Should I be excited about Ladybird Browser ?

8 months ago by 64bithero to c/privacy

I hear it’s the first browser in a long while to come with a new engine. Completely independent and no revenue model. To me that would work well for privacy but I see no mention of privacy as any benefit. In fact I don’t see a privacy policy anywhere !

Is a goal of the browser to be telemetry free ? Should I as a person who cares about privacy be showing any interest?

oblivion96 121 points 8 months ago

tbh I'm more excited about Servo.org. They're also developing a fully independent browser engine and are funded by the Linux Foundation. Ladybird has corporate sponsors, so I'm a bit hesitant. But the more the merrier I guess.

path: 0 22233634, hotness: undefined, score: 121, children: 7
jodanlime 24 points 8 months ago

Has something changed recently? Last time I looked at Servo it was just an engine, not a full browser. The servo project wants others to use their rendering engine to create browsers and use it as an alternative to Electron.

path: 0 22233634 22234590, hotness: undefined, score: 24, children: 6
HappyFrog 25 points 8 months ago

It's just the engine, but it's supposed to be a much more modern and smaller engine, so writing a new browser on top of it would be much easier than using gecko is. But you're right, it's not a browser. There is Verso as a prototype browser, but it's far from functional.

path: 0 22233634 22234590 22236456, hotness: undefined, score: 25, children: 0
oblivion96 11 points 8 months ago

That's true, but they have a prototype "browser" you can download from their website. And I'm hoping for a fleshed out version in the end, either from them or someone else.

path: 0 22233634 22234590 22236544, hotness: undefined, score: 11, children: 0
MonkderVierte 1 point 8 months ago

and use it as an alternative to Electron

Servo is a bloated GUI framework?

path: 0 22233634 22234590 22247719, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 3
Cethin 4 points 8 months ago

It's an HTML, CSS, JS renderer. The fact so many use Electron for bloated app GUIs doesn't mean that's what it is. Every browser is functionally the same thing as Electron (with even more stuff), but the use case requires it.

This surely will be used to make bloated GUIs, but that's good if it replaces Electron and is faster. There is a use for Electron. It's just over-used.

path: 0 22233634 22234590 22247719 22249369, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 2
MonkderVierte 2 points 8 months ago

There is a use for Electron.

Not sure i agree. They take a engine made to render a Document Object Model and shoehorn GUI widgets on it, no? At least, every Electron tool i've used was laggy, heavy and reserved GBs of RAM.

And what, you count the major webbrowsers not as heavy and bloated?

path: 0 22233634 22234590 22247719 22249369 22255498, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 1
eleijeep 63 points 8 months ago

The founder of Ladybird (Andreas Kling) has the alt-right brain-worm, and let's be honest: we know what those people are cheering for right now.

path: 0 22239337, hotness: undefined, score: 63, children: 6
BrilliantBadger 18 points 8 months ago

Had no idea. Did some research, very unfortunate. Appreciate the heads up. 

path: 0 22239337 22248563, hotness: undefined, score: 18, children: 0
Shayeta -6 points 8 months ago

Is it FOSS? If not then I don't care about the product. If yes then I don't care who made it.

path: 0 22239337 22246182, hotness: undefined, score: -6, children: 3
GraveyardOrbit 4 points 8 months ago
path: 0 22239337 22246182 22256507, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 2
Ghostie 15 points 8 months ago
path: 0 22239337 22246182 22256507 22257982, hotness: undefined, score: 15, children: 0
Shayeta 0 points 8 months ago

And the moment a person with political stance X forks it, then its X software. That is the benefit of the GPL license.

path: 0 22239337 22246182 22256507 22265713, hotness: undefined, score: 0, children: 0
Georgvwt -12 points 8 months ago

Who cares lol, as long as it stays FOSS i don't care

path: 0 22239337 22255737, hotness: undefined, score: -12, children: 0
jlow 35 points 8 months ago path: 0 22236965, hotness: undefined, score: 35, children: 3
SwooshBakery624 4 points 8 months ago

Just so you know, Drew DeVault is a pedophile apologist. He cannot even remotely be considered a reliable source of information.

path: 0 22236965 22249856, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 0
MonkderVierte 0 points 8 months ago
path: 0 22236965 22247529, hotness: undefined, score: 0, children: 0
onlinepersona -3 points 8 months ago

Why do people keep referencing that dude? He's just loud and blows everything out of proportion. He could write an entire book about how an ant letting a fart out is inappropriate, racist, bigoted, and antisemitic.

path: 0 22236965 22251907, hotness: undefined, score: -3, children: 0
curbstickle 25 points 8 months ago

Considering who is behind it, I have no interest in it.

path: 0 22240244, hotness: undefined, score: 25, children: 1
MonkderVierte 0 points 8 months ago
path: 0 22240244 22247511, hotness: undefined, score: 0, children: 0
ReverendIrreverence 25 points 8 months ago

I am paying attention to both Ladybird and Servo but am not yet "excited" about either. I am hoping they both continue to improve and become more usable (for me - YMMV) but do not expect the possibility of Daily Driver usage (again, for my use model) for at least another year.

path: 0 22233961, hotness: undefined, score: 25, children: 0
Tenderizer78 17 points 8 months ago

It's unremarkable and has baggage.

The Servo browser is where it's at. It's written entirely in rust so it has a leg up on stability and security over other browsers. The issue is that they're not really interested in the most important part, which is things like bookmarks and dark mode. They are laser focussed on the engine and anyone who would use Servo would be fine with a few websites looking broken.

