Mozilla partners with Ecosia for a better web | The Mozilla Blog (blog.mozilla.org)
from mesamunefire@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world on 18 Dec 00:23
https://lemmy.world/post/23256804

#technology

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mitexleo@buddyverse.one on 18 Dec 00:35 next collapse

After abandoning the fediverse.

TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world on 18 Dec 05:59 next collapse

They stopped running their own instance that almost nobody used. It’s not the big deal you’re making it out to be. They’re still on the fediverse, they just won’t be maintaining their own instance.

I don’t even see why you think the two things are related.

fine_sandy_bottom@lemmy.federate.cc on 18 Dec 08:25 collapse

Not necessarily complaining about mozilla’s actions here, but did anyone actually get an opportunity to use their instance ? I thought I signed up to get an invite when they opened publicly but it never happened.

Klaymore@sh.itjust.works on 18 Dec 08:51 collapse

Lots of people have been saying they should focus more on developing Firefox rather than doing other things like partnering with Mullvad or whatever. There are already quite a few other fediverse instances.

deegeese@sopuli.xyz on 18 Dec 01:40 next collapse

Of all the things I care about in a search engine, “social impact” has got to be near the bottom.

That they’re touting this as the selling point tells me they’re trying to distract from the real motive.

TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world on 18 Dec 06:20 next collapse

Ecosia goes beyond [just] data protection by addressing environmental concerns. Every search made through the search engine contributes to tree-planting projects worldwide, helping to combat deforestation and regenerate the planet. Ecosia planted over 215 million trees, across the planet biodiversity hotspots, making a tangible difference in the fight against climate change. Just like Mozilla, they are committed to creating a better internet, and world, for everyone.

I don’t really see the big deal. And while it may be bottom of the list for you, I’m sure others might like the tree-planting thing. From what I can gather with a quick search, they actually do it properly, too, not just planting an ecologically dead monoculture of trees.

And yeah there’s an “ulterior motive”, although it’s not really the evil scheming you’re making it sound like. Ecosia paid Mozilla to include them, so now Mozilla has included them as a search option. It’s one of the few ways Mozilla can get revenue, because people sure won’t pay for a browser these days.

fine_sandy_bottom@lemmy.federate.cc on 18 Dec 08:30 next collapse

This selling point is not important to you because you’re not part of Mozilla’s target market. Mozilla already has the 2% of the internet that hangs out on Lemmy. They’re pursuing some of the remaining 98%.

wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world on 18 Dec 20:51 collapse

[citation needed]

deegeese@sopuli.xyz on 18 Dec 20:59 collapse

LOL cite your opinion buddy.

neuroneiro@lemmy.world on 18 Dec 03:16 next collapse

Please tell me I overlooked in the press release the link to what they are talking about.

ZephyrXero@lemmy.world on 18 Dec 04:05 collapse

It sounds like Firefox will have a new default search engine soon

asudox@discuss.tchncs.de on 18 Dec 06:35 next collapse

google aint giving mozilla money anymore?

kautau@lemmy.world on 18 Dec 07:12 collapse

It’s proposed, but yes

it prohibits Google from paying to make its search engine the default for third parties, causing pain not just for Alphabet but for others.

Google pays billions annually to Apple and Mozilla to remain the default search engine in Safari and Firefox.

www.theregister.com/…/usa_vs_google_full_filing/

PrivacyDingus@lemmy.world on 18 Dec 09:08 collapse

I think that’s very unlikely; this PR was delivered pretty much word-for-word with a different partner earlier this year: blog.mozilla.org/…/firefox-partners-with-qwant/

imo this is just your standard PR announcement of a partnership between two known entities which will get people talking before they forget about it

MisterMoo@lemmy.world on 18 Dec 03:44 next collapse

“OMG this is crazy but in light of the looming Google antitrust stuff did y’all realize there are other browsers out there??”

MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml on 18 Dec 14:44 collapse

realize there are other browsers out there?

You meant search engines?

PerogiBoi@lemmy.ca on 18 Dec 16:23 collapse

Ya there’s only 2 types of browsers :( chromium and Firefox based. There’s a total monopoly on that

Neon@lemmy.world on 18 Dec 17:07 next collapse

Safari (webkit) and there are two currently trying to get into existence

PerogiBoi@lemmy.ca on 18 Dec 18:53 collapse

What other two are there?

theherk@lemmy.world on 18 Dec 19:31 next collapse

There are several browsers, but the hard part being discussed here is the browser engine. The current promising up and comers are LibWeb for Ladybird and Servo which is now under management of the Linux Foundation; super exciting.

