Indeed, we need a real alternative, something really bringing new on the table: we need a modern web engine we can compile with a simple C compiler.
Those "browsers" are just front-end to the web engines of the whatng cartel.
Helium Browser
261–270 of 561 posts
Re: Helium Browser
#262Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, everyone is doing their little contribution to help Google take over the Web and turn it into ChromeOS Platform. Why did we ever bothered with the IE lawsuit, for a newer generation to give the Web on a plate to Google?
Because at the time IE6 was a terrible browser with poor standards support, while Chrome is an excellent browser with leading standards support. It is a gilded cage.
> leading standards support
"Leading" being the operative word. Ship a new feature, submit it as a standard and encourage its adoption so things only work on chrome and further increase market share when people find other browsers "broken".
MS did exactly the same shit with IE - the only really difference was that the standards body (w3c) was independent, so they couldn't self declare it as a standard. Now the "standards" body (whatwg) is mostly google...
Re: Helium Browser
#263Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because at the time IE6 was a terrible browser with poor standards support, while Chrome is an excellent browser with leading standards support. It is a gilded cage.
> Chrome is an excellent browser with leading standards support. Google learned it can be "standards compliant" if it submits a draft spec to WHATWG/W3C, and while the comment and revision process is still ongoing, roll out those features in Chrome and start using them in YouTube, Gmail, Google docs, and AMP. Now Firefox and Safari are forced to implement those draft specs as well or users will leave in droves becaus…
I don't mean this to doubt you, it is a sincere question. Do you have any examples of that happening? It sounds very believable, but it would be great to have actual sources for future reference.
Re: Helium Browser
#264Earlier quoted context omitted.
The last thing Google would want is the web to turn into a Chrome platform. Unlike with Microsoft or even Apple, their source of revenue is web, and they they are doing everything in their capacity for this platform to win. This is exactly why they open-sourced most of Chrome and almost fully finance Chrome's biggest competitor.
They already did, Safari is the only one left standing, by the market share. Plus all the Electron crap that gets shoved as "native".
The only reason Safari has any market share is because it's the default on every iPhone.
4/5 top browsers by market share are there because they are preinstalled on millions of devices and none of them are terrible enough for an average person to look for an alternative.
Re: Helium Browser
#265WHY IS EVERYONE IN COMMENTS SO OLD AND BITTER WHAT ON EARTH ARE WE DOING
I think it's a mixture of dislike for Google/Chrome and the constant Chromium reskins that dominate the browser market + Firefox evangelism.
I'll personally say I don't hate this project as such, I mainly use a Chromium based browser because I build a product that uses the FileSystem API with a directory picker [0] and the FileSystem Observer API [1]. Both of which aren't supported anywhere except Chromium based browsers.
I used to use Thorium, but last build was out in February and I simply can't use that as my main browser, so now I simply use ungoogled-chromium.
I can easily avoid any Google telemetry, use uBlock Origin with MV2, Privacy Badger and the plus point is all sites work. I love Firefox as well, but I feel you can't do much about the fact all "regular" people end up using Chrome or Safari; so while developing on the web you simply can't become a Firefox main and avoid chromium entirely.
[0] https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Window/show... [1] https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/FileSystemO...
Re: Helium Browser
#266> Helium is based on Chromium > Best privacy by default Sorry, pass... Even with un-googled Chromium I do not think these statements are self-consistent. We need browsers that do not allow Google to control the ecosystem. We need legitimate competition. So what, our choices are Firefox (Gecko), Safari (WebKit), and Ladybird? Personally I go with Firefox on most devices and Orion (WebKit) on my iPhone and iPad. > Heli…
Epiphany (WebKitGtk) on Linux, native Gtk-UI :)
I'm posting right now with it here.
Re: Helium Browser
#267Earlier quoted context omitted.
Dunno if that's possible. To stick with the example, you can either go for gender neutral language or reject it. There is no "I'll stay out of it and do neither". Your only options are one or the other. So feels like a bit of a cop out. For the decision itself, I don't see how he should be put in some extreme political camp for that. I think that's probably hard to understand for anyone outside the US / culture wars…
There is the very obvious middle ground of " I won't make an effort for it but accept if others do", but somehow the people scared of "gender police" are always the ones that want strict rules saying that nobody is allowed to use it. Same way nobody asked him to plaster pride flags over his project, but he went to the step of telling a contributor to please remove a flag from their avatar because showing that avatar…
I suppose there's no way to not make a _decision_ though, is there? If, to stay with that example, he says "You know what, anyone can make a PR to gender any way they like", that sounds like a blood bath.
Reasonable responses I can think of are:
1. No we will not use gender neutral language here, it's a policy.
2. I think it's a good idea, but I don't have the bandwidth to make ground rules for that right now, so for the time being it will stay as it is.
3. Good idea, I'll set up some policy on that and if you have time to change things, help is appreciated.
> Same way nobody asked him to plaster pride flags over his project, but he went to the step of telling a contributor to please remove a flag from their avatar because showing that avatar in his project would be "political".
If that part is true, that's pretty wild. If he _did_ ask someone else to remove symbols from their personal avatar, that sounds as political as it gets to me... But from some quick research, I couldn't find anything about such a thing happening.
Re: Helium Browser
#268Yet another wrapper on chromium, no thank you.
> We'll keep support for MV2 extensions for as long as possible.
“As long as possible” being _exactly_ why chromium wrappers have zero value.
Re: Helium Browser
#269I have felt like a perennial browser refugee for a while. For about 20 years now (since OG Firefox was at peak and Chrome was not yet launched), every new browser promises the same things, gets popular enough, then does a full or partial 180. While I like the pitch of this browser, I find it a little difficult to take it at the face value, especially given there is no info on the founders, or whether it is run as a c…
it’s made by the same person who made cobalt.tools
Re: Helium Browser
#270> Helium is based on Chromium > Best privacy by default Sorry, pass... Even with un-googled Chromium I do not think these statements are self-consistent. We need browsers that do not allow Google to control the ecosystem. We need legitimate competition. So what, our choices are Firefox (Gecko), Safari (WebKit), and Ladybird? Personally I go with Firefox on most devices and Orion (WebKit) on my iPhone and iPad. > Heli…
Literally the first thing I looked for...(if it is based on chromium). When can we get a new kind of browser that doesn't use html/css/js...? Build one from scratch with a common design language (but modifiable by the user)
So you mean a browser that can't load any existing pages?