this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2023
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I am tempted to start using the @Vivaldi browser but then I looked* at the diversity in the underlying technology and I think it is better to promote and start (cdn.fosstodon.org)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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I am tempted to start using the @Vivaldi browser but then I looked* at the diversity in the underlying technology and I think it is better to promote and start using @firefox :firefox: more.

Or should we leave it to #Google :omya_google: and #Apple :apple_inc: only❓

I'm curious πŸ˜… @Vivaldi why not use SpiderMonkey and Gecko❓

*Table was created with the help of #Bard

#OpenSource #browser #w3c #codinglife

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[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Vivaldi is not fully open-source

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

it's source-available

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Is it? Vivaldi hides the 5% source code under "performance and security optimisations" reasons, which sounds like complete BS.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Your moms source available.

(Sorry... I'm feeling goofy today)

[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Firefox + uBlock Origin is the only thing that makes mobile browsing tolerable. Ads are so bad, and web design so poor, that even if you're someone who is usually ok with advertising you'll often find that sites are literally broken if you allow them to render.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Safari isn't open source but there's Gnome Web.
It's built on the open source WebKit engine.
also yeah you made a mistake there. webkit is in fact foss.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

Avoid proprietary software.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Google Chrome, Opera, Microsoft Edge and Vivaldi are not open source. Chromium is open source but all those browsers add additional proprietary functionality on top.

Edit: I read the table wrong. The open source columns seem to be about their left column. Still, I find the table to be misleading. Especially since almost all browsers use an open source engine, except Safari. Imo it's more important whether the actual browser is open source. Which boils down to Firefox and Tor and Brave as far as I know.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

were opera is open source lmao

most of that list is not opensource, only firefox, everything has just chromium as opensource, what don't change anything because the company can put the same crappy on top of chromium

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I mean the list never said that the browser is opensource. The opensource column is for the respective technology to the left of it. So it describes if the js and browser engines are opensource.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I used to use Opera back when they had their own JavaScript and rendering engine, then bailed and switched back to Firefox when they became a chromium clone.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

You can use Floorp, which is a soft fork of Firefox with Vivaldi features

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@dmenis @Vivaldi @firefox

Maybe Gecko still hasn't become embeddable again❓:
https://www.chrislord.net/2016/02/24/the-case-for-an-embeddable-gecko/

For the Vivaldi choice : https://vivaldi.com/blog/vivaldi-browser-vs-google-chrome/#Whats_in_an_engine

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's a weird chart in the thumbnail.

Almost all of the common chromium based browsers, but only mainline firefox.

Anyway, it's definitely a good thing to use more than just the chrome based browsers for the exact reason you said.

However, vivaldi is a decent choice for when you need to. Yeah, their ui isn't open source, but it really doesn't matter in real world use. The only other option for me is ungoogled chromium, and cromite on android.

On android, my main browser is mull, with Iibrewolf on PC. I can't say any non chromium browsers are perfect on android, but mull is plenty fast and does everything you want it to do, and doesn't do what you don't want.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Probably because chromium based browsers are often marketed as completely separate ones. Browsers based on it want to make the impression that they are a unique browser with outstanding functionality etc.
Edge? It's Edge, OUR BROWSER, YOU DON'T NEED ANYTHING ELSE.
Vivaldi? It's Vivaldi, "we built the best browser with most features blabla".
Opera? It's Opera, "better, faster and more secure than a default browser".
In contrast, librewolf.net's first sentence is literally "A custom version of Firefox...". Mullvad also says it's a collaboration with Tor, and a paragraph down they explicitly say it's Tor, and therefore FF, based.
Many users, me included, don't see Librewolf or Tor as separate browsers, because the former is basically just a preconfigured FF, and the latter adds an access point to the Tor network and removes some privacy/security harming features (eg. Sync). The Browser, its features, design and features, stay the same.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Personally I'm hyped for Servo

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think it's years off until it's usable though. Their current focus is on embedded devices iirc because no engine does that well

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Sure but it's something to be hyped for.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Yeah for sure

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

@PropaGandalf Didn't know @servo , looks interesting

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@dmenis @Vivaldi @firefox

https://privacytests.org

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Does Firefox on Android still have whatever supposed flaw the graphene os team said it has? Their own chromium based browser is very lacking in the UX department. Very thumb crampy button layout. They also recommended bromite which is dead. There is cromite which is a fork but it largely has the same issues. I use Firefox on PC, and literally everything else is entirely untrustworthy. The goog has created a pretty lousy situation for the internet where everyone proudly simps for their favourite shitty chrome clones that take advantage of their users.