I feel like there is no web browser with a sane default configuration that I can recommend to other people. All browsers are preconfigured in a way that harms the privacy of their users or include services that no one wants such as Pocket and BAT.

Here are my problems with some popular browsers.

  • Mozilla Firefox: Pocket integration, no ad-blocking without extensions.

  • Brave: Everything related to crypto. Also its start page is horrible.

  • Chromium: No ad-blocking without extensions and soon Manifest v3 will cripple all content blockers.

Now, these suboptimal defaults wouldn’t be such a big problem if the configuration files were easy to backup and restore and respected the XDG base directory specification.

  • yukijoou@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    93·
    1 year ago

    though brave has 2 issues you can’t turn off:

    • it’s chromium-based, and strenghtens the browser engine monopoly
    • the company behind it seems quite shady, and afaik the ceo/leader/founder/… is homophobic
    • marlowe221@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      Yeah, obviously not great. Hence why I only use it for testing.

      I would love to ignore Chromium based browsers completely I’m a web developer, so I can’t.

      I wish there were a Chromium browser I could have the warm fuzzies about, but I’m not aware of one.

    • HughJanus
      11·
      1 year ago

      the browser engine monopoly

      I don’t think you understand what a monopoly is. Chromium was developed specifically to avoid a monopoly…

      • Atemu
        21·
        1 year ago

        Chromium was developed specifically to avoid a monopoly…

        [Citation needed]

        • HughJanus
          1·
          1 year ago

          No one at Google is going to say that out loud. But it’s a fairly obvious assumption.

          Same reason that Firefox is almost entirely funded by Google

          • BaconIsAVegEnglish
            1·
            1 year ago

            Wasn’t Chrome also sort of a ‘reference implementation’ for years and years?