: Firefox is now the last major browser that still supports uBlock Origin

#739

Post by AstralSerenity » Mon, Aug 17, 2026, 1:58 PM UTC

niutech wrote: post #689

al_borland wrote: post #639

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wasn't Brave also founded on the back of a bunch of Web3 nonsense? That's always what kept me away. I'm actually surprised how many fans it has. There was something else they did that was shocking a couple years ago that made me glad I never used it. I went to wikipedia to jog my memory and found this... > In 2020, the company was found to be appending affiliate referral codes to the end of certain cryptocurrency exc…

Come on, it was 6 years ago, they have apologized since then. Firefox also had slip-ups like pop-up ads in 2023: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36073619 and ToS backlash: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43251762 . Give Brave another try!

Everyone properly informed on the topic now understands the Mozilla ToS debacle was a complete nothing burger and simply a result of California law, miscommunication, and Mozilla being careful. Not one thing changed in actuality.

Brave is a Thiel-funded, VC-owned private company with far more egregious monetization efforts.

Ultimately I know everything at Mozilla is completely controlled by the mission-driven non-profit parent -- something they've recently double-downed on.

Brave does not have those same assurances and cannot be trusted.

Re: Firefox is now the last major browser that still supports uBlock Origin

#740

Post by alt227 » Mon, Aug 17, 2026, 3:16 PM UTC

inigyou wrote: post #726

alt227 wrote: post #710

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guarantee you if steam was blocked on windows, lots of gamers would do something about it. They are generally technically adept people, and if their multi-hundred pound library of games suddenly got taken away from them on windows, many would buy a steam deck or dual boot linux to get that back.

Yeah they'd probably run the same .exe files from their steam folders. And to buy new games, they'd go where games are sold. Which would be the Microsoft store. Which would be extremely beneficial for Microsoft.

There would be no update mechanism meaning games would get out of date with no way to apply patches, and no steam api for multiplayer games meaning nothing would work online.

You seem to not really know much about the subject so I will stop debating with you here.