this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2023
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I'm with you up until the use of all of this to discourage getting away from Google stuff. Just because Google is also involved in open source doesn't mean that their other projects become more trustworthy, or that the safety of those open source projects should automatically come into question.
If Google pulls out of Gnome, it'd affect Gnome but it wouldn't obliterate it. Likewise, somebody would probably take over some form of a hard fork of Chromium. But if Google drops support on something you've made an essential part of your workflow, you're in trouble.
The point of getting away from Google as much as possible isn't to exist in a world without Google, it's to avoid having a single point of failure and to avoid putting literally all your data into the hands of a company that will use it however they can to profit. Half my duck duck go searches get a !g at the front, and Firefox or no, I'm still on an android phone, but that doesn't mean I'm trying to hand them all my notes for work that isn't finished yet so they can regurgitate its component parts. Train on my stuff all you want, but at least let me finish it first.
Google right now is like a bad relationship. It's gotten completely wrapped up in our way of life to the point that it's overly comfortable doing a half-assed or self-serving job and knowing most people won't bother to shake things up looking for something better.
It's probably best if we all get a little space from megacorps like Google, even if we don't abandon the relationship entirely.
I actually agree with you entirely. I was just trying to play a bit of Devil's advocate with admittedly some exaggeration on my part. I would much prefer keeping our cookies free of their sticky fingers and we can all still do our best to minimize their influence.
They have their reasons for funding and contribution, but it's often than only in their interest to do it, rather than being "good to the community". Their Linux kernel contributions, for example, often end up predominantly being for things that affect Android.
I do my best to minimize the amount of Google stuff I do/use as well. It's just that I often find the Firefox-Google talking point to be missing the bigger picture and it's not as simple as "Google gives money to Mozilla, therefore Firefox = inherently bad for taking their money ".
The irony of all of this is that I was typing my previous comments on Brave on Android due to my constant browser hopping. Mull is my default, but sometimes I just go with Brave or Vivaldi for random shit (Firefox mobile is really bad for live streaming video compared to most Chromium browsers, in my experience, but it might just be my set up or something).