Sure, but we saw this coming a mile away (as in, people have been saying this about Chrome for about a decade). People--especially tech nerds--didn't have to switch to the closed source, conflict-of-interest, browser. But, everyone did, and this is what we get for it. We now have proprietary DRM built in to the web standards, and all kinds of other bullshit, because a bunch of people decided to not learn any lessons at all from Microsoft and Internet Explorer.
But, every time Mozilla does something slightly abrasive, HN users pile on about how Mozilla is ruining their privacy-respecting reputation, and then go back to using Chrome... The double-standard is really something else.
Maybe instead of getting someone else to break up Google for us, we could just... stop using their shit? I'm typing this from Firefox, I use Proton Mail (and pay for it!) for email, and I mostly search with DuckDuckGo (I know that's not perfect, either). I certainly don't feel like I'm living like a caveman...
/rant
> People--especially tech nerds--didn't have to switch to the closed source, conflict-of-interest, browser.
Do you not remember all the ads promoting chrome? First was chrome-frame IE extension, then came all the ads - then tie-ins where you got Chrome in addition when you really wanted some other app.
They pushed it hard because they knew they had no real competitors and could eat up marketshare.
I criticise Mozilla in tech circles, I recommend Firefox and a working adblocker to friends and family, and I donate to Ladybird. What else should I be doing?
> tech nerds you would be surprised how many devs these days have drunk the big tech coolaid.
leetcode all the time and dream of working at google and using chrome and writing javascript.
if the tech nerds took a stand and used firefox en masse, we wouldn't have this problem.
unfortunately it is now normie season. we have to travel through these dark times.
Meh, the "slightly abrasive" stuff Mozilla is doing is stuff like buying up ad analytics companies and adding features to help ad tracking companies track users. Fuck Mozilla, and fuck Google even more.
I admire your optimism by the way that a few technologists saying "stop using Chrome, Google is evil, use Firefox" is enough to overcome the market dominance of a monopoly like Google's, but I sadly don't share it. People have been saying it (and similar things, like "don't use Windows, Microsoft is evil, use Linux") for decades with little success. Even the few people who do get swayed will switch back after a few instances of "I was late for my important meeting/was unable to open this important document because the website didn't work with Firefox".
Most people's tech choices are deeply pragmatic and based on familiarity. And to expect anything else is honestly foolish, in my opinion.
This is coming from a Firefox and Linux user by the way.
Google made something better than what existed with Chrome, it was obvious it would capture the market significantly especially among more technical people.
I don't think the fact that Chrome is (was) better is the question, it's a question of how they got here.
Google took tons of money and threw it into Chrome and therefore developed something better. It's better because Google put more money into it than anyone else would have because, in the absence of considering using it to enshrine their search and ad revenue, it wouldn't make sense.
Isn't this part of the antitrust test?