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What specific things are wrong with my installed copy of Brave (programming.dev)
submitted 1 year ago by danhab99@programming.dev to c/explainlikeimfive@lemmy.world
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I use manjaro linux and I installed brave using the AUR repo. I keep hearing stories about how Brave is just another ad tracking software like Chrome. What I don't understand is why, like specifically.

Because I downloaded Brave from here. The code for Brave is here. I can build and install Brave and it will be the same as from AUR right?

Ok let me list my questions:

  1. If the sourcecode for Brave is open and is all I need to compile and run the software then where's the tracker. The code base is honestly to big and high level for me and my professional abilities but I'm not that great of a programmer, I'm just really good. If there are ad trackers or adblock-blockers then I should beable to see it in the code right? I just need help actually seeing these lines of code.
  2. I've used wireshark to monitor Brave in isolation and I couldn't see traffic that I would disapprove of. It is also very realistic that I just don't know how to recognize.
  3. Just because Google maintains chromium doesn't mean that chromium browsers have to track you. Chromium is opensource and it shouldn't cost much to comment out trackers. So wasn't this already done? And if not can we actually see the lines of code that track us?

Really what I'm looking for is help coming to the conclusion that these browsers are that bad for me myself.

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[-] Sanctus@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I myself have a fork of Brave from forever ago. Pouring through that is like God handing you the Akashic Record and telling you to read everyone's life whoever existed alphabetically. Its a lot to sift through on your lonesome with no familiarity. Brave prides itself on the same things Firefox already does with a cryptocurrency wallet shoved in your face every home screen. I would just recommend using Firefox on Linux with User-Agent switcher installed for things that want to see a chromium browser. Its the same privacy with no bullshit crypto scams. Usage of any chromium probably aids Google's web takeover in someway or another.

[-] danhab99@programming.dev 5 points 1 year ago

Dang, I guess this would take an organized effort to code review every FAANG supported opensource project, but this is another thing I keep hearing and I want to discuss.

Usage of any chromium probably aids Google’s web takeover in someway or another.

Why?

Linus Torvald doesn't "take over" 95% of all computers on the internet. And why, because he can't. He can push a change to the linux repo to collect telemetry and show an ad whenever a command finishes. He's allowed to do that, there's no rule against it (AFAIK & "in-general").

Google can push whatever telemetry collecting code they want to the chromium repo. They're allowed to do that, there's no rule against it (AFAIK & "in-general").

Nobody has to take those changes.

None of the major distros have to take Linus's telemetry collecting changes, and no chromium browser has to take Google's telemetry collecting changes. Thats the thing about opensource, its that once you publish something with an open-source license you also give up authority to decide what direction it goes, sure you can want everybody to use your code with your special feature that only benefits you. You can want whatever you want. Nobody has to do what you want to in the opensource community, and nobody is gonna take changes from Google which include adblocker-blockers, telemetry trackers, or DRM systems. Opensource is pretty much already federated, just fork a repo and take pull requests to your own standard, your allowed to do that.

Think about it like this: why would Microsoft (Google's competetor) use chromium for their own closed source proprietary browser that they designed to make a profit for them?

[-] Thoven 3 points 1 year ago

Long time Brave user here! This list of chromium features changed for privacy reasons may ease your fears. One of the founders of Brave, Brendan Eich, was actually CTO of Mozilla (firefox) for a time, as well as the creator of the JavaScript programming language used in web development. One of the large reasons he left to found Brave was that he became disenfranchised with unethical handling of user data. Before the first line of Brave code was written it was dedicated to providing a safe, private user experience.

[-] Im28xwa 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

All the claims that say Brave isn't a privacy-respecting browser are false because all the available data proves otherwise

They hate the company and ignore all the information that says it is a good browser, they can't judge it objectively, it is like hating someone because you hate their "bad" parents you see how wrong it is? This is a very biased judgment

>Just because Google maintains chromium doesn’t mean that chromium browsers have to track you.

You are 100% correct but some can't accept that.

Also Brave provides a list of the changes they make in Chromium, and it's an open-source browser, and the cryptocurrency stuff that you can easily disable and hide doesn't take away anything from this.

I should note that I switched back to Firefox today not because it is better (it is not better, it is better in some aspects, privacy, and performance not being one of them), but because I won't just sit and watch Google having a full monopoly over the internet, we saw and still seeing what they are willing to do when they have full control over the internet (manifest v3 and WEI), this is me doing what I can against Google's monopoly as using a chromium-based browser does contribute to their monopoly, you can say this won't change much I'll say I don't care because I believe it is still the right thing to do, I'll do the right thing even if it won't change much

this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2023
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