dabockster

They also support Group Policy and JSON based configurations, depending on the OS. So you could install a config that disables a lot of that before you even install the Brave Browser.

Heck, they could probably sell that as a premium/business feature for extra funding (hint hint if anyone from Brave reads this).

> Either he says he changed, or I treat him like he hasn't changed.

That kind of attitude is why things like right to be forgotten are being pushed. The world isn't set in stone.

I think those could sell, but you'd have to make the screens a luxury trim item again. Which could honestly happen if vehicle Right to Repair laws happen.

But we're way off topic here. :D

Still sort of web stuff, but not the kind that HN usually does:

I'm trying to get back into computer networking - both physical cables and the computer code sides of things. Over the past 5 years beginning in the covid lockdowns, I've been watching a lot of the application layer stuff that was written over the past 10-15 years (the stuff HN usually does) slowly blow up. Usually because some REST API or something either broke or got depreciated somehow. This has been affecting both cloud and desktop apps I use, and has made me see the real value in refreshing my lower level network knowledge.

Heck, I'm honestly thinking about getting a CCNA now (or some other non-degree universal cert).

Honestly, they shouldn't even need to touch a debugger if they're able to reasonably manage their memory "well enough". Like in general. I'd only touch a debugger myself if I knew I was dealing with a memory problem.

Start by writing a few basic hello world style programs while focusing on the "C way of doing things" - most importantly how you manage memory in C. That's probably the biggest pitfall I see people coming from higher level programming trip up on. Study how objects work, different forms of math, etc. And that's all console code btw - don't move onto GUIs until your console knowledge is solid. GUIs are a whole different beast in C/C++ (and are a big reason why frameworks like Electron were built).

LLMs can also help you break into C development by a large degree. But they still get overwhelmed on a sufficiently large C codebase just like any other language. Your mileage may vary there.

"Hacker News commenters are frequently unaware that their use cases and customer preferences do not reflect the average customer demand in the market." - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46192577

There's a reason I put that in my profile. :^)

Yeah, I realized this recently. I want rendering engine competition, but it's clear that Mozilla isn't capable of doing that anymore.

And nowadays, I'd argue that there's more human eyeballs watching the Chromium source code vs the Firefox code.

In 2014, which is over a decade ago now.

Wikipedia also says he's Catholic. From what I understand, the Church's positions on such things have evolved at least somewhat since then. His views could have totally changed or evolved since then (can't find anything publicly myself).

> I just don’t genuine understand who it’s for anymore.

It still gets bundled a TON on Linux. So if you use Linux a lot, Firefox gets into your muscle memory.

But honestly, that bundling is likely just momentum from the 2010s. Better tech exists now.

I think Brave has the potential to be the next Firefox if they can run their company right.

> Firefox's only unique selling point is "We aren't a massive data vampire."

The fact that they haven't moved away from apparently needing 90%+ of their money to come from Google, after more than a decade of that being an issue, means that claim is a moot point. This "AI first" move was probably heavily influenced by Google behind the scenes too.

Safari has like 20% market share right now. The only thing holding it back is that it's Mac only. If Apple got a Windows version going again, it'd eat Chrome for lunch.

Your points are valid. But what made me finally switch was that it is open source, that it has been out for roughly a decade now, and that Brendan Eich's opinions from 2014 are mostly based on his Catholic faith at the time (which obviously is likely to have changed/evolved now that we're a decade later).

> Moreover, I don't really understand how Brave expects to be a viable business without deeply betraying their userbase at some point.

They have a way better merch store than Mozilla. They should expand that.

"MERCHANDISING! Where the real money from the movie is made!"

I switched to Brave. Even with its cryptocurrency stuff bundled, it's easily disabled and not in your face at all. And their adblock tech is an amazing uBlock successor.

They were also supposedly working on mobile apps. I'd pay some solid money for Thunderbird mobile if it was a good product.

Firefox is still heavily used by Linux OSes as the default browser. But I think that's mostly momentum at this point. If more people knew about Mozilla's organizational challenges, then I think Firefox would get ditched.

Yep. Mozilla is effectively just a tax dodge for Google anymore.

Heck, this AI first announcement was probably strongly influenced behind the scenes by Google to create an appearance of competition similar to Microsoft's and Apple's relationship in the 1990s.

Also, ironically, I just switched full time to Brave only yesterday.

I've daily driven Thunderbird for over a decade. You have very few options for having a single program manage multiple email accounts outside of Outlook and Thunderbird anymore. Maybe Apple Mail on Mac (and whatever Microsoft is preloading on Windows these days), but that's it.

> You can't effectively paywall it because not only is it open source, but there are many nearly equivalent competitors all of which are free.

You're forgetting that people will buy a product on brand identity alone. If the Firefox brand is solid enough, those forks won't matter.

> The idea that software is free is completely wrong

> If software is free, there can be no privacy, it's as simple as that.

Strongly agreed. Free software, either $0 or through stronger licenses like the GPL, have their economics completely shifted as an unintended side effect. Those new economics tend to favor clandestine funding sources (eg ads or malicious supply chain code).

But sustainable funding honestly isn't Mozilla's strong suite (or tech's in general, for that matter).

They need to give Thunderbird more resources first.

> Most people who work for the government show up expecting to be told what to do, then do it - very few can independently think for themselves.

I see this a lot in the private sector too here in Seattle. It's hurting us badly.

Episode 9 is better overall if you can power through retconning Palpatine's death in Episode 6. Which I feel JJ Abrams did only because Episode 8 made the mistake of killing off Snoke. But either way, Episode 9 does have largely better writing and direction.

But also, yeah Episode 8 is the worst movie in the main film series. It makes Episode 2 look good.

And ODF is largely a EU standard that people online love to pretend is universally used.

HN is such a meme at this point for all the bad reasons. It's why I'd bail on this site again if other social media wasn't worse.

"Hacker News commenters are frequently unaware that their use cases and customer preferences do not reflect the average customer demand in the market."

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46192577

> Personally, I think MS needs to massively increase their prices here: they're leaving a lot of money on the table. Companies, especially, (and governments) just aren't going to switch, no matter what. So why not increase the prices ten-fold?

*bald eagle screeches*

Ahem... https://www.ftc.gov/

They may have an issue with that.

Active Directory is a very no-code tool and has a ton of documentation and certifications online, no college degree required. And it's built by paid devs with a verifiable software supply chain.

I just looked up libpam-mysql and it is not no-code at all. And it looks like an unpaid community project which allows contributions from anywhere. That's not a true replacement.

WPS Office is Chinese. OnlyOffice is Russian.

Those really only exist because of Western tech sanctions.