The independent Chromium distributions do very little to that effect, as they're not incentivized to specifically disable features Google puts in.
If Firefox goes away, kiss the open web goodbye. We'll have it on paper, but just that. It'll be Google's web.
I hate to be the one to bring in 'the facts' but Firefox itself is becoming more irrelevant and there is no question on that. Microsoft Edge (using Chromium) is used more than Firefox [0] and global Firefox usage has been declining ever since. [1]
As I said before [2] the Chrome ecosystem has given Google the dominance of more than just the web standards and the web developers were happy to live with this.
I'd say the so called 'open web' just exchanged from one behemoth to another.
To Downvoters: So 'Firefox is the most used and dominant browser and Chrome is in second place'? So 'Google is not paying Firefox in the millions'? I strongly disagree and can confidently say that Firefox usage is dying. Change my mind.
I have just given credible sources to substantiate my claims yet no counter arguments or disproving the facts are presented towards my comment.
[0] https://www.techradar.com/news/microsoft-edge-just-left-a-se...
[1] https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share/desktop-mobi...
It's not good at implementing standards in timely manner which Chrome implements before they're even standards (and then become standards when Google pushes them to become so). Interesting isn't it. That literally goes back to what I said.
Without Firefox and Safari, Google can declare anything it wants a standard and implement it LITERALLY yesterday.
Among standards Safari is slow to implement in "timely manner" is web pages connecting to USB devices, Bluetooth and a plethora of other nonsense which Google keeps pushing through because they want the web to be the application OS for everyone, and then slap ads on it.
Just because they standardize it doesn't mean anyone should be forced to keep up with them.
I'll take FOSS chromium variants before I give my data to Apple(and by proxy, the US and Chinese government).
There are no angels with the known contenders of "keeping the web open" unless you want to use SerenityOS's web browser that they made themselves.
Unless you are using a very exotic OS that has a browser, I'm not sure how you can begin to defend a chromium variant still derived by an unethical company (Because you have to update that fork) and then attack another unethical company for giving your data to them.
Unless there's a mathematical definition of "ethical" that we can rely on for objective assessment, that's basically everyone and no one based on how you feel any particular day.
Firefox is in a downward trajectory for marketshare and mindshare. I would love to hear a realistic solution to this problem. Maybe switching to WebKit?