Why do we have so many different browsers?
I know that we have different search engines and each one display pages based on their algorithms but why so many browsers?
At a particular time, people used to say that firefox was the fastest, then later on, we use to say it's chromium based browsers, is that true or we do have so many different browsers based on how they handle our data?
38 Replies
why are there so many models of car? or types of bread?
people like different things 🤷
yeah I guess so, at the end of the day every car can take us from point A to point B
but I was wondering is there any security advancements based on each browser? Like can firefox be more secured than chrome for instance?
they're not the same code, so yeah, one will be more secure in some areas and the other in others
yep I see, thanks !
depends on your threat model
protect yourself from info stealers? both dont offer jack shit to prevent that
and from a rogue extension doing "bad" things? well, you might be less of a target, since the userbase for firefox is much much smaller
and protect your identity? this is a huge can of worms, but, considering that firefox is less used than chrome, you will stick out like a sore thumb - however, thor uses firefox
protect your data and privacy? well, chrome is owned by google - one of the biggest data gobblers and sellers. firefox is starting to implement their weird shits that give people the ick, so ... chrome worse than firefox on this aspect
without a threat model, you are asking a question that is very unspecific and unanswerable
Hmm the thing is for privacy, like on google chrome I read that users are often subjected to targeted ads etc. Is it the same with firefox?
you are always subject to targeted ads
but if you use firefox, that is a data point about you, that shows you are more technically literate than the individual chrome user
the further you deviate from the "average user", the more targeted you might be and the easier it might be to identify you
yeah I see, but hmm why someone would be classified more a "technically literate" if the person is a firefox user?
("you" as in "person who uses internet and likes sports cars", not "you" as "john doe that likes at 123 baker street")
the technical illiterate people will either use chrome or edge
chrome because a family member installed it
chrome also is the default for android and chrome os
edge is the default on windows
yeah I see, someone with firefox just stands out, nothing more than that? I mean there are no really advantages using firefox? Say someone is a developer, does it matter if he uses firefox?
there are advantages: adblockers work, google isnt sniffing everything you do, it is open-source and it is a lot more customizable
yeah that's the answer I was looking for, will start using firefox from now on 👀 😂
firefox has downsides too
oh, heavy downsides?
for example, shitty websites like youtube may break or work like ass or be intentionally slowed down by google
ohh ok
firefox is always behind on features, as google has droves of developers working on chromium
despite being open-source, bugs can stay open for over a decade
on chrome, the bugs are either fixed or the feature is completely scrapped
firefox is also, basically, on life support: mozilla exists because google pays them millions to be the default search engine, and that is how most of mozilla's money comes from
oh ok didn't know that
very insightful conversation, thanks !
you're welcome
one thing i didnt spoke about is safari
oh boy, what a can of pandora boxes on worms
basically, kde wanted their own browser and created the khtml rendering engine
someone (i think it was apple) forked it and made webkit
webkit was used by safari and chrome for a while, until google forked webkit into blink
so, now you have safari using webkit and chrome using blink - a fork from webkit
wiithout google's manpower, apple just doesn't give much of a fuck to webkit
but here's the problem:
- apple wants absolute control over everything that runs on their iSuperExpensiveCrap
- apple wants you to use webkit, so they can control everything
- webkit is old, and features roll out super slowly (<dialog> came out in 2014, and support for it was added to safari in 2022)
- however, on iphones and ipads, all browsers are shells on top of webkit
- you are forced to use the old browser so apple can control the ecosystem
Yeah I see
apple has been better at updating the browser, but that's like saying "hey, your tyre now leaks less air! i patched the tiny hole!" while there's a huge gash on the side
also, since the huge majority of people use chrome, google has a ton of weight on how the web works
and if they decide that, for example, jpegxl shouldnt be added to chrome because of bullshitty gaslighting lies like "lack of community interest", then jpegxl isnt added and nobody uses it
are you going to spend resources on something that about 5% of the users (and being extremely generously generous with sprinkles of generosity on top) will use? no!
can people get out of this on Ipad/Iphone/macs by installing chrome or other browsers?
on macos, yes
on everything else, as i said, the browsers are just shells for webkit
yep I see 💯
Thanks !
you're welcome
by the way, this is just the tip top of the iceberg
Technically the engine behind all the browsers are open source... we do have, I donno, 50 chromium browsers at this point? 😆
Also, in europe, browsers can now use their own engines on iOS...
By only allowing it in the EU, I donno if anyone is going to bother though. It was over a year ago that it opened up I think, and I'm not sure any bothered?
I will add, it's important that we have multiple browsers.
Back in the day when IE had a large majority of the users, it would literally make decisions because it wanted to, even if it went against the spec, and developers had to play along because everyone was on IE.
By having multiple browsers (or, really, multiple browser engines), it ensures that web standards can be neutral, and for what's best for users, and not the company making the browser.
It would make developers lives easier if we only had one engine to worry about, but it would be bad for the web.
Just for a comparison, while Chrome is by far the most used browser at the moment with over 65% of the market, back in the early 2000s, IE had over 95% of the market.
oh ok I see, like say if there was only a single browser, things would have been imposed on us and we would need to strictly follow these rules?
In contrast, having multiple browsers, we tend to have some standards across all browsers?
and ie got there by basically killing the browser market, as browsers used to be paid
and then, it was distributed into every pc with windows
R.I.P. Netscape Navigator
it lives as firefox
which is why user agents are a mess
But that
N with the floating star thing? Iconic. Kids these days have no ideathat is iconic, not gonna lie
and opera was actually inovative back then, instead of being just chromium with predatory loans attached and cringe marketing
first with multiple windows, multiple tabs, email client built-in, torrent client built-in, themes, extensions, devtools that you could use over wifi
Ahh, back in the day…
before 12.17, the engine was slow but accurate
Looking at random Star Wars fansites on Geocities
and their own
throwing loads of html, scripts and css into your social network profile in hi5 and tagged and others
<blink> was bae, and <marquee> was dopeemails didnt require a phone number which requires an email to be usable on a phone
animated gifs were cool
a lot less ads
not everything required an app