Vivaldi’s take on the antitrust case against Google
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This one goes to 11
I helped Opera in the past test the browser.js file as Google's Gmail was sending Opera users broken code, Google still does that to non Chrome browsers years later across their different sites. -
I have been essentially Google-free for 12 years now. I never really used them that much, but they were still horrifying me even back then. I say "essentially", because I do have a gmail account. It was one of the first ones, before gmail's full public release, back when it was just an invite-only experiment. I use it as a spambox when I simply have to give a genuine email address, but that's it. Nothing stays signed-in to that account for anything more than the 1 or 2 minutes it takes to check what's in there.
I am now having a lot of trouble accessing my gmail account, as it seems to require me to verify myself with a security question, a code to an alternative email address, and a text message, every time I sign in - so I will shortly be deleting this account. I know Google want everyone to stay signed-in so they can track you, but until recently they didn't make it difficult to use their email like a normal mail-service.
I use a dumbphone, and although I am an Android user (I have an Android tab), I use AOSP or LineageOS on it, with no Google play services or Google apps on it at all. Everything I need (apart from Vivaldi) is in the F-droid store. I briefly used a smartphone, but it was a Fairphone 2, which can be flashed with a de-Googled, open-source (and officially-supported) version of Fairphone's Android-based OS. Unfortunately, I couldn't live with constantly having to charge it (anything from 2 - 5 times a week - how do people put up with this?), and the Fairphone hardware itself was extremely fragile and unreliable.
When I started using ixquick/startpage (now owned by advertisers) and then DuckDuckGo, I never noticed any decrease in search result quality over google's results. I find it odd when people tell me that they "tried" Qwant, DDG, or others, but "the results aren't as good as google". It's almost like people have "baby-duck syndrome" and aren't willing to give a non-google service a chance. The first time they don't get the answers they're looking for, they write-off the whole service for ever. Or perhaps, they don't give it chance to build up the same profile Google has built-up. They also don't realise that 99% of their queries can be answered by any search engine, such as "who was the 3rd president of the USA" or "when was Edward Elgar born".
It's entirely possible to live without Google becuase there are perfectly-usable alternatives to all of their services. People just stick with them or use them because they're widely-known, and also for the illusion of convenience. They assume it will be "more effort" or "hard work" to use an alternative service - or they can't be bothered to learn a slightly different interface etc.
I wouldn't have a problem with Google being the dominant search/email/maps/etc platform if they weren't evil. I don't think it's going against a fair market to rein-in companies like Google when they abuse us and their competitors. I see helping Google's competitors and penalising Google much the same as I view the regulations that protect food or vehicle-safety.
As an analogy: If one company can make lovely, sweet-tasting wine very cheaply by sweetening it with lead-compounds, then gets a monopoly and uses that monopoly to keep more-ethical wine-producers out of the market, they deserve to be regulated. That's less "interfering with a fair and free market" than "protecting consumers". IMHO with their tracking-based, invasive advertising-model, Google (and many others) are like the wine-producer who sweetens their wine with lead. It has a higher profit-margin and tastes sweet right now, but poisons you in the long-run. Suggesting it's unfair to penalise Google for being evil is like suggesting it's unfair to ban lead as a food ingredient.
In short, the digital and tech markets need regulation to protect our digital safety. It's especially important as most consumers can't see the negative effects of what they do and buy, because these effects are gradual over time, and cleverly masked by the instant gratification provided by those services/devices.
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...and I'm not even arguing for people to avoid google either. If you weigh up the pros and cons of using google, you may decide the pros outweigh the cons.
For the same reason, some people still smoke, even though it's widely accepted that it's bad for you. Some people just relish and enjoy smoking, and the all the social interactions it seems to facilitate. Of course some will get lung-cancer, but not all of them - and for those that do, it will usually be many, many years down the line anyway. Maybe that's an extreme and slightly skewed example, but you get my point. Maybe replace my "cigarettes" example here with "hamburgers" and it's probably closer to the choice you make when using G services.
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@jamesbeardmore: The issue you're describing is similar to the zombies that insist on using Microsoft Windows. There isn't a known computer user that couldn't benefit from a Linux installation. The added security, reliability and speed obtained from using Linux is undeniable. But, as you suggest, they pretend they can't deal with a different interface or method of accomplishing the same thing Windows offers.
I've long given up on the human race. Stupidity is just built in to the human algorithm. Some people are more open to new methods while others are so close-minded and have a limited capacity to learn something new. Believe me, the Linux learning curve is pretty flat. Especially for normal users. If my wife and two sisters can use it, anyone can.
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@npro: yes, the article is also about vivaldi position and threat to privacy (the last time I saw the privacy on the internet was 1990 or so) etc.
that was my opinion not about entire text, just about G's monopoly. -
@jamesbeardmore , one thing is the undoubted quality of Google's services, which no one denies and which in some services is very difficult to replace or only poorly.
