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Vivaldi integrates Mastodon in its desktop browser

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Re: Vivaldi integrates Mastodon in its desktop browser

#11
post #6
post #4

I'm sure everyone here knows, but just posting to make sure no one misses out. Please don't use Vivaldi. It is a closed source browser [1], and as such we have no way of validating they have not put backdoors, spyware, telemetrics to send private details such as your bank details, website logins, Google account, etc. Stick with open source browsers, who's code is verifiable, especially for something as important as a…

Remember that Chrome is also closed-source. You can't build Chrome from source, and you can't check whether Google hasn't added anything nefarious on top of Chromium (and they do, at very least the DRM).

I'm fairness, I don't see the OP advocating for Chrome, either.

Re: Vivaldi integrates Mastodon in its desktop browser

#12
post #9
post #4

I'm sure everyone here knows, but just posting to make sure no one misses out. Please don't use Vivaldi. It is a closed source browser [1], and as such we have no way of validating they have not put backdoors, spyware, telemetrics to send private details such as your bank details, website logins, Google account, etc. Stick with open source browsers, who's code is verifiable, especially for something as important as a…

Most of the world is closed source and if the only reason to not use Vivaldi is because it is not open source well that isn't a very compelling reason at all. Most of the planet is using some form of closed source web browser the top 3 being Chrome, Safari, or Edge.

I suppose a lot depends on how we define 'world' and 'open source'. Still, there is an argument to be had ( and what FSF advocates ) about benefits of open software. "Closed source" is absolutely a compelling reason and, from where I sit, companies and organizations across the globe have shown time and again that they simply cannot be trusted and will engage in 'goodwill withdrawal' when convenient.

Sadly, I personally believe popularity is a bad reason to advocate for technology. I kinda buy your argument that 'closed source' is not inherently bad ( edit: but it does require trust hence my first paragraph ).

Re: Vivaldi integrates Mastodon in its desktop browser

#13
post #4

I'm sure everyone here knows, but just posting to make sure no one misses out. Please don't use Vivaldi. It is a closed source browser [1], and as such we have no way of validating they have not put backdoors, spyware, telemetrics to send private details such as your bank details, website logins, Google account, etc. Stick with open source browsers, who's code is verifiable, especially for something as important as a…

Opera (the European one) was a decent company, and much, much more ethical than Google or Apple (in not using weasel words, and false assurance to data mine your personal data). The founder sold Opera (a really big mistake in my opinion) and started Vivaldi browser with a Chromium base. I'd still trust Vivaldi over Google and Apple anytime. That said, it is disappointing that their browser always phones home (and to Google too, last I remember) and they do not give you an option to disable that (unless you use some powerful application firewall), and so I avoid it. And Vivaldi still has miles to go before it can even barely touch the innovations that happened at Opera.

Re: Vivaldi integrates Mastodon in its desktop browser

#14
post #6
post #4

I'm sure everyone here knows, but just posting to make sure no one misses out. Please don't use Vivaldi. It is a closed source browser [1], and as such we have no way of validating they have not put backdoors, spyware, telemetrics to send private details such as your bank details, website logins, Google account, etc. Stick with open source browsers, who's code is verifiable, especially for something as important as a…

Remember that Chrome is also closed-source. You can't build Chrome from source, and you can't check whether Google hasn't added anything nefarious on top of Chromium (and they do, at very least the DRM).

imho you should not use chrome either. chrome being the most used browser is bad for the web.

(i, myself, use firefox and will never use something else as long as firefox is being updated).

Re: Vivaldi integrates Mastodon in its desktop browser

#15
They should rather fix useless built-in Mail client. Wanted to switch from Outlook over recent design changes, but that Mail built-in Vivaldi is even more unusable requiring you to use some left panel, which will cover the list of messages, you just can't have simple Mail client in one tab without some annoying panels.

