We’ve been anticipating it for years,1 and it’s finally happening. Google is finally killing uBlock Origin – with a note on their web store stating that the …
Also Firefox mobile has nearly all of the extensions as the desktop version so it’s more similar across all of your devices. Personally, I use LibreWolf on desktop and Mull on mobile, but they’re just tweaked versions of Firefox with some bloat and telemetry removed and preconfigured to be more private.
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This is a pretty textbook definition of monopoly abuse.
I can’t see them keeping control of chrome as this goes forward.
Brave will still support manifest v2 AFAIK.
This argument is covered in the article.
Brave also has its own blockers built in. All of which, I’m told by this article, are still not as good as uBO.
Whatever. Just use Firefox for your daily driver and only use Chromium when absolutely necessary.
Or don’t. It will become obvious which browser has the better blocker.
Is duckduckgo chromium based?
I don’t use it, just curious.
Unluckily, yes.
There are only 3 independent browser engines left: Firefox, Chromium and Safari. And Chromium derives from Safari, so the only true alternative is Firefox.
Gecko, blink and webkit
There is also a developing project Ladybird (with homebrew libweb), although it is far from production-ready.
Yes, of course there are more projects. KHTML itself was a different engine (which Apple took, modified and re-released with the name of Safari). I just mentioned the only three “complete” and production-ready engines.
There is also Goanna / Pale Moon: https://www.palemoon.org/
Eh, Chromium’s Blink and Safari’s WebKit diverged quite some time ago, I think it’s fair to consider them separate engines at this point.
Kids, remember, Google is an advertising company.
We kept Firefox alive for you all these years. You’re welcome.
Didn’t Google paying them loads of money keep FF alive?
Yes, but Google would not have done that if nobody used Firefox
Yes and it’s likely that they will not be allowed to any longer after Google lost their anti-trust case.
You can always keep Chromium installed for the odd site that doesn’t work in Firefox (my daily driver). I do web development and test in every browser and I almost never encounter sites that don’t work in FF. The only one I can recall is something in the Azure Portal, probably because Microsoft wants you using Edge.
Typically, Safari is the laggard and any developer worth their salt would make sure their site works on iPad and iPhone. When a new web standard is released, usually Chromium supports it first but even then, not always. And web developers usually don’t use features that aren’t implemented across the board yet. I know I go to caniuse.com before I use something fresh out the oven.
If a site requires chrome, it doesn’t require me. If I need it for work, I’ll use Edge instead.
but edge is based on chromium???
After i uninstalled chrome some time ago, i noticed it had been slowing down my entire system even when its not on. There is nothing of worth in using it or any other browser derived from it.
I just use DNS or VPN for adblocking , no need for browser addons
To my knowledge, DNS blockers not only miss a ton of ads, they also trigger several false positives.
A better solution is to switch to something not chromium like Firefox or whatever alternative the next Linux person to read this comment recommends
Ublocks lists are available as hostlists as well. Yea Firefox for the PC , vanadium (chromium) for the phone. No problem running all of it as well , if you have a little bit of power to spare. Haven’t had any issues on adguard DNS plus proton adblock
Firefox also has a mobile app with full extension support on Android, including uBlock origin
Yea problem is however that using Firefox on Android is using Firefox and chromium WebView. Så twice the problems. Sticking to vanadium. No issues at all as far as I noticed regarding adblocking. Next phone will hopefully be a Linux one. If there ever is such a thing that works and matches mid-top level androids. Then it will be a Firefox based one (not the standard one as it is riddle with Google stuff)
I’ve been using Firefox on Android since it came out. I’ve had 0 issues.
And as far as I’m aware, the newest version of Android Firefox (previously called “preview” doesn’t use an ounce of chrome, even for temporary browser pages
This isn’t sufficient. I’ve been running DNS adblocking for a decade, advertisers have wised up to it and can easily sidestep it.
Can I just add a different perspective on this?
My dad is really old (like early baby-boomers), and I am basically the in-family tech support when the home computer starts acting strange.
Well, right after google rolled out this update, my dad clicked on what he thought was an online shopping link. It was actually an ad for a toolbar add-on. Queue like 6+ hours trying to uninstall that add-on and the bundled software.
I never had to worry about that in the past with him because I had u-block origin installed. Now I need to find something else that can run quietly in the background. And probably a better antivirus.
You could leverage Kitbogas software in relation to scam/sketchy download protection.
Paid and closed source with a proprietary license.
Nooooo, but MV3 is all about security!
This is how I know this is bullshit. I was reading the article and thinking "So, let me get this straight. The ads aren’t the security risk. It’s the ad blockers!"