But as far as just browsers, I recommend the Firefox fork, zen browser. The interface is fantastic.

avieshek@lemmy.world on 19 Dec 13:00 collapse

Zen Browser + uBlock Origin + Startpage ✓

AwakenedAce@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 19 Dec 09:38 collapse

Well there’s Ladybird which is open source and uses its own browser engine. Can’t seem to remember or find the other one though, but this one is more mature iirc

PerogiBoi@lemmy.ca on 19 Dec 12:23 collapse

I don’t think ladybird is released in any way that can be used by anyone. It’s still in development

barsoap@lemm.ee on 19 Dec 16:02 collapse

Servo should be vastly more advanced and it’s nowhere near ready.

MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml on 18 Dec 22:17 collapse

Well, Safari (Webkit) too but nobody likes that one.

Btw, Google’s Blink is based on Webkit which is based on KDE’s KHTML. Else, there is Gecko (Firefox) and was Trident (MS Internet Explorer). Oh, and QtWebkit but it’s slow in JS.

SeekPie@lemm.ee on 19 Dec 16:32 collapse

GNOME Web (formerly known as Epiphany) also uses the Safari WebKit.

avidamoeba@lemmy.ca on 18 Dec 15:41 next collapse

Ecosia sounds like a company worth supporting. I wish they’d offer a paid, ad-free plan.

How does it compare to Kagi, anyone used both?

UprisingVoltage@feddit.it on 18 Dec 18:07 next collapse

Haven’t used kagi, but ecosia is another bing fronted.

It’s duckduckgo, but the profits from the ads are used to plant trees.

If you need/want something like kagi, only kagi exists at the moment. There is nothing comparable in quality and features

If you still want to throw some money at them, they have a store where you can buy some merch and plant a tree

ikidd@lemmy.world on 18 Dec 20:28 next collapse

Maybe they’ll spend it all on Tshirts, worked for Kagi.

wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world on 18 Dec 20:49 collapse

I like my Kagi t-shirt, except the sizes are deceptive. I’m a chubby fuck but I fit comfortably in a US XL tee. I ordered an XL for Kagi. This shit is like a size smaller; “form fitting” if you will. I wasn’t planning on showcasing my moobs but I guess we are doing that now.

I like the search engine though. Been using it for a bit over a year. No real complaints; maybe a bit expensive, I guess.

mke@programming.dev on 18 Dec 20:56 next collapse

Kagi seems like a circus. Search quality? It’s interesting. Worth supporting? Up to you, but know that your money will still go to actual search result providers first, and what’s left goes to people who care more about shirts than privacy.

avidamoeba@lemmy.ca on 19 Dec 00:45 collapse

Quality is pretty good though. Have been using it for about a year. I’d like to find a non-profit search and pay for that instead though. Ecosia comes close in some regards but I don’t see an ad-free option.

avieshek@lemmy.world on 19 Dec 12:58 collapse

For me, Startpage has been the goat.

jaaaardvark@lemm.ee on 19 Dec 15:30 collapse

I switched from Kagi to Qwant because they’ll be collabing with Ecosia on their own index. Quality of results is, sadly, worse (uBlacklist helps somewhat), but I don’t want to support Kagi because they’re expanding their partnership with Yandex and funneling money to Kremlin.

doxxx@lemmy.ca on 19 Dec 21:32 collapse

Source?

tempest@lemmy.ca on 20 Dec 01:18 collapse

They pay for access to yandex’s indexes to help provide their search product. Whether you consider that “funneling money to the Kremlin” or not is up to you.

daggermoon@lemmy.world on 18 Dec 17:31 next collapse

Unless they make Ecosia the default search engine in Firefox, this is worthless.

DreamlandLividity@lemmy.world on 19 Dec 13:06 collapse

This is preparation for that in case google loses its appeal and is forbidden to pay Firefox to be the default.

daggermoon@lemmy.world on 19 Dec 13:47 collapse

Am I wrong for hoping that happens?

DreamlandLividity@lemmy.world on 19 Dec 14:32 collapse

Idk, on one hand I get what you mean. On the other hand, Firefox going away or being monetized in more aggressive ways will not be a good thing.

Honestly, I think I would prefer the lawsuit never happened and Google kept paying Firefox. Now, if Google loses, Firefox will likely head for enshitification. And if google wins, it sets terrible precedent :(

helpmyusernamewontfi@lemmy.today on 19 Dec 16:12 next collapse

Now, if Google loses, Firefox will likely head of enshitification.

The whole thing is FOSS. if the company goes over the community can still maintain it if they wish to

sunbeam60@lemmy.one on 19 Dec 16:41 next collapse

They can. But maintaining a modern browser engine is a MAJOR piece of work especially when there’s already another open source browser (Chromium) that is sucking in maintainers.