If Firefox released a Servo-based spin, I'd use that in a heartbeat.

path: 0 22242435, hotness: undefined, score: 17, children: 10
MonkderVierte 6 points 8 months ago

so it has a leg up on stability and security over other browsers

No, Rust doesn't make your code more stable. It can help you making it more secure however.

path: 0 22242435 22247479, hotness: undefined, score: 6, children: 4
Tenderizer78 4 points 8 months ago

Security and stability are related. They're both about preventing unexpected behaviour.

path: 0 22242435 22247479 22248080, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 3
MonkderVierte 3 points 8 months ago

But also Rust can't replace skill. A ruin in Rust is still a ruin. But it can help make the ruin more secure.

path: 0 22242435 22247479 22248080 22248223, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 2
Tenderizer78 3 points 8 months ago

But also Rust can’t replace skill.

Never said it could, just that it gives them a leg up.

path: 0 22242435 22247479 22248080 22248223 22248277, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 1
frgl 5 points 8 months ago path: 0 22242435 22247613, hotness: undefined, score: 5, children: 1
Tenderizer78 2 points 8 months ago

Qute isn't my kind of browser, so I probably won't be following you to Qute.

Firefox suites my workflow basically perfectly. Except that it won't let me duplicate a tab with a keyboard shortcut (because tabs freeze quite often).

path: 0 22242435 22247613 22248136, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
eldavi 3 points 8 months ago

are the servo creators as red pilled as ladybird's creators?

path: 0 22242435 22256447, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 1
Tenderizer78 7 points 8 months ago

No. It's developed by the Linux Foundation Europe.

path: 0 22242435 22256447 22259894, hotness: undefined, score: 7, children: 0
partofthevoice 1 point 8 months ago

Hmm… would be pretty neat if Playwrite could use the Servo engine too. I would start using that instead of the gecko driver, because why not?

path: 0 22242435 22253405, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
Zerush 11 points 8 months ago

Well, it's nice the developement of a new independent engine, but I'm old and not sure to see the first stable and usefull release of it. The engine is by far the most complex part of the browser, with the need of an big team to develope it for several platforms (even linux distros are not always compatible one with another)

Nowadays Blink is the most advanced engine, because nobody else than Google has the infrastructure and the amount of devs working on it, even with the power to modify web standarts. This is at the same time also the problem.

Yes, Chromium is 100% FOSS and everybody can modify and gutting it to his like, but always depends on the update releases from Google. The only solution is an independent Chromium team and community.

A new browserengine would change nothing, because it comes 20 years late in a market of nearly 80% Chromium in an web optimized by it, like dozends of other indie browsers with a handfull users each or even abandoned out there (eg Otter and others) even the grandfather of Blink, Konqueror with the KHTML engine by the German KDE, forked by Google and Apple.

path: 0 22256112, hotness: undefined, score: 11, children: 0
LytiaNP 9 points 8 months ago

My understanding is that they have no intent to violate user privacy, but they're also not going out of their way to protect it. The goal is to have a completely independent browser, everything else falls second to that.

path: 0 22234270, hotness: undefined, score: 9, children: 0
schnurrito 8 points 8 months ago

In terms of privacy, not really more than any other FOSS browser.

What's more interesting about it is that they're developing their own browser engine (meaning there will be another independent implementation of web standards) and licensing it (IIRC) more permissively than the existing ones. But that is of course not what this community is about.

path: 0 22234423, hotness: undefined, score: 8, children: 1
MonkderVierte 1 point 8 months ago
  • the privacy/security problem is inherent in websites requiring JS
  • web standards organizations are infiltrated by Google for a decade now. And it's likely, that they pushed for more complexity and more JS, to secure their businesses, because
    • Google has a major webbrowser (complexer engine = less competition)
    • Google has the major search engine, power over rankings (ensuring webpages implement complexity)
    • Google has 90% internet advertising market share (it's their turf)

To fix the web, we need something new, that is simple to implement but still flexible.

path: 0 22234423 22247597, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
trk 7 points 8 months ago

I'd be happier if Firefox received more support. A relatively equal duopoly of browsers is preferable IMO to 80% market share for one, and the remaining 20% broken up amongst half a dozen competing alternatives.

Lot of developer power out there that would be better spent improving what's mostly already there (Firefox) rather than starting multiple different projects from scratch again. People will burn up any energy and spare time they had to help without even seeing a new browser render it's first HELL WORLD

path: 0 22267129, hotness: undefined, score: 7, children: 1
clot27 1 point 8 months ago

Users will eventually use what works for them and thats fine. Its upto firefox on what they want their browsers future to be

path: 0 22267129 22277282, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
Zetta 3 points 8 months ago

I am, sevro could be cool be they aren't actually making a "web browser"

path: 0 22256413, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 0
sakuraba 1 point 8 months ago

I won't touch the transphobic browser for the same reasons I don't use the homophobic browser

path: 0 22270593, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
Auli -7 points 8 months ago

Eh everyone here acting all mighty because of whose behind it but they are still using gnu products. Stallman is not exactly a perfect model, why are people using gnu.

path: 0 22247436, hotness: undefined, score: -7, children: 1
SystemQ 1 point 8 months ago

And what, dare I ask, is the problem with gnu?

path: 0 22247436 22270333, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
privacy
privacy

@lemmy.ml

login for more options
51397
5290
5100

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

  • Posting a link to a website containing tracking isn't great, if contents of the website are behind a paywall maybe copy them into the post
  • Don't promote proprietary software
  • Try to keep things on topic
  • If you have a question, please try searching for previous discussions, maybe it has already been answered
  • Reposts are fine, but should have at least a couple of weeks in between so that the post can reach a new audience
  • Be nice :)

Related communities

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

go to feed...