I want a web browser not an advertising platform.

@sillystring lynx ? The whole internet has become an advertising platform and ff is probably the least painful browser.

@whonose123

By default #firefox sticks sponsored ads in your new tab page.

They now have a new form of popup (IMHO) that's suggesting addons.

I agree with you about the whole Internet but I don't want my browser trying to sell me shit too. Particularly an open source one supported with community money. It's gross.

@sillystring yep.... you can look at epic and brave... they should not be spying on you... vivaldi may be an option but it is all too " gee wizz- look how great we are " for my taste ( and thus suspect to be trying to hard to attrach "that" sort of user). At least Mozilla is up front., unlike that google spyware called Chrome...

@whonose123 @sillystring

There is #NetSurf written in simple an portable #C: https://www.netsurf-browser.org/

And @alcinnz is working on #Memex a brand new and purposely not standard browser: https://git.sr.ht/~alcinnz/memex

@Shamar @whonose123 @sillystring Or if you're on a Linux- (or BSD-) based system there's a range of other browsers I can recommend.

Unfortunately Mac and Windows lack the technical and social infrastructure for us to easily keep our browsers secure and up to date there.

@alcinnz @whonose123 @sillystring

Which ones?
(Hoping you can suggest something I haven't tried yet)

@Shamar @whonose123 @sillystring There's QtBrowser, GNOME Web, Midori, my own Odysseus, and I've seen others.

The former's based on Chrome's Blink engine and the rest on Safari's WebKit.

@alcinnz @whonose123 @sillystring

I admit that I tend to conflate #Webkit and #Blink and treat them all as #Chrome.

@alcinnz @Shamar @whonose123

Fascinating recommendations! After work today I'll check them out. Thanks.

@sillystring in these days, we could even say "surveillance platform", or "AI fooder platform"

@stephen

https://www.ghacks.net/2018/09/04/firefox-to-suggest-extension-recommendations/

@sillystring Ah, I see. It's opt-out instead of opt-in, which is a shame, but this doesn't seem very nefarious to me. Mozilla is vetting the extensions, and they've stated it's not pay-for-play. And there's an off button. What are your concerns?

@stephen

My concern is that while browsing, out of now where they suggest some shit plugin. Don't suggest shit. Just be a web browser.

@stephen

I don't want my browser to have a new form of pop up by default.

@stephen

I feel like there's no where to go. Get a browser from an advertising company or get a browser from a failing nonprofit that is becoming an advertising company.

@sillystring I guess I don't see what precisely benefits them monetarily from recommending a particular add-on.

@stephen

I don't see what benefits me by them recommending plugins. I didn't ask for their recommendation. Particularly for some shit plugin.

@stephen

It feels like another step in the wrong direction by a browser I'm watching fail more by the day.

@sillystring This is their reasoning: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/extension-recommendations

"Empowering users to customize their browsing experience to fit their needs, as well as their personal tastes, is an important part of Firefox."

I'm not sure if I agree with their motivation completely. Yours is a valid concern, I'm just not sure it's as dire as you do, I guess. It is kind of disappointing that there's not a browser that is completely free of this sort of thing. Getting more involved @mozilla is my only suggestion.

@sillystring We can make things better! And we must.

@stephen @mozilla

Look at this piece of shit pop up while browsing! Shame on them. Nobody wants this. "Empowering users..." LOL Total marketing speak.

@sillystring I understand that position. I think Mozilla is trying to get people to stay with Firefox - by touting something that is often hidden behind menus in a way it isn't in Chrome - and this is a solution. I think IceCat may disable all of these sorts of things, but it may be a few steps behind Firefox in terms of security updates.

@adinfinitum

Heh, I was a bit extreme in the original post.

I'm just upset about the direction of the project for the last few years. Advertisements by default, mishandling certificates, using donations to support politically minded groups, etc.

It makes me sad. BTW I'm typing this on #firefox with a handful of personal modifications. 🙁