Sorry in advance for what might appear to be rambling (because it kind of is), but I had a few thoughts and I’m very curious how the community sees these things. I’ll try to do my best to condense them.
After reading through the discussion beneath a post about yet another Brave scandal, I decided to look up the marketshare of chromium. According to statcounter 73.43% of browsers used are chromium based (Chrome, Edge, Opera, Samsung Internet) and only a measly 2.8% use Firefox.
About the statistics: 73% of access to the internet for humans and bots alike go through software largely developed by one player. What are your thoughts on the effect this probably has on the development of the internet as a whole?
About brave and other wildly popular privacy focused products: compared to a lot of people in this fine community I’m a casual-privacist, but I do my best to review what sort of software/hardware I use, weigh opsec and convenience, etc. I also try to stay away from privacy influencers (is that a thing yet? If not, it should be) and the products they tend to shill, which brings me to my next point. What do you think about the scandals surrounding supposedly secure products and services that were heavily pushed by influencers (like brave, all kinds of laughable vpns, password managers, etc.)? Do you think the people who shill these products help or hinder tech literacy? I have a suspicion that most people flirting with the idea of privacy for the first time choose these products and services the same way they would buy a car or a toaster; by googling (affiliate links galore in SEO hell) or watching a video review on youtube and they only long for feeling safe (I’m safe because the talking head said so). What would be a great way to improve the tech/privacy literacy situation? How do we upgrade privacy from being a buzzword in ad campaigns to a life skill (maybe not the best way to describe it, but you get the point)?
Lastly, and thank you for bearing with me here. What’s wrong with Firefox?! Is it the marketing (or lack thereof)?
tldr: basically a long showerthought and an invitation for discussion about the unfair marketshare of chromium, and “privacy focused” products shilled by influencers.
Disclaimer: I don’t know how accurate the linked data is, I did not collect it or review it and I don’t know how trusted the site is supposed to be. True that I have some negative opinions about Brave and I have never used it. Probably never will and the only reason is that it just seems a bit fucky to me, even if it doesn’t have any dangerous faults. Reading the rules, I didn’t find anything that prohibits posta like this, but if I’m mistaken… sorry.
What’s wrong with Firefox?!
I will get downvotes for this, but you asked:
Firefox is slow and glitchy, and lots of websites break or just perform worse than chrome.
Firefox used to have ~30% market share around 13 years ago, when it was better than the competition. The reason it’s dropped so significantly is because better options came along (chrome)
I understand the arguments about Google controlling the internet through chromium. I would love for Firefox to actually be the best browser, but it’s not.
And since Firefox users ignore these citisisms and act like it’s the best browser ever, there is not enough pressure for Firefox to actually fix these issues, since their users act like it’s already the best thing available and perfect in every way. It’s very similar to why Linux doesn’t catch on.
I have tried just about every browser available. I will use the one that performs the best and has the best features. Currently that is Brave, which is a great browser, but I would absolutely jump to Firefox if things changed and it became the best performing option.
Why down vote an opinion? We are all allowed them.
I’ve used Firefox since before it was Firefox and haven’t witnessed any of the issues you have. As a web developer, I’ve also never had an issue with Firefox requiring special design considerations( looking at you, MS).
I appreciate the fact that Firefox has small share. I have seen what happens when a company and browser become too large and powerful, as Google Chrome has.
Use what works for you.
These issues are posted about about all the time:
https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/1030fri/why_does_firefox_feel_slowchoppy/
https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/y5o8io/i_love_firefox_but_many_popular_websites_are_slow/
https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/11utln3/firefox_feels_slow/
https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/11y2139/why_is_firefox_so_slow/
https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/gg8424/why_is_firefox_so_slow/
https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/12k4ysr/why_does_reddit_run_slow_on_my_firefox/
And everyone wonders why Firefox has less than a 3% market share
EDIT: Also here are actual benchmark numbers for a more quantitative analysis: https://www.pttrns.com/fastest-browsers-for-windows-10/
These actual benchmarks are just synthetic ones. In my personal expierence (using (ungoogled-)chromium and firefox side by side on the same sites) neither is noticeable faster or slower.
Absolutely valid points and I get your choice. Used to hop browsers for about a decade before I settled on firefox, not because of the privacy aspect, it just felt cozy. I guess I’m getting old, I can’t really tell the difference between performance anymore, all browsers feel fast enough. Honestly, didn’t even think speed would be a concern.
…and I’m sure firefox would be a lot less glitchy if I didn’t insist breaking every single page with noscript. Now, where’d I put my tinfoil hat
I’ll take your word for it, but I never use any other browser so I’m happily ignorant by continuing to use Firefox. A few times I’ve needed to open Edge since it’s already preinstalled on Windows. The few times I’ve done so I’ve not noticed any significant increase in performance. On the contrary, the user experience was pretty horrible.
