That's... an interesting take. Depending on your use case, there's reasons for / against using Firefox, sure, but being funded by Google isn't one I would have ever (or currently) consider to be a...
We also recommend against using Mozilla Firefox, which is largely funded by Google.
That's... an interesting take. Depending on your use case, there's reasons for / against using Firefox, sure, but being funded by Google isn't one I would have ever (or currently) consider to be a deal breaker. Recommending against the donation-run Firefox and instead for an advertising-funded Chromium derivative - although reputable - is strange.
The "best ad blocker" page also is exclusively about the ad blocker Better - without any others mentioned. Notably, the ubiquitous, community developed and funding-refusing uBlock Origin isn't mentioned at all, despite being one of if not the most popular adblockers - which seems at the very least misinformed.
While the overall idea is fine I guess, this wiki/blog sure has a lot of red flags...
I agree that Firefox should probably still be the recommendation with caveats, but it's worth noting that Firefox is hardly donation-funded at all. You can't donate explicitly to Firefox...
I agree that Firefox should probably still be the recommendation with caveats, but it's worth noting that Firefox is hardly donation-funded at all. You can't donate explicitly to Firefox development, only to the Mozilla Foundation as a whole, which they can use on anything.
Can you elaborate. They say right on that page: Is that not true, or misleading in some way? (I don't know anything about it, but am intrigued.) If you click on the link to their page, they claim...
Instead, it exclusively talks about Better - a proprietary, closed-source, for-profit, corporate-backed ad blocker - which seems at the very least misinformed and at the worst, sponsored.
Can you elaborate. They say right on that page:
Better, is made by the not-for-profit Small Technology Foundation in Ireland.
Is that not true, or misleading in some way? (I don't know anything about it, but am intrigued.) If you click on the link to their page, they claim to be a 2-person non-profit. Doesn't sound like a "for-profit, corporate-backed ad blocker."
My intention there was to refer to Better's money-making model (sales) not the foundation itself, but you're right, the way it was phrased was misleading. I've rewritten that section above.
My intention there was to refer to Better's money-making model (sales) not the foundation itself, but you're right, the way it was phrased was misleading. I've rewritten that section above.
They are a two-person team. I've followed both of them on Mastodon for awhile now. They are passionate advocates for a decentralized, de-corporatized Web. See my parent comment.
They are a two-person team. I've followed both of them on Mastodon for awhile now. They are passionate advocates for a decentralized, de-corporatized Web. See my parent comment.
FWIW, I have used uBlock origin exclusively for, IDK, a decade or more. However, while I've never tried Better, I have followed both Aral Balkan and Laura Kalbag (the creators, and the entire...
The "best ad blocker" page also is exclusively about the ad blocker Better - without any others mentioned.
FWIW, I have used uBlock origin exclusively for, IDK, a decade or more. However, while I've never tried Better, I have followed both Aral Balkan and Laura Kalbag (the creators, and the entire staff of the Small Tech Foundation) on Mastodon for at least a couple of years now. They are passionate, unpeachable advocates for a better, decentralized, de-corporate Internet.
Anything they make is Good, in every sense of the word.
It may be good but it only works with one browser; Safari. And GoodReports does not recommend using Safari. Currently it is impossible to follow all of GoodReports advice, they do not recommend a...
It may be good but it only works with one browser; Safari. And GoodReports does not recommend using Safari. Currently it is impossible to follow all of GoodReports advice, they do not recommend a single adblocker which works with one of the browser listed. That seems like an error to me.
Hi all, thanks for the constructive criticisms on Good Reports. Definitely lots of improvements and expansions still to make - yesterday's launch was, of course, just a start to what I hope will...
Exemplary
Hi all, thanks for the constructive criticisms on Good Reports. Definitely lots of improvements and expansions still to make - yesterday's launch was, of course, just a start to what I hope will become a full-fledged resource for users who are seeking alternatives to Big Tech. As I make improvements, I'll keep an eye on the comments to this post... thanks!
I want to love this, but I'm underwhelmed by the results. For the best browser they recommend DuckDuckGo's privacy browser. While I love DuckDuckGo and use it as my main search engine, the browser...
