- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.world
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It would be neat if this ends up usurping Gecko - since it originated from Mozilla and would be ironic, but also because it potentially has a lot of lessons learned from decades of web browsers, and is obviously pretty fast and safe due to Rust.
I’m not under the impression that a web browser is a simple thing to build but with Linux advancing the way it has in recent years it continues to surprise me that the “best” browser out there isn’t FOSS.
Hopefully that is about to change!
Chrome is mostly open-source software, Chromium builds are just missing Google data sync, some video DRM, and other proprietary components. I believe Firefox is completely FOSS.
I believe Firefox is completely FOSS.
Looks like it is! I was under the apparently false impression that it was only partly.
A lot of internet denizens go out of their way to highlight every misstep firefox has like it is fatal and downplay all of it’s positives, even to the point of suggesting the usage of chromium derivitives.
All major browser engines are FOSS.
Chrome and Edge are proprietary wrappers around Chromium (BSD license). Firefox and derivatives are FOSS (Mozilla Public License). Safari is built around WebKit (LGPL/BSD).
The problem, however, is governance. These projects are all too big for anyone to realistically fork and maintain independently. So in practice, they are under control of Google, Mozilla, and Apple — all of which have questionable priorities (especially Google).
Why would it? FOSS doesn’t have the funding that commercial software does.
Well, because FOSS apps are usually the best/most user friendly option even if they’re not always the most popular. If you woke up after a 30 year coma and had no prior commitments to using any particular software, there would be absolutely zero question that Linux is the best OS today.
An OS is a complicated thing, yet the FOSS option is the safest, most user friendly, and most versatile. I’m just a little surprised there isn’t a browser that checks those boxes too, since the browser is a widely used thing. But I’m guessing because Firefox exists the number of devs willing to give the time investment just isn’t as many.
yeah I’m glad servo exists, but its far from ready for prime time.
What’s crazy is what a monumental undertaking implementing a web browser is now. Would love to see someone propose a new standard to replace html-css-js but distilled down to a radically simplified essence, dropping the accumulated cruft of decades, applying lessons learned. Ideally would be something that could be implemented by a few devs over months rather than requiring a team of hundreds over a decade.
That’s pretty much https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_(protocol). You can explore it through an HTTP proxy like this: https://portal.mozz.us/
The Gemini Protocol does a good job at being a minimal alternative, but it’s quite limited in what is capable. It’ll never be adequate for banking or video games.
Social media and reddit alternatives? No problem.
