Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

UnGoogled Chromium: Chromium with enhanced privacy, control and transparency

github.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

341–350 of 441 posts

Re: UnGoogled Chromium: Chromium with enhanced privacy, control and transparency

#341

Post by wcummings »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #325
nikcub wrote: post #208

Removing Google's binary blobs is mitigating one issue, but replacing it with an entire binary blog from an anonymous github user might be introducing new ones. On that note - can you tell us more about the project? ie. if you plan on keeping this updated long terms (i've watched a lot of promising chromium forks fade after an initial big splash), what your plans are, if you'll you accept contributions, how the binar…

> a lighter browser (without canvas, webgl, webrtc etc.) Please do not do this. Webgl and Webrtc are fundamental technologies needed to efficiently do basic activities like process an image or send sound data to another user. I am all for a "lighter" browser, by removing UI, removing dev tools, etc. Get rid of the stuff that's not required to make a web page work well. But WebGL and WebRTC are cornerstone technologie…

>Please do not do this. Webgl and Webrtc are fundamental technologies needed to efficiently do basic activities like process an image or send sound data to another user.

>fundamental technologies

>basic activities

>process an image or send sound data to another user.

We must live in different worlds, those are not "basic" or "fundamental" to me. I'm not sure I've ever used either.

>the AR/VR age

You're overstating how important these technologies are. Maybe in 10 years but only time will tell.

Re: UnGoogled Chromium: Chromium with enhanced privacy, control and transparency

#342

Post by rplnt »

eriknstr wrote: post #328
erikpukinskis wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a lighter browser (without canvas, webgl, webrtc etc.) Please do not do this. Webgl and Webrtc are fundamental technologies needed to efficiently do basic activities like process an image or send sound data to another user. I am all for a "lighter" browser, by removing UI, removing dev tools, etc. Get rid of the stuff that's not required to make a web page work well. But WebGL and WebRTC are cornerstone technologie…

>removing dev tools Hold your horses! The introduction of dev tools was one of the best things to happen to browsers. Removing them would take away opportunity from a lot of people in learning web development, and would also lead to websites having more bugs.

You can hardly see source in Chrome without the dev tools. The Ctrl+U "functionality" just generates huge HTML document (a table filled with spans to highlight syntax) and it is very slow on large websites (both generating it and rendering I'd assume).

Re: UnGoogled Chromium: Chromium with enhanced privacy, control and transparency

#343

Post by blackphace »

laktak wrote: post #268

Reminds me of "Iron" > a freeware web browser, and an implementation of Chromium by SRWare of Germany. It primarily aims to eliminate usage tracking and other privacy-compromising functionality that the Google Chrome browser includes. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRWare_Iron ) First released 8 years ago: https://www.srware.net/en/software_srware_iron.php

don't use Iron http://neugierig.org/software/chromium/notes/2009/12/iron.ht...

Re: UnGoogled Chromium: Chromium with enhanced privacy, control and transparency

#344

Post by kccqzy »

rer wrote: post #332

There's a huge discussion in this thread on tabs being slow, which made me wonder: is it necessary for browsers to have tabs? Windows desktop apps work great without tabs. Could life be better without tabs?

There was a time when browsers had no tabs at all. I remember clearly Internet Explorer 6 had no tabs and Microsoft added it in version 7 to catch up with other browsers.

Re: UnGoogled Chromium: Chromium with enhanced privacy, control and transparency

#345

Post by craigsmansion »

RandomlyGen wrote: post #315
craigsmansion wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chromium is Free Software as well. Mozilla is not a club of like-minded hackers that try to keep the web livable anymore. They're a large company now with corporate salaries and expensive furniture and a prime real estate office that values advertisers over users. Firefox is their money maker. Chromium is a Free Software version derived from a proprietary browser. The people who made that happen must have had an idea…

> Free Software version derived from a proprietary browser Chrome is based on Chromium, not the other way around. It's also pretty much Chrome with changed branding and no built-in Flash (thank god!) Thinking that google leaves Chromium alone or that it's somehow independent is naive.

I'm afraid that's my clumsy phrasing.

1st Chrome release: 2008-09-02

1st Chromium release: Dec 17th, 2012

So even though current Chrome might be based on Chromium, Chromium was initially derived from Chrome.

That means somewhere down the line someone at Google must have suggested making a free version, probably out of enthusiasm for open source, and even though it buys Google little, the project was okay'ed.

I have no illusions about Chromium being independent, but as things are, Chromium development, in my opinion, is less commercially driven than Firefox development in spite of being a Google-driven project, allowing it to better serve its users with regards to freedom and the open web.

The main danger of Google's involvement is if Chromium would somehow outpace Chrome deployments, and them pulling the plug, but that's still very far away. And even then, due to its libre license, everything is far from lost.

Re: UnGoogled Chromium: Chromium with enhanced privacy, control and transparency

#346

Post by kuschku »

lorenzhs wrote: post #304
kuschku wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then run your own safe browsing list. Connecting to a foreign company in a country that directly threatened you with invasion and relying on that for webbrowsing is not acceptable.

