We'll open source the 33Kb extension soon so you can see that all it does is changing one setting.
I understand the distrust, I hate sketchy extensions also.
Sadly, it's the only way to become your default as a new search engine :)
Well that's just not true at all. We're expected to trust this search engine with our privacy while you're telling a crowd of people a blatant lie that almost feels like gaslighting? A crowd of people who you know knows enough to spot that lie a mile away, no less?
Yeah, no. I'm out on You (no pun intended, but it definitely fits). Hard pass.
Also, we both know that it's absolutely NOT the only way. A user can change their default search engine through their settings. It's more steps, but it's certainly allowed. In case your company hasn't noticed yet, click "Settings" in Chrome, then "Manage Search Engines," then click "Add". Once you've added you.com, click "make default".
This is simply not true. Just confirmed on fresh install of Chrome that setting the default search engine to a self-hosted searx instance works fine without any extensions.
If they can do it, so can You.
Context issue for searx implementing it: https://github.com/searx/searx/issues/1666