Sure. Pull the other one.
I think you mean cue, not queue.
Buy a Raspberry PI, install PiHole or AdGuard, change router DNS, and you are good to go. Yes, not perfect, but doesn’t rely on a browser extension that can go extinct next time the browser decides it is time for a change.
… or use Firefox and migrate their bookmarks.
That’s what I ended up doing. It was a weird conversation though, telling him that if it seemed like some website wasn’t working, try it on chrome and it just might work
You’re awesome!
I recently switched back to Firefox, and almost immediately ran into an issue where I couldn’t log into Dropbox. It took me far longer than I’d like to admit, to realize that Firefox as the problem. I popped into edge and logged in immediately no problem.
I’m still gonna will with Firefox, but it’s annoying that it doesn’t work all the time.
Uhh, that doesn’t seem normal at all. Is this a default config? Any extensions in use?
Fresh install of Windows 10, fresh install of Firefox, fresh install of Dropbox.
I was trying to log into Dropbox to authenticate the app, but every time I got to the part where I had to enter my 2fa it would say it was expired. I grew concerned that I was hacked and it was changed, but trying it on my old computer it worked fine.
Then I said fine, I had accidentally paired my Dropbox account with my Google account years ago, so I guess I’ll use that. So I logged into Google, and then clicked sign in with my Google account, and I got stuck in a loop where the page was refreshing everything few seconds.
The page would load, it would say “signing you in with your Google account”, then it would say at the top in red letters something like “sorry, you haven’t signed in recently enough to do that, please log in”, and the entire page would refresh and start the loop over, “signing you in with your Google account” etc etc. I left it go through several cycles, it was never gonna work.
It was about then that I guessed that Firefox might be the problem, and it was 🤷♂️
The only non standard thing about my config, is that Windows is inside of a VM. That could very well be it too? But edge was also in that same VM, and it worked. I only used edge because I’m trying to keep the VM light, so I didn’t install chrome for a one off thing.
I don’t know why I got down voted in my earlier comment, I’m not pooping on Firefox. I honestly want it to work, and am still going to use it. But the facts are facts, I literally just ran into this issue yesterday 🤷♂️
This is part of Googles strategy. Ever since the Chromium engine took off enough and everyone else fell behind they began introducing more and more changes that merely benefits them, with less public debate or proper communication (or even adherence to common standards). Last thing I remember, aside of manifest v3, was them killing off JPEG XL as it was a competitor to webp and webm (which they control). JPEG XL was actively worked on and would’ve probably turned out better before they killed it without any previous notice.
Given Googles dominant market position, their influence and everyone wanting to cut corners wherever possible sometimes Firefox support is just ignored.
tl;dr It’s not Firefox’ fault. It’s Google’s sabotage.
Ah I see, it sounds like I’m saying it’s Firefox fault. No I definitely agree, chromium is the largest market share, and gets the most support, and doesn’t always follow standards, so some websites will have compatibility issues if they don’t specifically focus on Firefox support.
It’s just a sucky situation.
Or just do what I do. Use Firefox and only keep Chromium around for those few sites that work better in Chromium.
Is there any organization out there that could actually promote an “Acceptable ad standard”? Like, maybe even something within web specs?
A long time ago, ads were slightly irritating, rarely useful, and considered a necessary evil for gently monetizing the web. We’ve had this slow evolution to draconian tracking nightmares that are genuinely dangerous and often written by malicious untraceable actors. I almost feel like we could pressure back towards decent ads if there was some standard by which they only received basic info about the user, showed basic info about a product, didn’t pollute the experience or ruin accessibility, and were registered to businesses by physical address with legal accountability for things like false advertising.
That is…perhaps a vain hope though. It’s just hard to picture futures where all websites run off of donations or subscriptions, because advertising is fucking hell now.
You mean like https://acceptableads.com/ which is only supported so far by Adblock Plus (and its parent company)?
The problem is until there is some kind of penalty for being too annoying or too resource consuming, it will always be a race to the bottom with more, worse ads. As people add ad blockers to their browsers, the user pool that isn’t running them begins to dry up and more ads are needed to keep the same revenue. This results in even more people blocking them.
Two of the things I had hope for on the privacy side was Mozilla’s Privacy-Preserving Attribution for ad attribution and Google’s Privacy Sandbox collection of features for targeting like the Topics API. Both would have been better for privacy than the current system of granular, individual user tracking across sites.
If those two get wide enough adoption, regulation could be put in place to limit the old methods as there would be a better replacement available without killing the whole current ad supported economy of most sites. I get that strictly speaking from a privacy perspective ‘more anonymous/private tracking’ < ‘no tracking’ but I really don’t want perfect to be the enemy of better.
