All browser companies monetise you to some extent. Even Firefox does this a bit (Paid deals make Google is the default search, and Amazon search is also paid to be included as a link for example).

However the big difference is the private companies like Vivaldi, Brave etc monetise your data more and less transparently, plus the entire Chromium ecosystem is basically under Google’s control. Manifest 3 will not be restricted to Chrome, it is being built into the Chromium project and will end up in Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Vivaldi, Brave etc. Chromium is a trojan horse project, used to push Google’s priorities and objectives across the web, not end users.

The only viable alternative is Firefox based browsers. I use Firefox itself (aware of it’s compromises and using a whole host of extensions), but there are also forks and projects that strip even Firefox’s compromises back - LibreWolf in particular. For all the flaws of the Mozilla foundation, it is transparent on what it does to keep the project going, and the independence of the project compared to chromium is hugely important. Note Firefox is also going to support Manifest V3 (so that extensions can continue to be cross-browser) BUT it is also keeping support for the key APIs that Google is removing (i.e. the ability for extensions to use the block webRequest API which is foundational to current Ad and privacy protection extensions).

Vivaldi is no different to other Chromium based broswers; it uses the exact same Google controlled code base, plus it is doing everything it can to monetise you. You are the product; all these companies are stealing and financially exploiting your data and we’re all just handing it to them on a platter for free and thanking them for fucking us over.

Mozilla needs funding. By taking money from Google and DuckDuckGo specifically for search it allows Firefox to remain independent and the software it produces is underpins lots of other even more independent privacy respecting software.

The eco system around Firefox needs Firefox to survive. Unless a better funding source comes along Firefox would be in jeopardy. Having. Said that Thunderbird has been successfully turned around due to a well run community pursuing donations and volunteers.

It would also be good if countries stumped up some of the funding Mozilla and other crucial open source projects like Linux need, to maintain a strong software ecosystem. Similar to how many European countries fund national broadcasters to maintain media diversity.

They made a mistake in removing SMS support - that was a good way to become useful to people with the current paradigm and encourage them over to the new. Sometimes Signals decisions are self destructive.

I still have signal but I use it much less since it stopped SMS support; I just open it less and so when starting conversations default to WhatsApp. For a while signal was growing amongst my friends and colleagues but it appears to have stalled.

Google are now doing the same pushing their RCS in the default SMS app in Android.

Part of it comes down to trust. I just don’t trust Brave Inc long term - it may well be a private browser now but I don’t trust that in to the future. I don’t trust a company that Peter Thiel invests in. I don’t trust a company that has already been shady and caught redirecting traffic secretly for referrer codes. But I also don’t trust Google or Microsoft either.

I trust Firefox and Mozilla. I don’t like that they are dependent on Google revenue but I trust that they’re open and transparent about what they do, and not motivated or compromised by a desire to maximise profits for their venture capitalist investors.

If you go to the Florisboard git hub their is an easy route to install it via Google play, if you can’t use fdroid or side load apps for any reason. It basically involves signing up to “beta test” the app which you then get in Google Play as normal.

This may be an important route on some parts of the world.

People use mainstream software because they’re used to it or it came bundled with their hardware. We are used to Microsoft bundling it’s software in with most PCs because it aggressively built those relationships with manufacturers and that’s how it got massive market share.

The point about Linux is that is not a commercial piece of software designed to maintain Microsoft’s grip on your life and now your data and sell you to advertiser’s. Linux is just software that does the job and does it well without any compromises to keep a big corporation in control

The point for the average user is not that Linux is better in itself - it is that Linux is just as good but without all the compromises we’ve taken for granted in terms of poor data security, privacy, being sold as a product to advertiser’s or having features locked away or restricted for the benefit of the company rather than consumers. Linux lets you do what you want with your hardware, choose any software you want, and do whatever you like on your device.

We’re so no used to the compromises forced on us by big monopolies like Microsoft with Windows that most people don’t even realise the value Linux gives in restoring those basic consumer rights ans freedoms.

Linux does what Windows does, it just doesn’t ask you to give up your rights, your privacy or your data to do it. For the average user the benefits are hidden which is why they don’t see the point in it.

That’s a terrible name as it’s used for other software and totally disconnected from the project it’s continuing.

I’d have gone with the name Atomiser.

I know this is a very random comment!