I want to love this, but I'm underwhelmed by the results.
For the best browser they recommend DuckDuckGo's privacy browser. While I love DuckDuckGo and use it as my main search engine, the browser is ad supported. Ad supported is the antithesis of "non-toxic" in my view. (Even if they're ads without tracking, ads are in and of themselves pretty toxic.) I use an ad blocker for a reason. Having my browser be supported by ads defeats the purpose.
For the best mobile device they recommend the LightPhone which is a dumb phone. I mean, yeah, that's great, but when most people are looking for a mobile device, they almost always need a smart phone. Telling them not to use a smart phone is not very realistic or helpful.
Some of the other stuff looks interesting like the ad blocker named "better". Hopefully over time they'll get some more realistic results for their categories.
I sent Mark an email about this, pointing him to Tildes (to potentially include on the social networks page) as well as linking him to this topic directly. He's replied to previous email I've sent...
I sent Mark an email about this, pointing him to Tildes (to potentially include on the social networks page) as well as linking him to this topic directly. He's replied to previous email I've sent him about his blog, so I expect that he'll probably read the comments here eventually. I'm sure he'd appreciate (constructive) feedback about which of his recommendations you think are good or bad (and why), as well as suggestions for other alternatives he should take a look at.
I would like to see reviews of alternative services to be used as a synced backup. Due to my history as an employee, I’m all-in on Google. Most days I’m okay with that, but if for some mysterious...
I would like to see reviews of alternative services to be used as a synced backup.
Due to my history as an employee, I’m all-in on Google. Most days I’m okay with that, but if for some mysterious reason Google were to lock me out of my account, it would be devastating. I’d like to have a backup plan. As an example, is there another photo service that I could sync photos to and would be ready to go if I ever needed it?
Of course, Google Takeout could be used to make a backup, but the data dump isn’t particularly convenient and it’s not the same as an always-on synced backup to a service that I could actually use to look at photos.
Note that providing backup in this way also makes it easy for users to migrate later. An important criteria for a good backup service is that it should be suitable for use as primary if need be.
I don't use a cloud service for my photos directly, but instead I manage them locally and then do both on and offsite backup. I use Backblaze for my offsite backups and have been pretty happy with...
I don't use a cloud service for my photos directly, but instead I manage them locally and then do both on and offsite backup. I use Backblaze for my offsite backups and have been pretty happy with them.
I love the concept. I tend to lean away from companies like Google too. I use fastmail as well which you recommend. If you’re looking for web analytics that respects your visitor’s privacy, I can...
I love the concept. I tend to lean away from companies like Google too. I use fastmail as well which you recommend. If you’re looking for web analytics that respects your visitor’s privacy, I can also recommend Fathom. That’s a referral link that gets you $10 off (if you want).
While Apple does some very annoying user hostile things to grow their revenue, I have some trust that their devices and services are privacy preserving. Only because failing to hold up that promise will damage their image and profits. So in our smart phone duopoly world, I’ll always choose Apple products over Google.
Cool site! I’ll be sure to keep checking back.
P.S., I’d love to be able to subscribe to updates via rss or mailing list.
That's... an interesting take. Depending on your use case, there's reasons for / against using Firefox, sure, but being funded by Google isn't one I would have ever (or currently) consider to be a deal breaker. Recommending against the donation-run Firefox and instead for an advertising-funded Chromium derivative - although reputable - is strange.
The "best ad blocker" page also is exclusively about the ad blocker Better - without any others mentioned. Notably, the ubiquitous, community developed and funding-refusing uBlock Origin isn't mentioned at all, despite being one of if not the most popular adblockers - which seems at the very least misinformed.
While the overall idea is fine I guess, this wiki/blog sure has a lot of red flags...
I agree that Firefox should probably still be the recommendation with caveats, but it's worth noting that Firefox is hardly donation-funded at all. You can't donate explicitly to Firefox development, only to the Mozilla Foundation as a whole, which they can use on anything.
I wrote recently about how 90% or more of Mozilla's revenue comes from Google.
