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Mozilla VPN exits beta, launches on Android and Windows for $5 a month
- techntoke 6y agoMozilla consistently putting Linux last yet claims to pride itself on open source
- bzb3 6y agoAndroid is literally Linux.
- doublesCs 6y agoI keep hearing this. How is it that in practice I can get my desktop to do anything I want, but I can't get my phone to do anything I want?
- NikolaeVarius 6y agoMake your desktop send a phone call natively i.e. not LTE/WiFi
- blendergeek 6y agoHow do you think phones make phone calls? Because today, they use LTE. However that has nothing to do with whether Android is Linux or whether one can make a desktop do whatever they want.
- blendergeek 6y agoWhen you run 'Linux' on the desktop, you are running the Linux kernel with GNU userspace. The GNU project would rather you call it GNU/Linux, to pay homage to their hard work. That is too hard to say, so everybody simply says 'Linux'. Android also runs the Linux kernel. However, the tools that allow you 'to do whatever you want' are not what you interact with. Android has its own userspace tools designed by Google. These are what you are familiar with. It used to be possible to use a terminal and sort of interact with an Android device like a desktop Linux computer, but that has slowly been disabled overtime.
- blacksmith_tb 6y agoQuite a bit of "whatever you want" is still possible on Android[1], though ideally you will have root, be comfortable using adb, etc. Ultimately the reason it's easier to do what you want on a linux desktop is that Google isn't actively trying to stop you there... 1: https://hackingpassion.com/android-hacking-with-termux/ https://hackingpassion.com/android-hacking-with-termux/
- doublesCs 6y agoOuch. You know, I've heard many times about the GNU / Linux conversation but not being an expert I didn't really know where one starts and the other ends. So your comment has been extremely useful for me, thank you. And yes, we should pay more homage to GNU...
- Cactus2018 6y agoThis gets to the controversy, "GNU/Linux" vs "Uses the Linux kernel" https://www.fossmint.com/difference-between-android-and-linux/ https://www.fossmint.com/difference-between-android-and-linu... >In Conclusion, Android is not a GNU/Linux distro but its Kernel is Linux and since it is the convention that a collection of software put together around the Linux Kernel is referred to as Linux, Android is Linux. > * Android cannot run any programs that are meant for GNU/Linux distros also; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU/Linux_naming_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU/Linux_naming_controversy
- blendergeek 6y agoI believe GP was referring to GNU/Linux, often called 'Desktop Linux' or even just 'Linux'. Due to the fact that 'Linux' beat 'GNU/Linux' in the naming wars in the 90s, most people will never refer to Android as 'Linux'. Rather, Android/Linux is called 'Android'. While you are technically right that Android runs Linux, nobody says that 'Microsoft Word is now available for Linux' because its available on Android.
- solarkraft 6y ago> nobody says that 'Microsoft Word is now available for Linux' because its available on Android Some people do ;-) Since GNU/Linux could also be very different from what most people would consider "Linux" I usually say "standard Linux" (or "standard Linux system" with very pedantic people).
- blendergeek 6y agoThis is a good idea. And yes I realize some people do say. that. I should have said 'most people do not say ...'
- aloisdg 6y agoI guess if you are a Linux user, you dont really need Mozilla help to use a VPN
- techntoke 6y agoNo, but even today people don't need help using a VPN. That isn't why Mozilla is offering an official branded VPN solution. It is because the name Mozilla is suppose to imply trust.
- mattl 6y agoMost Linux users get Firefox from distros, not from Mozilla directly.
- foepys 6y agoPeople are downvoting this but it's a fact that Firefox got hardware accelerated video playback only this year on Linux. VDPAU and VA-API have been around for years now, supported by VLC, mplayer, mpv, etc.
- stronglikedan 6y agoPeople are downvoting because it's comparing apples to oranges. It's perfectly acceptable, and smart even, to pride oneself on open source while treating the least dominant desktop OS as a second class citizen with regard to product offerings. It also comes off as a bit whiny, since it's abundantly clear from the first paragraph that there's no plans to shun Linux.
- techntoke 6y agoIf you think Mozilla should prioritize profit over freedom and privacy then it doesn't sound acceptable or smart to me.
- input_sh 6y agoI'm a Linux user myself, but if I were building a product for commercial purposes, I'd prioritize building it for the platforms where the majority of the users are. Unfortunately, that majority isn't on Linux. "Mac & Linux coming soon" is good enough for me for now.
- chrisjarvis 6y agoI understand not prioritizing Linux for commercial purposes but Mac? General assumptions about people with Macs: 1. have disposable income 2. more likely to care about privacy.
- ngngngng 6y agoI think they're literally just prioritizing by how many firefox users they have on each platform.
- kd913 6y ago1) Market share for Mac is probably on a similar scale to that on Linux. In this case being low single digits. Of those users, a significant market share are likely not to be using Mozilla's products over Safari. Unlike Linux platforms where Mozilla products are the typical default. 2) Anyone on any of these platforms can likely afford 5 dollars a month. I don't even think platform plays a variable in this at all. It isn't like the unique iOS apps which bring value/features and are the only mechanism for attaining those given features. In this case, there is plenty of competition already in play, and users can already pick a VPN provider if they want. Same can't be said for say a video editing app that is the only thing available on the iOS store. 3) Mac users care about privacy less than Linux users. A few weeks ago it was found that Catalina was sending a hash of every single program you run to Apple. https://lapcatsoftware.com/articles/catalina-executables.html https://lapcatsoftware.com/articles/catalina-executables.htm... Yep, Apple likely knows everything you could potentially be doing on your Mac. Not very private I would say. I don't really agree with any of your assumptions in this case.
