Well, Mozilla seems to be making some pretty questionable decisions, So I’m considering switching browsers for the third (Is it the third?) time. The thing is, I really like the way Firefox works, so I’ve been trying out the more famous Forks like Waterfox and Librewolf, although I’m going for Floorp. However, I’m wondering: is using a fork enough? I mean, they are Forks maintained by other people, but is there a chance that whatever Mozilla does to Firefox could affect those Forks? Should I jump to a totally different browser like Vivaldi?
I don’t give a fuck about ads. And so should my browser.
But the people employed to create content on all the websites and YouTube channels you use regularly care quite a great deal about advertisement or they’d have to do something else for a living.
What, you don’t use free services online?
I have YouTube premium, so that part of my money is distributed to those creators. I also have subscriptions for news sites, podcasts and comics through Patreon and other services.
And to be clear: I don’t have a single problem with advertising — I have a huge problem with tracking me wherever I go online. When I’m on a site for Japanese language learning, show me ads for flights to Japan but stop tracking every website I visit.
I am paying for the services I use.
We sound similar. I’ve also been happy to pay for the services I use.
Although I hope you’ll agree that your second comment is a lot more moderated than the first :)
Then your browser will have no money to develop itself.
I am donating regularly to Firefox and Thunderbird. It’s a myth that software can only exist through ads and tracking.
Somehow I doubt you’re giving them as much as Google is. I despise ads but the current market realities mean that developing and maintaining a browser engine is not feasible without corporation-level resources.
Well, we‘ll never know as Mozilla has never tried to create user financed software since Netscape Navigatior Gold, IIRC.
We know because no one else is doing it.