Can you elaborate. They say right on that page:
Is that not true, or misleading in some way? (I don't know anything about it, but am intrigued.) If you click on the link to their page, they claim to be a 2-person non-profit. Doesn't sound like a "for-profit, corporate-backed ad blocker."
My intention there was to refer to Better's money-making model (sales) not the foundation itself, but you're right, the way it was phrased was misleading. I've rewritten that section above.
They are a two-person team. I've followed both of them on Mastodon for awhile now. They are passionate advocates for a decentralized, de-corporatized Web. See my parent comment.
FWIW, I have used uBlock origin exclusively for, IDK, a decade or more. However, while I've never tried Better, I have followed both Aral Balkan and Laura Kalbag (the creators, and the entire staff of the Small Tech Foundation) on Mastodon for at least a couple of years now. They are passionate, unpeachable advocates for a better, decentralized, de-corporate Internet.
Anything they make is Good, in every sense of the word.
It may be good but it only works with one browser; Safari. And GoodReports does not recommend using Safari. Currently it is impossible to follow all of GoodReports advice, they do not recommend a single adblocker which works with one of the browser listed. That seems like an error to me.
Also, Better is only available on Apple devices. Privacy for thee, but not for me, I guess.
Thanks, I completely missed that. I've edited the above comment accordingly.
Hi all, thanks for the constructive criticisms on Good Reports. Definitely lots of improvements and expansions still to make - yesterday's launch was, of course, just a start to what I hope will become a full-fledged resource for users who are seeking alternatives to Big Tech. As I make improvements, I'll keep an eye on the comments to this post... thanks!
I want to love this, but I'm underwhelmed by the results.
For the best browser they recommend DuckDuckGo's privacy browser. While I love DuckDuckGo and use it as my main search engine, the browser is ad supported. Ad supported is the antithesis of "non-toxic" in my view. (Even if they're ads without tracking, ads are in and of themselves pretty toxic.) I use an ad blocker for a reason. Having my browser be supported by ads defeats the purpose.
For the best mobile device they recommend the LightPhone which is a dumb phone. I mean, yeah, that's great, but when most people are looking for a mobile device, they almost always need a smart phone. Telling them not to use a smart phone is not very realistic or helpful.
Some of the other stuff looks interesting like the ad blocker named "better". Hopefully over time they'll get some more realistic results for their categories.
I sent Mark an email about this, pointing him to Tildes (to potentially include on the social networks page) as well as linking him to this topic directly. He's replied to previous email I've sent him about his blog, so I expect that he'll probably read the comments here eventually. I'm sure he'd appreciate (constructive) feedback about which of his recommendations you think are good or bad (and why), as well as suggestions for other alternatives he should take a look at.
I would like to see reviews of alternative services to be used as a synced backup.
Due to my history as an employee, I’m all-in on Google. Most days I’m okay with that, but if for some mysterious reason Google were to lock me out of my account, it would be devastating. I’d like to have a backup plan. As an example, is there another photo service that I could sync photos to and would be ready to go if I ever needed it?
Of course, Google Takeout could be used to make a backup, but the data dump isn’t particularly convenient and it’s not the same as an always-on synced backup to a service that I could actually use to look at photos.
Note that providing backup in this way also makes it easy for users to migrate later. An important criteria for a good backup service is that it should be suitable for use as primary if need be.
I don't use a cloud service for my photos directly, but instead I manage them locally and then do both on and offsite backup. I use Backblaze for my offsite backups and have been pretty happy with them.
I love the concept. I tend to lean away from companies like Google too. I use fastmail as well which you recommend. If you’re looking for web analytics that respects your visitor’s privacy, I can also recommend Fathom. That’s a referral link that gets you $10 off (if you want).
While Apple does some very annoying user hostile things to grow their revenue, I have some trust that their devices and services are privacy preserving. Only because failing to hold up that promise will damage their image and profits. So in our smart phone duopoly world, I’ll always choose Apple products over Google.
Cool site! I’ll be sure to keep checking back.
P.S., I’d love to be able to subscribe to updates via rss or mailing list.