Well and how would I go about that? Your suggestion doesn't make any sense because it's not viable. There's a setting to disable SafeBrowsing in Chromium, too. You can just disable that. But force-disabling it is dangerous. I'm not sure what your point you're trying to make with the invasion comment.

> I'm not sure what your point you're trying to make with the invasion comment.

My argument is that browsers aren’t just used in private use, but also in governments, in military companies, etc.

If you rely on anything phoning home to a company that’s in the country of a potential enemy, that’s a very stupid idea. (And thanks to the Den Hague Invasion Act of 2001, even Europe knows the US doesn’t give a fuck about allies)

> Well and how would I go about that? Your suggestion doesn't make any sense because it's not viable.

Well, ask Google. It’d be viable if they had intended for an actual safety infrastructure, and published the required information to self host, and not just another way to phone home.

Re: UnGoogled Chromium: Chromium with enhanced privacy, control and transparency

#347

Post by kuschku »

Karunamon wrote: post #321
kuschku wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The worst Chrome might do is help Google target ads better (if you don't change the defaults). Chrome is the one running any x86 binary the website presents it with, only trying to run a static verification that it won't do anything evil. Chrome is far more at risk of pwning you (and NaCl sandbox breakouts have been quite common).

You mean "the website" which is accessed over HTTPS and more likely than not has its key pinned internally? Point is, Chrome falls every year at Pwn2Own just like every other browser, but only Firefox has been excluded because it's too easy.

> You mean "the website" which is accessed over HTTPS and more likely than not has its key pinned internally?

Any website can run NaCl code, you realize that? Even TIDAL uses it on its site for native playback.

Even pages only accessed over HTTP.

Re: UnGoogled Chromium: Chromium with enhanced privacy, control and transparency

#348

Post by odbol_ »

wcummings wrote: post #341
erikpukinskis wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a lighter browser (without canvas, webgl, webrtc etc.) Please do not do this. Webgl and Webrtc are fundamental technologies needed to efficiently do basic activities like process an image or send sound data to another user. I am all for a "lighter" browser, by removing UI, removing dev tools, etc. Get rid of the stuff that's not required to make a web page work well. But WebGL and WebRTC are cornerstone technologie…

>Please do not do this. Webgl and Webrtc are fundamental technologies needed to efficiently do basic activities like process an image or send sound data to another user. >fundamental technologies >basic activities >process an image or send sound data to another user. We must live in different worlds, those are not "basic" or "fundamental" to me. I'm not sure I've ever used either. >the AR/VR age You're overstating ho…

IPFS already has a peer-to-peer chat room that can share messages, files, and streaming videos without a central server. This means users have a way to share content without worrying that it could fall into the wrong hands or be censored by big entities like corporations or governments. And it all depends on tech like WebRTC.

That kind of infrastructure is crucial to the freedom of information and therefore the freedom of global citizens. You will not realize we need it until it's too late.

The revolution will not be televised, it will not be in your news feed, it will happen in the streets and in the minds of citizens, and we need to prepare ourselves with the proper tools for that time, because it is coming sooner than you think.

Re: UnGoogled Chromium: Chromium with enhanced privacy, control and transparency

#349

Post by seangrogg »

wcummings wrote: post #341
erikpukinskis wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a lighter browser (without canvas, webgl, webrtc etc.) Please do not do this. Webgl and Webrtc are fundamental technologies needed to efficiently do basic activities like process an image or send sound data to another user. I am all for a "lighter" browser, by removing UI, removing dev tools, etc. Get rid of the stuff that's not required to make a web page work well. But WebGL and WebRTC are cornerstone technologie…

>Please do not do this. Webgl and Webrtc are fundamental technologies needed to efficiently do basic activities like process an image or send sound data to another user. >fundamental technologies >basic activities >process an image or send sound data to another user. We must live in different worlds, those are not "basic" or "fundamental" to me. I'm not sure I've ever used either. >the AR/VR age You're overstating ho…

I'm sorry that you've never used them, but I most certainly have for various projects. I can't use - much less recommend - any product that breaks stuff that I've built both personally and professionally.

Re: UnGoogled Chromium: Chromium with enhanced privacy, control and transparency

#350

Post by swsieber »

odbol_ wrote: post #348
wcummings wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Please do not do this. Webgl and Webrtc are fundamental technologies needed to efficiently do basic activities like process an image or send sound data to another user. >fundamental technologies >basic activities >process an image or send sound data to another user. We must live in different worlds, those are not "basic" or "fundamental" to me. I'm not sure I've ever used either. >the AR/VR age You're overstating ho…

IPFS already has a peer-to-peer chat room that can share messages, files, and streaming videos without a central server . This means users have a way to share content without worrying that it could fall into the wrong hands or be censored by big entities like corporations or governments. And it all depends on tech like WebRTC. That kind of infrastructure is crucial to the freedom of information and therefore the free…

I would be interesting to make a browser where these things are by default unloaded plugins with the ability to detect when they are needed. Then the best of both worlds are present... no? Some people wish they didn't have to pay the costs for these things because they never use them.
Post reply on HN