Re: Vivaldi integrates Mastodon in its desktop browser

#16
post #4

I'm sure everyone here knows, but just posting to make sure no one misses out. Please don't use Vivaldi. It is a closed source browser [1], and as such we have no way of validating they have not put backdoors, spyware, telemetrics to send private details such as your bank details, website logins, Google account, etc. Stick with open source browsers, who's code is verifiable, especially for something as important as a…

Opera (the European one) was a decent company, and much, much more ethical than Google or Apple (in not using weasel words, and false assurance to data mine your personal data). The founder sold Opera (a really big mistake in my opinion) and started Vivaldi browser with a Chromium base. I'd still trust Vivaldi over Google and Apple anytime . That said, it is disappointing that their browser always phones home (and to…

> The founder sold Opera

A nit-pick, but not entirely true. The set of events was: founder stepped aside from the board due to disagreements on direction, eventually resigned from the company, then (a good while later) the board opted to sell the company.

Perhaps the big mistake was the founder not taking as much of a bdfl approach to management as many do. Maybe. Who's to say.

> I avoid it. And Vivaldi still has miles to go before it can even barely touch the innovations that happened at Opera.

It's a long way off, and I swore I'd never trust closed-source again after the Presto project was lost. But given the current landscape (& growing misgivings[0] with Firefox management), Vivaldi is looking more and more tempting by the day.

[0] https://infosec.exchange/@edgalligan/109445234681947348

Re: Vivaldi integrates Mastodon in its desktop browser

#17
post #8

It's sort of funny how we've come full circle. First there was RSS. People didn't like having an RSS program, so a reader was bundled with the browser. Then social media took over from personal blogs & feeds. With declining use, browsers removed RSS readers. Then federated social media grew. Now browsers are re-bundling clients in the browser. Everything old is new again...

RSS is still around! Most news & blog sites support it, though sometimes you have to go digging in the HTML to find the feed URL. On the client side, I find Feedly to be satisfactory on both desktop & mobile, and they actually have a business model so hopefully they'll stick around. There are of course many other clients, but that's the one that stuck for me.

Re: Vivaldi integrates Mastodon in its desktop browser

#18
post #4

I'm sure everyone here knows, but just posting to make sure no one misses out. Please don't use Vivaldi. It is a closed source browser [1], and as such we have no way of validating they have not put backdoors, spyware, telemetrics to send private details such as your bank details, website logins, Google account, etc. Stick with open source browsers, who's code is verifiable, especially for something as important as a…

In that case, what is the alternative? Chromium is so nice to use it's hard to get away.

Re: Vivaldi integrates Mastodon in its desktop browser

#19
post #4

I'm sure everyone here knows, but just posting to make sure no one misses out. Please don't use Vivaldi. It is a closed source browser [1], and as such we have no way of validating they have not put backdoors, spyware, telemetrics to send private details such as your bank details, website logins, Google account, etc. Stick with open source browsers, who's code is verifiable, especially for something as important as a…

I use Vivaldi because it simply has more the features in a better package than these open source browsers. Maybe some day Firefox stops fucking around with and just starts stealing UX features from Edge and Vivaldi so I come back, but for now I can't start using it.

Re: Vivaldi integrates Mastodon in its desktop browser

#20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Opera (the European one) was a decent company, and much, much more ethical than Google or Apple (in not using weasel words, and false assurance to data mine your personal data). The founder sold Opera (a really big mistake in my opinion) and started Vivaldi browser with a Chromium base. I'd still trust Vivaldi over Google and Apple anytime . That said, it is disappointing that their browser always phones home (and to…

> The founder sold Opera A nit-pick, but not entirely true. The set of events was: founder stepped aside from the board due to disagreements on direction, eventually resigned from the company, then (a good while later) the board opted to sell the company. Perhaps the big mistake was the founder not taking as much of a bdfl approach to management as many do. Maybe. Who's to say. > I avoid it. And Vivaldi still has mil…

If I recall right, the founder was involved in the fiasco to abandon Presto in favour of Blink. I remember one of the reason he cited in defence for this is that Presto couldn't keep up with the increasing number of popular, broken websites they needed to support in "quirks" mode / compatibility mode (or something like that) and working with Google on Blink would really help with that. So I don't think he is entirely blameless. (But there's also the fact that all businessmen, especially new one, also make honest mistakes).

It's a pity that Vivaldi doesn't see the business potential in building another new browser engine. With Mozilla making Firefox an adware crap, I think Vivaldi may even be able to get half a million dollar in online funding for the promise of another open source browser engine. Projects like Netsurf and SerenityOS browser already have done half the work and just need an experienced and talented leadership to give them momentum and Vivaldi can certainly provide that ... Even Webkit is quite decent and just needs a multi-platform push.

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