But the price is high, when instead there is a BigBrother on the net and protects the movements of users, which in searches shows me first what it considers relevant to me, not what is really relevant (Filter Bubble), which makes it difficult or even prevents blocking ads when it suits him, which makes it difficult for other manufacturers to create alternative products (see why they had Vivaldi disguised as Chrome).
A monopoly too often incites abuse and Google is no exception to this rule, they commit a direct attack on a free internet, making it their own and the user a merchant. -
Pretty certain I may be part of the problem, identify with the simplicity of the Google ecosystem minus the advertising side of their business model which is what provided the rise to being the juggernaut they are now. Can see why DOJ would take issue with them now. Presence is almost everywhere.
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@jamesbeardmore said in Vivaldi’s take on the antitrust case against Google:
when was Edward Elgar born
Gargle: give me all your personal data now & forever, then maybe i'll tell you. Muhahahahaha... you are mine [& mined].
DDG: 2 June 1857, quack.
Qwant: would you like some cheese?
Mojeek: would you like to see some third-order differential equations?
@devoman said in Vivaldi’s take on the antitrust case against Google:
I've long given up on the human race. Stupidity is just built in to the human algorithm. Some people are more open to new methods while others are so close-minded and have a limited capacity to learn something new
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@npro said in Vivaldi’s take on the antitrust case against Google:
Compare this in-depth, well-written article by Tatsuki Tomita with that of Opera...
@npro said in Vivaldi’s take on the antitrust case against Google:
Mozilla's stance few days ago
Again
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@vladimyr: "...to create his own company and compete with G."
The only problem with this idea is that Google's monopoly actively prohibits this. That's the problem with monopolies. They prevent competition. That's the whole point of the DOJ action.
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@devoman said in Vivaldi’s take on the antitrust case against Google:
@jamesbeardmore: The issue you're describing is similar to the zombies that insist on using Microsoft Windows. There isn't a known computer user that couldn't benefit from a Linux installation.
I consider myself pretty computer-savvy - and I honestly probably used Linux before anyone else on this forum since I shared student digs with electronics and maths nerds in the early 1990s who were excited about initial test releases of some project by a guy named Torvalds. But even I have been mostly Windows over the years for the simple reason that some software I use - notably games - is only available on Windows.
Until the event of the smartphone, that was just the harsh reality... and even now I can't uninstall Windows on our two main PCs since my wife and I occasionally play games which don't exist as Linux versions.
I type this from Vivaldi on our one Linux device, coincidentally.
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@mossman , currently a lot of games also exist for Linux. They even work better on Linux than on Windows.
The only problem is that commercial or even free games do not appear in the Linux repositories, there are exclusively only OpenSource games, which are mostly too 'Vintage'.
For Example the game that I am currently entertaining is 'The Dark Mod' which is FOSS and multi-platform. It naturally depends on which games you use, many have equivalent alternatives, which also work on Linux -
@mossman There are over 12.000 games on Steam playing native in GNU/+Linux or with the help of Proton, https://www.protondb.com , many popular engines are Linux-compatible too, like Unity which is widely used because it's multi-platform, it's not the 90's anymore. And as @Catweazle said, older titles that use DX9, 10 are playing faster on Linux because they don't use a compatibility layer like Windows does but an API "translator", which is pretty wierd seeing Linux playing Windows games better than Windows itself lol. There is also Lutris for Blizzard games etc. https://lutris.net
There's literally no excuse for not using Linux except for some AAA titles, but the world is today moving around indie and games involving more interesting gameplay than those AAA titles which are usually fancy but shallow in gameplay.
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@npro What is this thing called
lovegames? -
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@npro , ultimately there are tons of online games of all kinds, where the OS is irrelevant (Html5, WebGL, Unity, etc).
In general it is more difficult to find games for Mac than for Linux. -
@Steffie you always crack me up with your replies! Your summary nicely summarises my experience with those search-engines. I'd also add in SearX: "Never heard of Elgar, but perhaps you'd like to drop acid and listen to some Grateful Dead instead?"
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@mossman I'm really not a gamer anymore, but I heard Steam is a "thing" that everyone uses now to get games. It appears to be available for Linux - meaning (I think), that almost all games are now available for Linux as well as Windows.
I don't use Steam, though... and to be honest, I'm not even sure what it is. All the games I own for the PC platform are Dos/Windows games from around 1985-2002. Every single one runs perfectly on Linux, using either Dosbox or Wine - even ones that require DirectX. The only one I have trouble with is Activision's "Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure", which requires a Windows 95 virtual machine because it uses some obscure Windows-only function to verify that it's running from a genuine CD. All the non-PC games I own work perfectly in their respective emulators, which are generally available for Linux as well as Windows (although the best C64 and Spectrum emulators I've found are both Dos-based, which means I'm running the emulator inside Dosbox on a Linux machine)!
I do sympathise with you needing to retain a Windows installation though. The tuning software I use for remapping the ECU on my 1 modern car only runs on Windows, so I maintain 1 installation just for that.
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@jamesbeardmore , Steam is more than this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_(service)
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@Steffie Olympic?