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Comment by TekMol | Hacker News Reader

    no sign-up required!

Yeah, you just need to install their native software on your system.

Having to make an account is annoying. Having to install native software is a no-go for me.

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But; "If the trial goes well, we plan to roll it out to all DuckDuckGo search users soon."

That is the same playbook by which Microsoft plays this game.

    MS: "IT IS OPEN FOR EVERYBODY TO TRY!"
    Me: Ok, let me try it.
    MS: Ahem, ok, just give us your email
    Me: What? Ok, dammit, here it is.
    MS: Ok, now install our browser.
    Me: What?? Ok, done.
    MS: Ok, now allow us to track your location.
    Me: What??? No!
    MS: Sorry, something went wrong.
    Me: What?
    MS: Sorry, something went wrong.
    Me: What about the chat thing?
    MS: Sorry, something went wrong.

OpenAI drafted a paper proposing that in the future, platforms require proof of personhood. Plus it's MS, so they're going to slurp as much as they can get away with.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/07/worldcoin-cofounded-by-sam...

At least MS doesn't demand an active cell phone number through which they can physically track you everywhere you go (not just where you are right now), like ChatGPT (VOIP and landlines not accepted, only cell).

So no dropbox, no firefox/chrome, no thunderbird, no whatsapp client, no telegram client, not git ?

You listed examples of free software and non-free software.

The former is much more likely to find a home on my devices.

I've found it limiting to not use WhatsApp, but not that much. It's kind of like if I knew someone who is known to stalk people, but we also have many friends in common. Maybe some friends won't come to my party, but I'm still not letting them into my house.

Those programs are all doing work on your computer. Therefore you install them on your computer.

The only reason to deny access to a website for other browsers is to get your own native software on the machine of the user.

If Google would deny access to a Google website with browsers other than Chrome, everybody would be mad at them.

There are a lot of angry posts about Googles websites being less optimized for Firefox than for Chrome.

Outright banning alternative browsers is what is happening here.

Mostly correct. Browsers can block ads, trackers, Javascript libraries, and elements at will using extensions. "Native" apps for web services, such as these Electron-wrapped clients, have full access to the trackers / analytics endpoints, and more. That's a big nono.

It's not watertight, but controlling your own DNS, as through pi-hole, helps protect against this.

Rather difficult to do that when on a phone.

Maybe you meant to illustrate how absurd such a stance would be, but in reality 5 of the 7 things you mention are an absolute non-starter for me.

It's unfortunate that you need a healthy dose of cynicism to make it in today's society. A free tool seemingly created solely for your convenience trips some internal alarms for me as well.

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