Google and Linux Foundation form Chromium love club

While Google awaits a decision about whether it will be required to sell its Chrome browser as an antitrust remedy, the search giant has joined with the Linux Foundation to announce an initiative to support the open source Chromium project upon which the Chrome browser depends. The project, called Supporters of Chromium-Based …

[dan_linder]

Return features to the platform?

If Google divests Chrome to them, I hope the Linux Foundation reverses the decision to force plugins to only use "Google Chrome manifest version 3" and permit security plugins such as uBlock Origin to retain their depth of functionality.

[karlkarl]

Re: Return features to the platform?

This needs to be done, otherwise it is proof that this membership is not legitimate and instead merely for show (perhaps to help Google avoid having to break up their monopoly slightly).

(I will also be disappointed if any individual distros providing chromium in their repos don't revert the manifest breakage)

[Oh Homer]

Re: Return features to the platform?

I can 1000% guarantee that Google will never reintroduce Manifest v2, or facilitate anything that undermines their core business.

Which for those who may have forgotten, is the global monopolisation of spam, and the pursuit of every technical and legal measure necessary to force everyone to see it.

There's undoubtedly a quid pro quo for the Linux Foundation. They get to sell themselves like a bunch of dirty pros, while Google stuffs their pockets with quids.

[Anonymous Coward]

In other news

Google collaborates with NSA on a secret standard for hidden backdoor technologies.

No, I made that up.

I hope.

Anyway, the Chinese are livid that they might now have a serious competitor. </even-handed reporting>

[Steve Davies 3]

Will Google willingly give up the goose that lays golden eggs

every day?

Like hell they will.

I'm sure that there is a plan B inside Google Towers whereby they will still get all the lovely user data even if they are forced to divest.

Either way, any browser based on Chrome is banned from my network for security reasons.

[Doctor Syntax]

As long as websites are able to confine themselves to a very restricted browser list nothing will improve.

[An_Old_Dog]

It's the Marketers

It's not that websites are "confining" themselves to a restricted browser set, it's that so many websites are built with programs (Adobe ColdFusion, etc.) which require certain features be implemented by the web browser -- all in the name marketers' wet dreams of shiny, visual/audio-effect-overladen, data-sucking websites.

[ecofeco]

Re: It's the Marketers

Exactly.

Website bloat is killing the Internet. The whole current sorry state is self inflicted.

[Tim99]

Re: It's the Marketers

I wrote my small website with a plain text editor. Using only HTML5 and CSS, it is easy to update.

It is really fast . Looks like shit, but it is really fast...

[Jason Hindle]

Is America's next government really going to force this through?

Assuming Pichai has kissed the ring, of course.

[Wolfclaw]

Google just had over Chromium to open source and let us have the browser we want, quick, bloat free, spy free, plugins free and Google/Microsoft etc concentrate on their other businesses.

[GNU Enjoyer]

>The Linux Foundation did not immediately respond to a request to clarify the funding arrangements.

They're too busy helping businesses get away with infringing the GPLv2 on computers that use any proprietary kernel but Linux.

[Anonymous Coward]

"The Linux Foundation did not immediately respond to a request to clarify the funding arrangements."

I.e. they sold it to the Google to get more money to themselves.

"The popularity of Chromium, a testament to the cost and technical challenge of competing with Google's monopoly-funded stable of software engineers, helps with web standardization but threatens to eclipse alternative technologies, specifically other browser engines,"

Chromium is "popular" literally the same way as Edge is: It's installed by default and you can't remove it. Monopoly force feeding BS to you is *not* a sign of popularity.

I'm not surprised that the article doesn't even mention Firefox, for Google fanboys it doesn't even exist.