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Every Chromium user needs to understand that Chromium is a Google project, and Google like to sacrifice a random project once in a while (don't be evil huh?).

by mkl95 6y ago

Every Chromium user needs to understand that Chromium is a Google project, and Google like to sacrifice a random project once in a while (don't be evil huh?). I'm completely unaware of how Google handle these decisions internally, but from the point of view of an outsider they are trying to optimize their resources and output as much as possible. If some service is not extremely successful and profitable, and it's being actively maintained, someone at Google will eventually suggest to move on to other stuff.

dgb23 6y ago
Chrome and Chromium are not some niche products. Same with ads, search and GCP. These things are here to stay for a very long time. There are other problems with Chrome and Chromium. Google is a brilliant company and I want to like them. Out of the biggest tech companies they seem to apply the least bullying tactics, worker exploitation and so on. But the fact that they are an ad company that profiles my behavior leaves a bitter taste. They often gather data in a way that is completely opaque to most people, which I think is problematic.
- mkl95 6y ago
  Linux makes heavy use of GNU technology, but the GNU OS itself is relatively unknown. Just like Chrome and Edge make heavy use of Chromium, but it is used directly by relatively few users (don't get me wrong, I was a Chromium user for years). Google may be trying to turn the Chromium browser into a "Chromium userland" rather than a browser will full capabilities.
phendrenad2 6y ago
How do you sacrifice an open-source project that people can just fork?
- mkl95 6y ago
  Technically, Chromium is not being sacrificed, it will just lose access to some powerful APIs. In practice it means Chromium as we know it is done. Most people who want or need these features will be unaware of some community fork and will simply switch to Chrome or Firefox.
  - mminer237 6y ago
    I can't imagine all that many people are using just Chromium itself though. Most beneficiaries of Chromium are by virtue of browsers built on top of it such as Brave, Vivaldi, and Edge, all of which have already built their own synchronization services. And if someone was using Chromium, I would think there's a decent chance they would switch to one of those three.
- hyper_reality 6y ago
  "Just fork" underestimates the huge amount of effort it requires to develop a modern browser that stays up to date with the latest web standards. There's a reason why even Microsoft's browser now is based on Chromium.
  - mkl95 6y ago
    As other people have pointed out, Chromium has a gargantuan codebase. Unless dozens of seasoned developers are willing to become active contributors and maintainers for free, I don't see it happening soon.

by mkl95 6y ago

dgb23 6y ago

Chrome and Chromium are not some niche products. Same with ads, search and GCP. These things are here to stay for a very long time. There are other problems with Chrome and Chromium. Google is a brilliant company and I want to like them. Out of the biggest tech companies they seem to apply the least bullying tactics, worker exploitation and so on. But the fact that they are an ad company that profiles my behavior leaves a bitter taste. They often gather data in a way that is completely opaque to most people, which I think is problematic.

mkl95 6y ago
Linux makes heavy use of GNU technology, but the GNU OS itself is relatively unknown. Just like Chrome and Edge make heavy use of Chromium, but it is used directly by relatively few users (don't get me wrong, I was a Chromium user for years). Google may be trying to turn the Chromium browser into a "Chromium userland" rather than a browser will full capabilities.

phendrenad2 6y ago

How do you sacrifice an open-source project that people can just fork?

mkl95 6y ago
Technically, Chromium is not being sacrificed, it will just lose access to some powerful APIs. In practice it means Chromium as we know it is done. Most people who want or need these features will be unaware of some community fork and will simply switch to Chrome or Firefox.
- mminer237 6y ago
  I can't imagine all that many people are using just Chromium itself though. Most beneficiaries of Chromium are by virtue of browsers built on top of it such as Brave, Vivaldi, and Edge, all of which have already built their own synchronization services. And if someone was using Chromium, I would think there's a decent chance they would switch to one of those three.
hyper_reality 6y ago
"Just fork" underestimates the huge amount of effort it requires to develop a modern browser that stays up to date with the latest web standards. There's a reason why even Microsoft's browser now is based on Chromium.
- mkl95 6y ago
  As other people have pointed out, Chromium has a gargantuan codebase. Unless dozens of seasoned developers are willing to become active contributors and maintainers for free, I don't see it happening soon.