Headed for a Chrome only web

[KBD]

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/03 ... noculture/

I use Chrome, but it worries me we are going back towards the old "Internet Explorer only" days.

[deanr72]

The company I work for uses some kind of 'Skype-like' video conferencing system and I was told it only works on Google Chrome. Whenever there have been issues I've told my interlocutor to switch to Chrome and everything has been fine. And then I had problems with Chrome - in desperation mid-call I switched to Firefox and it worked. The next day I tried Chromium.

I've since switched to Chromium for all my work and browsing - Firefox for Netflix.

[Sparky]

Google is trying to take over the net. There old motto "Do no Harm" is far and far behind. They keep getting slapped bu EU fines, I dont think they care.

[timkb4cq]

Like Microsoft of old, fines will make no difference to Google until they reach a significant percentage of revenue. Until then, they're just another "cost of operations".

[KBD]

The only thing Google fears is getting broken up. Which is probably what needs to happen. Ever really try to get free of Google? If you use Android you can forget it.

[Sparky]

The only thing Google fears is getting broken up. Which is probably what needs to happen. Ever really try to get free of Google? If you use Android you can forget it.

Exactly, and they know the day is coming under monopoly laws around the world. That why they created 'alphabet' the parent company.

[figueroa]

Don't use Chrome. I use Vivaldi for one thing, and Firefox for everything else. Pass it on. ;-)

[Sparky]

FireFox rocks!

[thomasl]

The only thing Google fears is getting broken up. Which is probably what needs to happen. Ever really try to get free of Google? If you use Android you can forget it.

I don't think that's true. I only buy tablets and smartphones where I can replace the manufacturer's version of Android with an official Lineage OS version sans any of the Google apps. Lineage is based on Google code, true, but it is completely open source and you don't need to install anything on it that is closed-source Google stuff. In fact, most software I install on these devices comes from an alternative repo called F-Droid. Only open source there. An added advantage is that the devices often run smoother w/o all the bloatware.

An objection sometimes heard, that Lineage works only on expensive hardware, is wrong. A while ago I have given my in-laws a new G4Play with Lineage installed, total cost less than £85.

[JayM]

Here's a very interesting article written by Gabriel Weinberg, the CEO and founder of DuckDuckGo, about how his search engine makes a profit without tracking and "monetizing" your user data and online activity, with information about how Google (and Facebook too) does it instead:

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-reven ... s/67404040