this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2024
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Ladybird
The biggest part is that Chromium has all but taken over the browser space, and Google is additionally 90% or so of Firefox's funding which likely gives them power even when it's unspoken. That is to say that Google has way too much control over browsers to go along with their way too much control over internet traffic in general. The recent Manifest V3 thing and Mozillas "privacy preserving" ad personalization also likely have significant effects.
I agree with what you said but there is next to no chance a new browser engine from scratch will be able to challenge Blink's dominance.
Google's power comes from a combination of unfortunate factors. They have limitless money to support Chrome's development. They are one of the biggest vendors of online services. They are one of the biggest drivers of new web standard adoption.
Breaking this monopoly will require regulation and enforcement, not a "tech visionary" and a GitHub co-founder playing hero.
The alternatives have to exist first before the monopoly can break. One doesn't have to think the browser will singlehandedly change the entire browser space to be hyped about more alternatives. I am just excited to see some amount of motion in opposition to the decline into the google-net. Not that this is the only thing happening but it is an interesting one that I hope pans out.
But alternatives already exist in the form of Safari and Firefox.
Firefox is somehow struggling at picking up feedback from users and Safari is not open source.
Alright then when the stars align perfectly and this pie in the sky becomes a reality maybe we can seriously consider regulating Google.
Putting aside the fact that you're engaging in extremely blatant goalpost moving, WebKit is open source and is being used by open source browsers like GNOME Web.