Google together with The Linux Foundation have announced Supporters of Chromium-based Browsers, a new initiative to fund future development of the entire Chromium ecosystem. It already has a few big names joining in including Google, Meta, Microsoft and Opera.
"With the launch of the Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers, we are taking another step forward in empowering the open source community," said Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation. "This project will provide much-needed funding and development support for open development of projects within the Chromium ecosystem."
The idea is to provide what they call a "neutral space" where various industry leaders and developers can work together to support various Chromium related projects and collaborate. The Linux Foundation say it will follow an "open governance model" that they've successfully established with other initiatives.
According to Google, their developers accounted for around 94% of Chromium code commits in 2024. They have "no intention of reducing this investment" but the initiative will help contribute "towards the health of the Chromium ecosystem and financially support a community of developers who want to contribute to the project, encouraging widespread support and continued technological progress for Chromium embedders".
What they're not saying though is that Google have likely done this partnership due to the US Department of Justice (DOJ)'s demands for Google to sell off Chrome. A decision on which is supposed to be reached by the Summer this year. This is quite probably a step towards uncoupling the future of Chrome and Chromium from being a mostly-Google thing in preparation for whatever happens there.
Considering how Chrome has close to 70% of the browser market globally (Statcounter), along with the Chromium Embedded Framework being everywhere, this is a good thing no matter what in my opinion to have more companies and people get a proper say in the future of the web.
Sources: The Linux Foundation, Google
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Well, Linux isn't a niche market for decades now. It has more than 60% of market on servers and if you consider smartphones as well it is the most used (Android).This is why I explicitly specified desktop Linux, in the context of market shares that Liam set in the comment I replied to. And I added that wink at the end of the sentence to indicate that I wasn't entirely serious about the comparison. I just thought it might resonate with Liam.
However, I was entirely serious about the rest of my comment. Monopolies are harmful to progress and innovation, even in the free software ecosystem. We might not be talking about traditional capitalistic markets here and it's not a zero-sum game, but competition and alternatives should be supported and encouraged, not dismissed.
Also, I prefer Firefox.
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To explain my previous comment then since it was asked...
I don't see the web the same as I see operating systems. Linux / Windows you have to specifically install and set up on your systems (or buy pre-installed, whatever). The web is just...there, already set up and your system goes and looks it up. I'm simplifying for the comment, I know the web itself runs on different systems, I'm speaking for the end-user and for web-developers.
Having one main web "system" (browser in this case) that everyone tests against and builds against, to me, is just better than having to go and test the same thing across many different browser engines. Again, I don't see it like I see the desktop OS, because that's your device in your hands.
And now, having Chromium be a little less "just Google" with actual support for others getting involved - this is better for everyone in the end. We all want to rely on Google less for various reasons, this is a step in the right direction for that.
Oh, and every-time i use Firefox, I always end up going back to Chrome. I just never have a good experience with Firefox personally. Plus, I've never subscribed to the thought of just having to support something (Firefox in this case) because it's smaller. Both Firefox and Chromium are open source.
I love Thunderbird, I find it useful, but I think Mozilla have been completely useless with Firefox for a long time.
Last edited by Liam Dawe on 11 Jan 2025 at 12:01 pm UTC
I don't see the web the same as I see operating systems. Linux / Windows you have to specifically install and set up on your systems (or buy pre-installed, whatever). The web is just...there, already set up and your system goes and looks it up. I'm simplifying for the comment, I know the web itself runs on different systems, I'm speaking for the end-user and for web-developers.
Having one main web "system" (browser in this case) that everyone tests against and builds against, to me, is just better than having to go and test the same thing across many different browser engines. Again, I don't see it like I see the desktop OS, because that's your device in your hands.
And now, having Chromium be a little less "just Google" with actual support for others getting involved - this is better for everyone in the end. We all want to rely on Google less for various reasons, this is a step in the right direction for that.
Oh, and every-time i use Firefox, I always end up going back to Chrome. I just never have a good experience with Firefox personally. Plus, I've never subscribed to the thought of just having to support something (Firefox in this case) because it's smaller. Both Firefox and Chromium are open source.
I love Thunderbird, I find it useful, but I think Mozilla have been completely useless with Firefox for a long time.
Last edited by Liam Dawe on 11 Jan 2025 at 12:01 pm UTC
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I don't see the web the same as I see operating systems. Linux / Windows you have to specifically install and set up on your systems (or buy pre-installed, whatever). The web is just...there, already set up and your system goes and looks it up. I'm simplifying for the comment, I know the web itself runs on different systems, I'm speaking for the end-user and for web-developers.And how much of the software ecosystem is built on top of browser engines these days? As you know, a huge swathe of all mobile apps and an unnecessarily big chunk of desktop software as well are built with web technology and rely on browser engines to provide the "runtime". Browsers are almost like operating systems on top of operating systems now. Even more true on ChromeOS and specialized stuff like LG's WebOS.
I can't really agree with your view of the web in general, from any viewpoint but especially that of a developer. The times when IE was the only platform that mattered were horrible for web developers. There's no reason to believe it'd be any different the next time around. I'm glad Mozilla (and others) saved us from that nightmare.
Having one main web "system" (browser in this case) that everyone tests against and builds against, to me, is just better than having to go and test the same thing across many different browser engines.That's what standards are for. But if there's only one dominant implementation provider, they're free to ignore standards and break their implementations as they see fit, as everyone has to adjust to their quirks anyway. We've seen this happen.
And now, having Chromium be a little less "just Google" with actual support for others getting involved - this is better for everyone in the end. We all want to rely on Google less for various reasons, this is a step in the right direction for that.This we can agree on. Although Meta and Microsoft aren't exactly names I trust either when it comes to important stuff like privacy and business ethics.
