- cross-posted to:
- sandrolinux
- opensource
- firefox
- cross-posted to:
- sandrolinux
- opensource
- firefox
New gecko based browsers are rare nowadays but this one is especially unique to me because it is more than just “firefox with tweaks” like a lot of the ones I’ve come across. The UI is different, it’s working on custom settings, a new more powerful sidebar, a new theming system, and potentially IPFS/Dat support further down the line. It’s very early in development but it’s still impressive as it is.
It is a common mistake to think that FOSS = Privacy and Security, is not more or less than any other software, the purpose of FOSS is another (All the APIs of Google, Facebook, Amazon and others are FOSS and included in many of the other OpenSource apps). The privacy and TOS of each software is governed by the legislation of the countries of origin, so it is always advisable to read them carefully. In European products, such as Vivaldi (Iceland) and others, for example the French browser UR, the European regulations regarding privacy and conditions of use are valid, regulations that do not exist or only poorly in American or Chinese products, such as Opera. But this does not help me, if I use a browser, created in the EU, such as SeaMonkey, when it uses US servers to synchronize the data, those from Google or Mozilla. Besides, Google has removed Chromium Browsers’ ability to use Google servers for sync, forcing them to use their own servers (Vivaldi always had them), but all FF forks continue to use Mozilla’s servers.
Ok but it’s still worse because it isn’t FOSS. The argument you always repeat about “FOSS doesn’t mean it’s private!” does not change the fact that FOSS makes it more trustworthy. That’s a fact you can’t change.
No one is claiming FOSS automatically makes something more private. FOSS means you can read the source code and verify it. That’s literally all there is to it. And it’s not some kind of secret or anything, it’s just the definition of FOSS.
I’d still rather use the software that’s FOSS. I’m not even using any of the features which may give Mozilla any data like Sync.
If Vivaldi is so great and private because it’s an European product, the more reason to make it FOSS. The point of FOSS is to be able to verify what the program is doing. If Vivaldi is so private then why isn’t it FOSS so I can check? You have no argument against that apart from “FOSS isn’t always good” which isn’t really an argument against FOSS.