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by someexgamedev 2600 days ago
I use firefox and am probably affected by this but don't even really notice atm. This doesn't even register on my user trust spectrum when the only other option is the browser that defines surveillance capitalism.

I think we'll all live. No need for the chicken little act.
1 comments
livueta 2600 days ago
I'm not sure the GP is overstating things. For technical folks with technical reasons to be using Firefox: yeah, a mass exodus is unlikely purely because there aren't any good alternatives. What are you going to jump to? Chrome, and knuckle under to the Goog? Unbranded FF forks and be weeks behind on patches? Doubtful.

My concern is around non-technical users (the group, mind you, that Firefox has been spending marketing dosh on courting recently with Quantum and all) who don't have as compelling reasons for not just switching back to Chrome. In the last hour, I've gotten several phone calls from family members asking me why the browser I convinced them to use is broken. I don't have a good answer, because platitudes about surveillance and muh freedoms don't count for shit when your grandma just wants to get rid of the ads on the local newspaper site.

I'm personally going nowhere and deeply appreciate Mozilla for all the work on FF and friends, occasional fuckups aside, but I don't think this is going to be a non-event for a browser that's been desperately fighting to regain market/mind-share.

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crehn 2600 days ago
platitudes about surveillance and muh freedoms don't count for shit when your grandma just wants to get rid of the ads on the local newspaper site

Very much this. People are often too quick to forget who their customers are and what they really want.

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BuckRogers 2600 days ago
I'm using the Chromium-based Edge at work, and it's going to be a great browser. It's the one that most people should switch to if they want to leave Firefox. I've been using Firefox since 2002 and never left, but native browsers like Safari/Edge are appealing for many reasons, including deep integration for the best battery use. I tend to recommend people use native browsers or Firefox but never anything else.
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