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.

  • 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?