Title and image from alternativeto.net, to unbury the lede, but linked to the original post.
This year will see Waterfox shipping a native content blocker built on Brave’s adblock library - and it’s worth explaining what that means and why.
The blocker runs in the main browser process rather than as a web extension, which means it isn’t subject to the limitations that extension based blockers like uBlock Origin face. It’s faster, more tightly integrated, and doesn’t depend on a separate extension process or require us to constantly pull in upstream updates. Brave’s adblock library is also mature - it has paid engineers working on it, a wide filterset, and crucially it’s licensed under MPL2, the same licence as Waterfox, which makes it a natural fit. uBlock Origin, as good as it is, carries a GPLv3 licence that would’ve created real compatibility headaches.
For how it works in practice: by default, text ads will remain visible on our default search partner’s page - currently Startpage. The idea is that this is what will keep the lights on.
This mirrors the approach Brave takes with their search partner.Users who want to disable that entirely can do so with a single toggle in settings, and it has nothing to do with any of Brave’s crypto or rewards ecosystem - we’re just using the adblocking library. Everyone else gets a fast, native adblocker out of the box, no extension required.
If you already use an adblocker, don’t worry, you can carry on using it. This will be enabled for new users or users who aren’t already using an adblocker.
In the meanwhile, Waterfox’s membership of the Browser Choice Alliance alongside Google and Opera, is pushing for fair competition and actual user choice in the browser market.
These were the relevant bits to me.
In practice not really any different than needing to configure a fresh copy of Firefox or whatever.
This is more secure than an extension, and in addition to that, Mozilla has a history of harassing the developer of uBlock Origin specifically. Hedging their bets against the unethical corporation seems like a wise move for Waterfox.
By relying on Brave?
That doesn’t make sense.
You can that say it makes them less reliant on the Firefox extension engine, you can say that it is faster. Those are fair points.
But your not hedging your bets by relying on a Brave, a gang that secretly engaged in link hijacking and referral re-writing.
I am genuinely curious, how is an in-built content blocker inherently more secure than an extension? Assuming you trust both the browser developer and the extension developer.
I can see it being faster and better integrated, but how is it more secure.
The new code is a tiny fraction of the codebase, and if you are worried about them relying on anybody, the unethical Mozilla corporation should be at the top of your concerns.
It’s not a matter of the size of the codebase; this is a reputational thing.
And it’s such a tiny fraction, why not write themselves.
We are not discussing Mozilla, you’re just trying change the topic when you get called out. The points I made have nothing to do with Mozilla, they can be worse than LRA or be literal representative of the devine in earth, my point stands.
And how is a in-built blocker inherently more secure than an extension? If it’s clear, it should be easy to answer in one sentence.