- chrisjarvis 6y ago
- OpenFurores 6y agoMaybe they're just trying to buy themselves in into the 'missing markets.' Us linux people, "by the way^1", might suffer to wait for a while. It's a good move, in some ways, it's good to infiltrate Win and Android, first, actually, and then, they'll drop the logical bomb here too. I guess that's a good move. Actually. ^1 Arch Linux
- techntoke 6y agoExcept they we wasting development cycles prioritizing platforms that are generally built on proprietary platforms. When you've got a bunch of telemetry and other services recording your VPN address after you've logged in using personally identifiable information, or they have fingerprinted you, then you are no longer anonymous.
- commoner 6y agoLinux users who are interested in Mozilla VPN can use Mullvad (the service that Mozilla VPN is rebranding and reselling) until it is released. https://mullvad.net https://mullvad.net
- judah 6y agoThis is a great project for users from a privacy-first company. I hope it's good for users, and that Mozilla gets significant support from this project.
- multiplegeorges 6y agoAgreed, Mozilla seems to be a force for good on the Internet and a reliable and diverse revenue stream is really important to keep that going.
- mekster 6y agoJust wondering but what are some of the reasons that you believe Mozilla is a privacy first company? I just don't to blindly believe into that.
- kungato 6y agoIt's really cool but why does it have to be so expensive. I get that nowdays "whatever you want costs 5 dollars a month" but realistically things which should be way cheaper are now 5 dollars a month. I'm in my 2nd Nordvpn 3 year sub which also increased in price to 3€ per month. I mean if you want 100 things which require 100 subscriptions you end up at at least 500€ a month. And now there are 5 video streaming platforms which cost even more and you realistically want all of them. The whole sub life thing might be getting out of hand
- ubercow13 6y agoBut it's only the price of a coffee! /s Noteably Cloudflare have a similar VPN which is completely free and purports to be privacy-conscious too, though it's only for mobile at the moment.
- commoner 6y agoCloudflare Warp does not hide the client's IP address. > From a technical perspective, WARP is a VPN. But it is designed for a very different audience than a traditional VPN. WARP is not designed to allow you to access geo-restricted content when you’re traveling. It will not hide your IP address from the websites you visit. If you’re looking for that kind of high-security protection then a traditional VPN or a service like Tor are likely better choices for you. https://blog.cloudflare.com/announcing-warp-plus/ https://blog.cloudflare.com/announcing-warp-plus/
- mekster 6y agoYou know, no matter how decently you earn, $5/mo is still an annoyance that you're forced to pay monthly. It does also add up.
- multiplegeorges 6y agoBecause Mozilla is an organization worth supporting: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/manifesto https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/manifesto As one example: Without Firefox, there would effectively be a single browser renderer in the market: Chrome
- DeepYogurt 6y agoThis is the VPN to recommend to friends and family.
- ngngngng 6y agoVery excited to pay for this on Linux
- jianjuzia 6y agoThis is just rebranded consumer VPN service? So Mozilla is outsourcing their brand. Seems very risky for them. I don’t know why anyone would trust a consumer VPN service. CIA or another country’s spy agency could easily be behind any of them. Just like Crypto AG. Being based in Sweden is no guarantee at all. Encrypted email services are another obvious thing for spy agencies to run. The only useful purpose of a consumer VPN is torrenting and bypass geographic blocking. Privacy can be either increased or decreased with a consumer VPN service.
- nafizh 6y agoI don't get it. Who are they outsourcing it to?
- byteshock 6y agoThey’re using Mullvad’s network. Basically reselling it. But it seems to be around 70 cents (US dollar) cheaper since Mullvad charges in Euros and Mozilla uses US dollar. I’ve been using Mullvad for several years now and they’ve been reliable. They have independent security audits done and are known for their privacy.
- mekster 6y agoSo, they're just doing it for commercial reasons? Does Mozilla add anything to it than its name?
- byteshock 6y agoAs far as I can see, the only thing they've "added" was their own client applications. The connection limits and server locations are the same as Mullvad. One thing that Mozilla does not offer yet, but Mullvad does, are Wireguard proxies. These are socks5 proxies run internally on every Wireguard server. Using these you can connect to another server, for example EU --> US, and achieve "multihopping". Mozilla also seems to only offer the Wireguard protocol, but this doesn't seem like a big deal to me.
- MR4D 6y agoIn the meantime, send.firefox.com has been unavailable for at least a week now (probably longer, but for sure not in the past 7 days). Wonder if this is a resource issue or they are planning on launching it as well.
- 1123581321 6y agoFF Send was suspended indefinitely because it was being exploited to distribute malware. I used it constantly (not for malware!) so I hope it comes back.
- MR4D 6y agoCrap - wasn't aware of that. Maybe it can come back as a paid service like the VPN. I'd pay $5/month for it!
- AnonHP 6y agoDirect link to the Mozilla VPN homepage: https://vpn.mozilla.org https://vpn.mozilla.org This is an offering by Mullvad, and uses Wireguard. As of this moment, the homepage says: > We currently offer Mozilla VPN in the US, the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia.
- solarkraft 6y agoMullvad is great, but what does Mozilla add?
- dmm 6y agoI thought in the past Mozilla had partnered with ProtonVPN[1]. I wonder why they are now working with Mullvad? [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18277278 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18277278
- commoner 6y agoProtonVPN charges €6.63 to €10/month (depending on duration of plan) for 5 devices, while Mullvad only charges €5/month. Mozilla might have negotiated a better contract with Mullvad. https://protonvpn.com/pricing https://protonvpn.com/pricing https://mullvad.net https://mullvad.net
- dang 6y agoPrevious threads on this: 1 month ago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23565192 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23565192 10 months ago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20927832 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20927832
- Markoff 6y agodoes it work in China?
- terrycody 6y agoThey also have firefox extension, already used it for several months and its pretty solid, very quick and easy to use!