This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Step 1. Add AI. Step 2. Add (broken) switch. Step 3. Pretend to fix switch. Step 4. Hide switch in sub-menus. Step 5. Remove switch.
... And all they actually need to do is make "AI" an extension. Let the users install it if they want to, or don't. That's the whole point of extensions. But they would never dream of that, hell no.
Browsers don't need LLMs
I don’t need LLMs for any facet of my life. This statement is without exception.
Mozilla has released so many self-described AI features in the past few years, but this is the only one that has:
I hope Mozilla learns their lesson. I doubt they will, but I hope.
I think they’re desperate to make money since they’re losing userbass AND Google is probably not happy that most users change the default search engine away from them.
Does anyone really think the current administration is going to break up Google? Lina Khan almost did it but like most of the rest of this timeline we just didn’t quite get there
Yeah it's a catch 22.
They either fail to get a big enough use base because their core users are not enough and they fail from a lack of funding.
Or they try to follow trends to increase their appeal and user base, and annoy their core users.
Most users don't realize that Mozilla is doing what Google is doing with Chrome with an engineering team 1/4 the size of the chrome team. And that the grand majority of their costs are engineering related.
Browsers are expensive, and Mozilla needs to find revenue streams to pay for it.
I believe Firefox could raise a lot of money through donations. If they make it clear that Firefox donations will be solely used for Firefox development. Also ideally add a quick survey to donations to see what the "donating" userbases values are. My issue with donating to Mozilla is that it is too broad and they have many products I don't care for.
I use Thunderbird and donate to it because I feel it's more focused. I believe Mozilla still can use the funds for other stuff but at least I am donating for a clear project.
Firefox donations will be solely used for Firefox development
This might be a stupid question.... but how much developing does a browser actually need? I get security updates and such but how much resources does that stuff really need? Full disclosure: I'm a dumb lorry driver I have no idea how these things work. Some years ago I realized I hadn't updated my browser in at least a year, maybe two and I had no issues lol
sadly I’ll likely support them through any shitty decisions they make as they are the only viable non-chromium alternative these days.
I get they’re chasing the buck and trying to stay relevant, but uhhhh… if they could be less Steve Buscemi-teen about it, that’d be great.
I strongly believe that the EU should fund Mozilla, or a fork of Firefox.
Gecko is the only viable competitor to Blink/WebKit, and it is needed
Govts around the world should be funding all sorts of FOSS projects. I know they do to some degree but not much. It benefits the whole world and only hurts big tech.
That prospect becomes less and less likely the more government is bought and paid for by Big Tech.
This is what people don't understand. Those in power, whether they're part of the government, a wealthy CEO, or a religious leader, will do what benefits themselves if they think they can get away with it. We keep talking about powerful organizations and what they could do to benefit everyone, but fail to realize that powerful people don't want to benefit everyone.
They only do what benefits everyone if they feel like they can't get away with just doing what benefits themselves. It's our responsibility to make sure they don't think they can get away with it, and clearly strongly-worded letters and quippy signs held outside their offices for an afternoon or two isn't enough to do that.
Funding FF? Maybe. Funding Mozilla? No way, not with my money.
Why?
Firefox is just the browser, Mozilla is the organization constantly wasting money on features Firefox's users are actively hostile to in a bid to tempt away people already using Chrome. Not the OP, but I'd be down to donate to Firefox's development directly, but I wouldn't want to make a donation to Mozilla hoping it would go toward Firefox, only to find out they took my money to build some new LLM integration that nobody asked for, only to sit unused for years before being quietly shuttered in favor of the new tech buzzword of the day.
Ladybird browser looks promising!
The ladybird devs are currently in the process of switching language again from Swift to Rust, using LLMs.
Yup. Don’t use or support Ladybird, especially since it’s made by anti-inclusivity “keep your ‘political’ gender-neutral pronouns out of our READMEs” nerdbros.
On the other hand, Servo is coming along nicely.
https://github.com/LadybirdBrowser/ladybird/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md
Use gender-neutral pronouns, except when referring to a specific person.
?
I watched this unfold as it happened. It kind of left a bad taste in my mouth after that.
https://hyperborea.org/reviews/software/ladybird-inclusivity/
Remember when they had a "kill switch" for javascript?
Yeah, as long as it made any sense to browse the web without JS. These days you need at least an allow list.
It's available as an extension: https://webextension.org/listing/javascript-toggler.html
Yeah. Used to be native. Like the slop kill switch currently is. Then won't be.
"Kill switch" – oh the drama. Let's call every simple toggle 'kill switch' from now on.
What's worse....you could always toggle it. In fact, you could re-route it to your own local LLM.
Drama drama cheesecake drama
Tablet brick potato drama
I was once a treehouse; I lived in a cake. But I never saw the way. The orange slayed the rake.
Are... are you the fabled walrus? Goo goo g'joob?
It is lyrics to this ancient proto-meme originally found on AlbinoBlacksheep
Ah. You speak of the ancient magics. Tell me...have you ever been UNCOMFORTABLY ENERGETIC?
