Mozilla and Tor Leftovers
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Firefox Developer Experience: Firefox WebDriver Newsletter 136
WebDriver is a remote control interface that enables introspection and control of user agents. As such it can help developers to verify that their websites are working and performing well with all major browsers. The protocol is standardized by the W3C and consists of two separate specifications: WebDriver classic (HTTP) and the new WebDriver BiDi (Bi-Directional).
This newsletter gives an overview of the work we’ve done as part of the Firefox 136 release cycle.
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LWN ☛ A look at Firefox forks [LWN.net]
Mozilla's actions have been rubbing many Firefox fans the wrong way as of late, and inspiring them to look for alternatives. There are many choices for users who are looking for a browser that isn't part of the Chrome monoculture but is full-featured and suitable for day-to-day use. For those who are willing to stay in the Firefox "family" there are a number of good options that have taken vastly different approaches. This includes GNU IceCat, Floorp, LibreWolf, and Zen.
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Mozilla has been disappointing a lot of Firefox users for years, but it seems the pace is accelerating. Its announcement on February 19 that it needs to "diversify" beyond Firefox did not inspire confidence, and it annoyed many who would like to see Mozilla go all-in on its flagship browser (and increase its market share) rather than chasing AI or dabbling in advertising. But a recent and more alarming example is its introduction of terms of use for the browser and the removal of its pledge not to sell users' personal data. Though it has backpedaled somewhat since, and rewritten its terms of use, the damage has been done.
Firefox forking is hardly a new phenomenon. Debian began maintaining forks of Mozilla applications with minimal changes but different names due to conflicts between the Debian Free Software Guidelines and Mozilla's trademark-usage policy. (LWN covered this in 2005.) The era of Iceweasel, Debian's brand name for Firefox, came to an end in 2016. Note that the name Iceweasel is not merely a play on the name "Firefox"; its origin is one of Matt Groening's Life in Hell comic strips (here), which contained a fictional quote attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche.
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The Register UK ☛ Get off that old Firefox or you'll be sorry, says Moz [Ed: Digital Restrictions (DRM)]
If you're running an outdated version of Firefox, update by Friday or risk broken add-ons, failing DRM-protected [sic] media playback, and other errors, due to an expiring root certificate.
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Tor ☛ It takes a (Global) Village to Fight Censorship
It's World Day Against Cyber Censorship, a great occasion to remind ourselves of the early optimism surrounding the internet. Once envisioned as a force for global connection and free-flowing information, the internet has instead (d)evolved into a place where access to knowledge and privacy are increasingly under threat. Big Tech has monopolized its infrastructure, and governments all over the world are too eager to capitalize.
This unprecedented access to data on citizens has fueled societal polarization, misinformation and disinformation, and online harms. Lack of access to verified, truthful information, the targeting of journalists and their sources to impede the production of truthful news, and online censorship that blocks specific sites and stops people from accessing good information have become rampant.
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Rust Weekly Updates ☛ This Week In Rust: This Week in Rust 590
Hello and welcome to another issue of This Week in Rust!