this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2023
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Stop using Brave Browser (www.spacebar.news)
submitted 1 year ago by whou@lemmy.ml to c/firefox@lemmy.ml
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[โ€“] hai@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

TL;DR: The article claims that the Brave web browser is bad and should not be used.

The author points out that Brendan Eich, the creator of JavaScript, co-founder (and ex-CEO) of Mozilla, and founder of Brave, donated 1,000 USD in support of a proposition to ban same-sex marriage. Along with making the claim that Brave's goal is not to act as an ad-blocker, but instead to build and grow their own advertisement network, and he also believes that the network has several flaws:

  • Brave Ads paysout in a form of cryptocurrency, called BAT (๐Ÿฆ‡).
  • As BAT is a cryptocurrency there is high volatility.
  • BAT can not be redeemed for fiat ("actual") money directly from within the Brave Wallet.
  • The author also believes that "it [the network] has largely failed" but that it "has generated a lot of revenue for Brave," via the ICO (Initial Coin Offering; IPO for crypto).

In addition to these key points the author also:

  • Claims that Brave prompted FTX, before the scandal.
  • Cites the The Brave Marketer Podcast where ex-CMO of Crypto.com Steven Kalifowitz shares an ambitious goal of being a "'brand like Coke and Netflix.'" The author then mentions that:
    • In 2023 there was a report from The Financial Times that Crypto.com traded against their customers.
    • In 2022 the company try to hide the severity of its layoffs.
  • Mentions Brave's integration with Gemini, and how the crypto exchange is under investigation for lying about FDIC insurance.
  • Mentions a partnership with the the 3XP Web3 Gaming Expo where they sponsored the Esports Arena and rewarded contestants with the BAT token.
  • Claims that Brave added affiliate/referral codes to URLs, such as "binance.us."

Finally, the author lists Firefox and Vivaldi as alternatives to Brave, and ends the article with "Brave Browser is irredeemable, and you should not use it under any circumstances."

I am human, please let me know if I've made a mistake.

Edit: Fixed bat emoji and typo.

[โ€“] doublepepperoni@hexbear.net 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The author points out that Brendan Eich, the creator of JavaScript, co-founder (and ex-CEO) of Mozilla, and founder of Brave, donated 1,000 USD in support of a proposition to ban same-sex marriage.

My impression was Brave got started after he got hoofed out of Mozilla or left on his own accord after the backlash for showing his ass to be a homophobe. Redditor types were of course very angry about this blatant disregard for frozen peaches and jumped onto his new venture in droves

[โ€“] xj9@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

afaik he was pushed out of mozilla over the same 1k dono

[โ€“] PopcornTin@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (3 children)

If he's bad, shouldn't everything he touches be bad? Why web site that uses JavaScript should be just as bad. Any browser based on Mozilla should be bad. Why is it just Brave that's bad for what he did in 2008?

[โ€“] beyond@linkage.ds8.zone 1 points 1 year ago

As I understand it, the argument isn't so much "if you use a thing made by a bad person, you are a bad person by association" but rather that using a commercial product made by a bad person, who spends his money on bad causes, is directly helping him spend more money on said bad causes. Since he has never apologized or shown any indication that he has become a better person, not wanting to monetarily support him is a valid reason to not use his product.

[โ€“] escapesamsara@discuss.online 0 points 1 year ago

It's really hard for the creator of Javascript to make money off of javascript, and it's unlikely he has any financial interest in the Mozilla corporation anymore since they're a nonprofit and thus don't have share holders. However, he directly profits off of Brave.

[โ€“] yrmyli@sopuli.xyz 0 points 1 year ago

Because it is cool thing to cancel everything in 2023.

[โ€“] IHeartBadCode@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

Brave Software, the company behind the browser of the same name, was founded by Brendan Eich. He's best known as the creator of JavaScript from his days at Netscape Communications

Say no more fam.

[โ€“] Lafuma300@lemmy.world -1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

No. Couldn't care less what the founder did or didn't do. We need as many non-Google browsers as possible. The problem with Brave is that it is a chromium browser.

[โ€“] shotgun_crab@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I'd say being chromium makes it a Google browser...

[โ€“] JoYo@lemmy.ml -1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

no one wants to secure their web render so they'll always use whatever is native to the platform.

on windows that's chromium. on macos that's webkit.

[โ€“] pivot_root@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What?

[โ€“] JoYo@lemmy.ml -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

what's your confusion

[โ€“] crazycaveman@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Chromium isn't native to Windows. iOS is the only OS (I'm aware of) where browsers are forced to use a specific engine, but even that will be changing

[โ€“] JoYo@lemmy.ml -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

you're overthinking the word native.

[โ€“] crazycaveman@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

No, I'm not. Chromium doesn't exist in Windows unless you install a program that includes it. Chromium web engine is "native" to the chromium web browser, not to any OS (except maybe ChromeOS). As espi mentioned, Internet explorer's mshtml is the only engine "native" to Windows. Just look at the Opera browser, they changed web engines from Presto to chromium; that's not using "what's native to the platform" (Opera works across all OS's with chromium, except for iOS for the restriction I mentioned before), it's using what the developers/company want to use to render their pages. Nothing in Windows itself provides any of the chromium engine "pieces"

[โ€“] zysarus@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This was true until Edge transitioned to Chromium. Now the natively installed browser in Windows is Chromium based.

[โ€“] JoYo@lemmy.ml -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

careful, you used the word native.

Firefox users apparently get triggered by it.

[โ€“] kilgore_trout@feddit.it 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Because what you claim is wrong.

Microsoft programs that need a web rendering engine use MSHTML, not Chromium. MSHTML is baked into the operating system.

You can completely delete Edge from your computer and Windows will keep working fine.

[โ€“] JoYo@lemmy.ml -1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)
[โ€“] JoYo@lemmy.ml -1 points 1 year ago

Edge is using EMET for memory protections.

Chrome has EMET disabled because it's own memory protections conflict and it just won't execute.

When you're make a web view for Windows you're either bringing a long your own rendering or using Edge because it's included.

No one wants to secure their own rendering which is why they all use whatever is already there which is EMET which is a pita to test so they just go with Edge.

native is just jargon for "what is already there."

[โ€“] Espi@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What does this even mean. Chromium or Webkit are not "native" to an OS. OSs don't magically include browser engines, its not a critical component of an OS either.

Most OSs do come with browsers preinstalled, but they are programs just like any other. You can remove Safari from macOS (albeit its pretty hard because root is read only and signed), you can remove Edge from Windows. In my desktop with Windows 10 the only browser I have is Firefox (not even Edge), does that make Gecko the "native" browser engine?

If anything, the native browser engine for Windows would be MSHTML from Internet Explorer.

[โ€“] JoYo@lemmy.ml -1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

you're overthinking the word native.

[โ€“] sheogorath@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So what is "native to the platform" according to your definition?

[โ€“] bastion@feddit.nl 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

You're still not clarifying what you mean.