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Google proposes changes to Chromium which would disable uBlock Origin

bugs.chromium.org

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Re: Google proposes changes to Chromium which would disable uBlock Origin

#211

Post by sridca »

dictum wrote: post #182
sridca wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm invested in the Google ecosystem, and have recently got myself a Pixel Slate that I carry everywhere as my primary computing/ media device (no more separate laptop and tablet). It would now be silly of me to use Firefox in place of Chrome. Moreover I have got nothing to hide, so all these privacy-fears don't concern me; in fact I often feel like they are being overblown.

> Moreover I have got nothing to hide Don't mean to insult you, and some people just have an easier time opening up about everything, but a life with nothing whatsoever to hide sounds limited, uninventive and uninteresting.

No insult taken.

> a life with nothing whatsoever to hide sounds limited, uninventive and uninteresting.

Ever familiar with the phrase "un unexamined life is not worth living"? Here, of course, the thing to be examined is your belief that a life with nothing whatsover to hide is limited, uninventive and uninteresting.

Re: Google proposes changes to Chromium which would disable uBlock Origin

#212

Post by AJ007 »

AnaniasAnanas wrote: post #176
darkpuma wrote: post #26

So we have a browser with nearly 70% market share, made by an advertising company that's arguably the most powerful business on the internet, interfering with ad blocking. And of course there is no regulatory body that is able or willing to step in. Great.

Why should a regulatory body step in? People were saying for years about how evil Google is, along with how limited and how much of a spyware Chrome is. There are alternatives that people can switch to, if they decide to keep using Chrome they should just suffer the consequences.

Depending on the country, dominant market share as a search engine, online advertising platform, web browser, and operating system. And they’ve been claiming to be adding their own ad blocking to that web browser for sites that have “too many” ads. I’m not saying regulators should or shouldn’t do specific things, but one should anticipate significant anti-trust actions if Google’s lobbying influence wanes.

On the other hand, Google is getting bigger, expanding and hiring more people as the list of their failed projects increase. The chances of them screwing up their core products seems to be increasing, from my point of view. If they manage to do that, that would negate an inevitable future collision with anti-trust regulators. As for the EU and the GDPR I’m sure we are seeing the earliest warning shots and it’s going to be a big mess for them.

Re: Google proposes changes to Chromium which would disable uBlock Origin

#213

Post by teraflop »

albru123 wrote: post #171
QML wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Firefox just doesn’t have enough advantages yet that would convince someone comfortable with Chrome to switch over. While privacy is an ever growing concern, it isn’t a strong enough feature for most people.

Firefox does not stack tabs like Chrome does and does not load all the restored session tabs at once either. Aren't these dumb design decisions enough to switch to a product where people actually think about how it's going to be used?

> and does not load all the restored session tabs at once either

For what it's worth, Chrome stopped doing this for me in a recent update (I think version 71).

Re: Google proposes changes to Chromium which would disable uBlock Origin

#215

Post by dominotw »

darkpuma wrote: post #26

So we have a browser with nearly 70% market share, made by an advertising company that's arguably the most powerful business on the internet, interfering with ad blocking. And of course there is no regulatory body that is able or willing to step in. Great.

> And of course there is no regulatory body that is able or willing to step in.

On basis of what exactly? What is google doing wrong?

I am curious to hear. Don't downvote me.

Re: Google proposes changes to Chromium which would disable uBlock Origin

#216

Post by tracker1 »

tracker1 wrote: post #210
sixothree wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really just don't understand the obsession with Chrome, especially in hacker communities. Sorry Google, I feel "icky & gross" when I use you.

frankly, I love the UX and developer tools in Chrome more than FF... however, this would have me jumping back to FF as my daily driver.

On second thought, I might switch to Brave like I did on mobile.

Re: Google proposes changes to Chromium which would disable uBlock Origin

#217

Post by CamperBob2 »

sridca wrote: post #159
sixothree wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really just don't understand the obsession with Chrome, especially in hacker communities. Sorry Google, I feel "icky & gross" when I use you.

I'm invested in the Google ecosystem, and have recently got myself a Pixel Slate that I carry everywhere as my primary computing/ media device (no more separate laptop and tablet). It would now be silly of me to use Firefox in place of Chrome. Moreover I have got nothing to hide, so all these privacy-fears don't concern me; in fact I often feel like they are being overblown.

Moreover I have got nothing to hide

That's not your call to make.

Re: Google proposes changes to Chromium which would disable uBlock Origin

#218

Post by abapologist »

shard972 wrote: post #178
Klonoar wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Barr is notably for a surveillance state, more or less. Relying on a pick of Trump's to solve anything in the Valley is a recipe for disaster.

Do you know of a WH official that was ever against the surveillance state? And why does trump picking him make him automatically a disaster? I feel like this is being completely dismissive of any kind of progress that could be made because orange man is bad.

I think the heuristic is whether someone accepts a nomination from trump.

Re: Google proposes changes to Chromium which would disable uBlock Origin

#219

Post by AnaniasAnanas »

metalliqaz wrote: post #65
jchw wrote: post #17

Ouch, I understand why they want to not have a blocking webRequest API but I consider uBlock Origin to be a must-have extension. Hopefully this is relaxed somehow. I personally still use Firefox at home despite recent issues, but I honestly would prefer having both as an option, plus I always recommend uBlock Origin to everyone. (Disclaimer: I work at Google but not on Chrome, opinions are mine and not my employer's.…

Have there been recent issues? I've been using Firefox consistently for years and lately it seems better than usual.

A lot of usability issues, for example: You can't disable Ctrl-Q on Linux due to a bug that they do not seem to be willing to fix. In the past I used to depend on the "are you sure you want to close N tabs?" confirmation dialog thing but now they have removed it.

Re: Google proposes changes to Chromium which would disable uBlock Origin

#220

Post by iaw »

scrollaway wrote: post #155
abtinf wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Clearly it's not What is your basis for this claim? I am not an expert on this topic, but Gorhill is and has a demonstrated history of technical/privacy judgement. Gorhill's comment makes it clear that impacting the functionality of blockers is an intentional change, as the proposal not only removes previous functionality, but also enshrines one particular and limited approach to blocking. Edit: I would also note t…

I've explained the logic in the post you're replying to. I'll rephrase it: There is no evidence the change is being made with the intent of getting rid of adblockers; it is so far only a side-effect. We should demand such evidence before implying that this is the intended outcome. If such is the goal, have at it with the headlines. They write themselves. "Advertising Giant Google Forcefully Breaks Ad-blockers in Chro…

> There is no evidence the change is being made with the intent of getting rid of adblockers

So far there is only one rationale that could describe the motivation to make this change. Can you propose another possible motive? I am personally struggling.

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