Acceptable Ads is bullshit on many levels:
- It’s made by an ad company
- The same ad company runs multiple popular ad blockers (including AdBlock Plus)
- There are no standards on privacy invasion
uBlock Origin, or at least uBlock Origin Lite on Chromium-like browsers, are must-haves.
The best browser you can set up for a family member, IMO, is Firefox. Disable Telemetry (which should rid them of Mozilla’s own ad scheme too), install uBlock Origin, remind them to never call or trust any other tech support people who reach out to them, and maybe walk them through some scam baiting videos.
I’m still evaluating which Chrome-likes are best at actual ad blocking, and the landscape is grim.
Google would never push this because it would cost them money in the short term, eg, next quarter.
They can’t have that.
You can make a windows registry change to have Chrome let you keep using uBlock Origin, with the V2 manifest. It will buy you six more months, basically the enterprise support period.
There was a handy shortcut created by the Security Now podcast you can use as a one-click file to update the policy. The show notes also give a more detailed breakdown of what’s going on.
The relevant section in the notes is page 10. The link to the file is page 12. https://www.grc.com/sn/sn-995-notes.pdf
Or just use Firefox and deal with that.
lol. Obligatory “you guys use chromium?”
Will Brave haves a built-in blocker. So here’s that.
Chrome, now with added crypto and homophobia
Vivaldi has that, too, without the cryptobro People owning the browser.
I switched to Zen, personally as any chromium seems to be doomed unless someone manages to fork the base project and take it away from Google
Crypto stuff in Brave is opt-in. So just don’t turn it on.
personally as any chromium seems to be doomed unless someone manages to fork the base project and take it away from Google
ungoogled-chromium (windows version) is that.
idk if this blog is right or wrong correct me:
https://vivaldi.com/blog/why-vivaldi-will-never-create-thinkcoin/That’s explicitly making clear how bad of an idea crypto is?
It’s their opinion on crypto
Yeah - and they explain why they’ll never do a crypto currency. I don’t see how this is challenging anything I said before
Alr
Vivaldi is closed source. Brave isn’t. Even with all its very real problems, Brave is the best option aside from Firefox, especially once you turn off all the weird stuff
vivaldi has components open source but the ui is non-free
That’s essentially the same as not being open source considering the only part that’s open source is the engine code, which is mostly just chromium
i am talking about this, You cannot compile it from source tho.
this is why vivaldis ui is not open source
didn’t firefox remove ublock origin too?
I read that they temporarily (and apparently accidentally) removed the uBlock Origin Lite extension but they’re not getting rid of Manifest v2 that allows normal uBlock Origin to work.
The developer released the lite version on Firefox because it might be better for Android Firefox users. I guess there was some confusion.
i suspect that they will remove manifest v2 support
They said they have no plans to deprecate v2 and if they ever do, will provide 12 months notice before doing so. So, I think there will be time to prepare for that switch.
No. They didn’t.
It’s a “Recommended by Mozilla” extension.
Begone, concern troll.
I think Brave said they arent affected by this
Why would anyone use that browser though? Besides all the rounds of shit it went through, the CEO seems like a nutcase. First he does anti-lgbt political donations, not just once, and has to resign from Mozilla among outrage after only 21 days as the CEO. Then he tweets uninformed shit about covid and has his staff remove criticism on reddit. Sounds like a real champ.
I mean I write Javascript, also his crestion so theres that.
I know some gay people who love Javascript and its always funny to remind them what the original creator of Javascript did
Does he currently get money if you use JavaScript like the Brave CEO gets for his products?
It’s addressed in the article. The brave CEO has stated they will continue to support manifest v2 as long as the needed code remains in Chromium. He made no promises what happens when it is removed, though (“I don’t write checks of unknown amount and sign them”)
So that means they are just supporting it as long as it is easy to do, and that they are not brave enough to fork chromium.
Ha! Ha! The browser name is “Brave” and yet they all have nuts the size of raisins!
They’re already a fork of Chromium… Also it doesn’t matter much since they use the Google extension store, which disabled uBO.
You could probably install and handle a manifest V2 extension by installing the xpi file manually. But as a developer, the users who would actually do this is a small fraction of the previous user base.
So how do you justify your limited manpower to be spent on that increasingly obscure user base? It may as well be removed anyways at that point.
Also like Brave has their own adblocker, I dont think you need ublock origin in Brave
Nice pun 😄👌🏻
And guess how soon Chromium will break compatibility with v2…
