> The problem with paid versions, is that I don't really trust them either.
Yes, Trust is at the foundation of the whole problem with the Tech Industry:
/1/ users (consumers) expect to be protected (not injured, not cheated, not surveilled) by the products that they use, and
/2/ the WWW is a monstrosity, the only software that we can in fact trust is never connected to the Internet (in other words, we don't trust any software)
Ergo...
Given /2/, we cannot trust any software, full stop. Even paying $CORP for its products is no guarantee of care, safety, and security.
and
Given /1/, which software do we accept? For OS, I prefer Linux by far. Even where usability is a little rough, I can exclude components that I do not want. When obliged to use Windows, I hold my nose and try as much as possible to foil all the bloat, anti-user patterns, and telemetry. I resent it all the way!
I prefer Firefox because I like the features and I insist on a small set of extensions: uBlock Origin, Multi-Account Containers, Privacy Badger. Google is a nasty surveillance ecosystem and Microsoft is a Spaghetti Western: by turns good, bad, and ugly.
If it will fund further development and maintain the current commitment to respect for privacy, I am willing to allow Mozilla to do some aggregate analysis of my browsing habits, just as I am willing to provide survey answers for products that I buy.
I don't love the aggregate analysis, but Mozilla needs to do browser business in the modern world.
The tech industry is just one rug-pull after another, but still people line up to try standing on the rugs!
1. We won't show ads in our product -> We'll show skippable unobtrusive adds in our free product only -> We'll show bottom-of-the-barrel scum ads in our free product only -> Those skippable ads are now not skippable -> We'll add a few vetted ads to the paid product -> We're going to shove ads onto every surface of the product we can find!
2. We don't collect or sell data about you -> We will collect limited data for "telemetry." -> We'll also collect some demographic data "to improve the product." -> We're going to collect everything we can get our hands on, but we won't sell it. -> We share your data with only vetted, trusted "partners." -> We share your data with everyone we do business with -> We firehose your data to anyone willing to pay for it!
It's the same progression every time, but users keep thinking this time it will be different.
Yes, Trust is at the foundation of the whole problem with the Tech Industry:
/1/ users (consumers) expect to be protected (not injured, not cheated, not surveilled) by the products that they use, and
/2/ the WWW is a monstrosity, the only software that we can in fact trust is never connected to the Internet (in other words, we don't trust any software)
Ergo...
Given /2/, we cannot trust any software, full stop. Even paying $CORP for its products is no guarantee of care, safety, and security.
and
Given /1/, which software do we accept? For OS, I prefer Linux by far. Even where usability is a little rough, I can exclude components that I do not want. When obliged to use Windows, I hold my nose and try as much as possible to foil all the bloat, anti-user patterns, and telemetry. I resent it all the way!
I prefer Firefox because I like the features and I insist on a small set of extensions: uBlock Origin, Multi-Account Containers, Privacy Badger. Google is a nasty surveillance ecosystem and Microsoft is a Spaghetti Western: by turns good, bad, and ugly.
If it will fund further development and maintain the current commitment to respect for privacy, I am willing to allow Mozilla to do some aggregate analysis of my browsing habits, just as I am willing to provide survey answers for products that I buy.
I don't love the aggregate analysis, but Mozilla needs to do browser business in the modern world.