Firefox is dying. I’ve been a loyal user since Phoenix days but there is just no road forward. Many websites now don’t test for it. It’s in a slow death spiral. Such a shame.

DreamlandLividity@lemmy.world on 19 Dec 18:28 collapse

No, keeping up with new web standards, security, etc. is a full time job. It’s not something volunteers can keep up with. At that point, it may be better to just give up and build on top of Chromium.

In addition, without enough market share, websites will not test, let alone optimize for your browser. This is already causing issues for Firefox. Smaller browser engines stand no chance.

sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works on 19 Dec 22:15 collapse

And if Firefox changes to a chromium browser, I’m out. I’m here to support independent browser engines, beyond that, I don’t care much about Mozilla.

Telodzrum@lemmy.world on 19 Dec 23:01 collapse

Good luck. If Firefox changes to Blink, that’s it. Gecko won’t last long without the Mozilla Foundation footing the development bill. You get WebKit and Blink, nothing else.

sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works on 19 Dec 23:19 collapse

Yup. I’d probably end up with Brave because they have a functional ad blocker.

sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works on 19 Dec 22:12 collapse

As long as we’re making wish lists, I wish Mozilla beat Proton to the punch in making profitable, privacy-focused products. I’m willing to pay for privacy-friendly services (and I do pay for email), and that could go toward funding browser development.

But no, they’ll flirt with it with whitelabel VPN and whatnot, but they won’t commit.

john89@lemmy.ca on 18 Dec 18:05 next collapse

Here’s a suggestion that would show they care about their users and making the web a better place:

Give users the option to download firefox with adblockers pre-installed. Literally put them right next to the “normal” browser download and see which gets more hits.

cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 18 Dec 19:25 collapse

because adblockers often lead to websites not working which would lead to non techie people complaining about firefox.

john89@lemmy.ca on 18 Dec 19:37 collapse

Not really.

Replace “often” with “exceedingly rarely” and you’d be more accurate, but then you can just be describing websites that don’t work properly in general.

Eiri@lemmy.ca on 19 Dec 12:49 next collapse

It’s not in Firefox mobile.

Sure, I could probably find the URLs to add it in at a new custom search engine. But if you’re gonna make such a bombastic announcement, I expect you to have the update ready beforehand.

Do they not realize that mobile is most Web traffic nowadays?

avieshek@lemmy.world on 19 Dec 12:58 next collapse

In that case, Aloha Browser implemented Ecosia eons ago which is a very popular mobile browser among Asians due to its ability to download video like the right-click contextual menus in desktop browsers… however, YouTube is an exception.

Eiri@lemmy.ca on 19 Dec 13:03 collapse

I’m trying to avoid Chromium clones altogether. I really don’t like the engine quasi-monopoly we have and I don’t want to participate in furthering it.

avieshek@lemmy.world on 19 Dec 22:02 collapse

If you’re on desktop, am actually using Zen Browser that’s based on BetterFox (FireFox) with uBlock Origin and Startpage.

irotsoma@lemmy.world on 19 Dec 23:44 collapse

It’s in Mull on Android which is the browser I use the most. It’s basically Firefox but with privacy turned up and no Mozilla telemetry.

Laser@feddit.org on 19 Dec 16:19 next collapse

Cool stuff, now of Firefox didn’t switch back to Google every major update or so, that would be great… because I actually do have Ecosia selected and need to switch back to it every once in a while because hey why not

sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works on 19 Dec 22:04 next collapse

I’ve never had my search engine change from an update, and I use it on Linux, Android, and macOS. I set mine to DDG years ago and it has never changed.

Laser@feddit.org on 19 Dec 23:03 collapse

I suspect that is something specific to Ecosia, that they changed parameters from time to time which changes the entry, making your selected one no longer available, and then this happens: support.mozilla.org/…/search-engine-removal

The fact that they announce Ecosia now after it’s been available for a bit, makes me think this is what happened. I’ll see

ocassionallyaduck@lemmy.world on 19 Dec 22:26 collapse

You might want to check if Windows is the culprit.

Laser@feddit.org on 19 Dec 22:59 collapse

Using Linux here

ocassionallyaduck@lemmy.world on 20 Dec 23:42 collapse

Dunno then my friend. It’s not been an issue for me on either OS. But I believe you of course. Good luck figuring it out

asdfasdfasdf@lemmy.world on 19 Dec 23:58 next collapse

That whole post they didn’t even have one sentence that clearly states what theyre doing. I assume it’s “now we’ll make Ecosia one of the default choices”.

Sunshine@lemmy.ca on 20 Dec 05:37 collapse

Ecosia deserves all the support they can get!