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.
Why are you complaining about Brave here?
I don’t get the issue either. Brave made some of the code, and it’s being used for free. If people were consistent about avoiding code written by unethical companies, we’d have to ignore all of Firefox code too. They commissioned an internal ethical audit that is apparently so bad that they didn’t want to produce it for evidence.
Come on! Brave de facto engaged in advertising re-direction, specifically capturing and re-writing referral codes for their own commercial benefit without telling the user that this was being done (until they got caught?).
You don’t see why it’s an issue to rely on code (open source or otherwise), for content blocking no less, from a gang that is comfortable with secret link hijacking for their own profit?
What do ethics have to do with this? Irrespective of your position (with respect to author vs their code or more broadly), it is reasonable to question engagement with what is essentially a criminal organization.
https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/2020/06/06/the-brave-web-browser-is-hijacking-links-and-inserting-affiliate-codes/
They even try to delete any threads about it until it became more widely known.
If I would avoid code by companies I see as unethical, I could throw my computer away. But that’s the beauty of open source, I don’t care who has written the code, I care about being able to look at it and change it for my personal use.
brave has links to THIEL too.
You know why.
I don’t know or I wouldn’t have asked. But since you’ve left me to speculate, I think what’s probably happening is that you have such a strong and rational hatred of the company and its founders that it drives you to a blind and irrational hatred of its valuable open source software components. But feel free to correct me.
As I said, you know why. You see it as irrational simply because you disagree.