I have no idea what Opera does these days. I used their browser back before Phoenix / Firebird / Firefox took that spot.
Oh, and every-time i use Firefox, I always end up going back to Chrome. I just never have a good experience with Firefox personally.My experiences are the opposite (and just as subjective as yours).
Plus, I've never subscribed to the thought of just having to support something (Firefox in this case) because it's smaller. Both Firefox and Chromium are open source.Of course not. I'm arguing there's value in choice and competition for users, developers, and everyone else.
Besides, I don't trust any of these particular corporations to put any resources towards a feature or fix that only benefits the user. Their angle is and will always be to extract profit from us. And if there's no open source competition, they're even less cautious about stripping functionality that hinders their ability to exploit us. However, if another popular browser implements let's say popular privacy features to attract users, those are worth innovating / investing in to keep users from switching away.
Last edited by tuubi on 11 Jan 2025 at 2:18 pm UTC
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It's simple, if I can't use uBlock Origin on it, it sucks. And handicapped uBO doesn't count.
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I mostly agree with Liam. The main problem with Chrome for me is being Google controlled; which is made obvious with Manifest V3 sabotaging adblockers, an obvious conflict of interest. Thus, Google giving up some control is a good thing.
Of course, if this was a way for them to ensure Chrome dominance it would be a high cost... but they are already there, and frankly uncontested. This isn't a Google power grab, it is a Google concession (to the antitrust lawsuits).
I have all but given up on Mozilla; they keep trying to copy Google's bad practices in an effort to secure non-Google funding, and it never works but always undermines their very principles. I'll use Firefox whenever it is advantageous to do so... but I'm not expecting it to cause any meaningful change in the web as a whole.
Of course, if this was a way for them to ensure Chrome dominance it would be a high cost... but they are already there, and frankly uncontested. This isn't a Google power grab, it is a Google concession (to the antitrust lawsuits).
I have all but given up on Mozilla; they keep trying to copy Google's bad practices in an effort to secure non-Google funding, and it never works but always undermines their very principles. I'll use Firefox whenever it is advantageous to do so... but I'm not expecting it to cause any meaningful change in the web as a whole.
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Do you know how to stop innovation? Yeah, that's right.
Oh, and another thing, one vulnerability to own them all? Aren't we happy when we hear another vulnerability is hitting Windows hard and we are all comfy at home sipping our green tea...
Oh, and another thing, one vulnerability to own them all? Aren't we happy when we hear another vulnerability is hitting Windows hard and we are all comfy at home sipping our green tea...
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pleasereadthemanual 8 hours ago
I like Firefox and I use it all the time. It's great as a user and a web dev. I don't like the user experience of Chrome; it doesn't have the features I love in Firefox. That's the main reason I use it; not for engine diversity. I use Chromium for testing only.
When it comes to engine diversity, I'll say that I made what is a significant donation for me to the Ladybird Foundation the day it was announced. Firefox is comfortable; Ladybird is exciting. I can actually fund the development of the browser I use with the Ladybird Foundation.
My reaction to this news is mostly apathy, as it does not affect me in any way. The Linux Foundation doesn't care and has never cared about the desktop, so it doesn't matter to them that every Linux distribution I know of ships with Firefox instead of Chrome. Likewise, the decisions of the Linux Foundation don't impact me much as a desktop Linux user, either.
When it comes to engine diversity, I'll say that I made what is a significant donation for me to the Ladybird Foundation the day it was announced. Firefox is comfortable; Ladybird is exciting. I can actually fund the development of the browser I use with the Ladybird Foundation.
My reaction to this news is mostly apathy, as it does not affect me in any way. The Linux Foundation doesn't care and has never cared about the desktop, so it doesn't matter to them that every Linux distribution I know of ships with Firefox instead of Chrome. Likewise, the decisions of the Linux Foundation don't impact me much as a desktop Linux user, either.
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Ladybird FoundationThat's a fine charity I'm sure, but if you want to support the browser project, you'll want to donate to the Ladybird Browser Initiative instead.
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CyborgZeta 2 hours ago
Oh, and every-time i use Firefox, I always end up going back to Chrome. I just never have a good experience with Firefox personally.Complete opposite for me. I can't stand the way Chrome, or Chromium-based browsers like Brave, organize my bookmarks. I don't like how few shortcuts I can have on Chrome's New Tab page compared to Firefox.
I like that Firefox has container tabs so that I can open different websites in different containers, like having every Google related tied to a specific container. I like the built-in tracking protections Firefox has, in addition to extensions like uBlock. I like how good Firefox Sync is, and how it lets me send tabs from my devices to my desktop. Yeah, Chrome has the same feature, but I've never found it to work as well as Firefox.
And mobile (Android)? Don't get me started. Chrome on Android is completely unusable. Without adblocking DNS, I get inundated with ads that make trying to browse the Web a non-starter. Even with aforementioned DNS, I get white spaces where the ads would've been. Thanks to extension support, I can use uBlock on Firefox Android and have none of those issues. I also get access to Dark Reader, which darkens every page for me and makes things easier on my eyes. Last I checked, Chrome can only do that if you enable a night mode flag; and I prefer not to mess with flags. On top of that, I can have the address bar in Firefox on the bottom of the screen, providing easier access for my thumb. Again, last I checked, Chrome does not have this on Android.
For me, Firefox just works so well across the board that I would be genuinely upset if it were to disappear. Taking away Firefox and making me have to use Chrome would be like robbing me of Plasma and forcing me to use GNOME.
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