4 ms·

For context, gorhill is the veteran author of original uBlock, and current uBlock Origin. He knows what he's talking about as author, maintainer and one of the

For context, gorhill is the veteran author of original uBlock, and current uBlock Origin. He knows what he's talking about as author, maintainer and one of the community leader/voice of probably the single best and only conflict-of-interest-free ad-blocker currently in existence. His past post[0] was reposted and generated quite a discussion on HN [1]. For further details on why uBO is conflict free, this is the README.md on github repo[2] says: --- Free. Open source. For users by users. No donations sought. --- 0: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/uBlock-Origin-works-best-on-Firefox https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/uBlock-Origin-works-b... 1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32542968 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32542968 2: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock

dylan604 4y ago
thank you gorhill for making the internet a useable space.
- naikrovek 4y ago
  hear, hear.
Abishek_Muthian 4y ago
uBlock Origin is the only browser extension I use on Firefox, Even after loosing trust on browser extensions in general after witnessing a recommended Firefox add-on indulge in malicious activity[1] and reading numerous stories of how browser extension publishers with large number of users are routinely approached to integrate malware. The reason why I cannot do away with uBlock Origin is because its not just an Ad-blocker as its philosophy states, I need it to make websites usable by blocking elements like auto pop-up news video player, Blocking side bars to resize the websites to preferred width (When playing videos), Disable tracking and often just to load the websites faster. [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20210924045611/https://github.com/ken107/read-aloud/issues/232 https://web.archive.org/web/20210924045611/https://github.co...
- RunSet 4y ago
  To those familiar with the HTML DOM I recommend uMatrix from the same author as uBlock origin. It makes a good companion to uBlock Origin and provides much finer control. https://github.com/gorhill/uMatrix https://github.com/gorhill/uMatrix
  - dicriseg 4y ago
    That repo is archived. Is the project dead?
    - 411111111111111 4y ago
      Isn't it pretty much redundant? You just have to enable advanced mode in ublock origin extension settings. The interface is arguably slightly harder to figure out though, but the functionality is there once you've enabled it. the ublock origin repo actually has a video linked how it works: https://youtu.be/2lisQQmWQkY?t=294 https://youtu.be/2lisQQmWQkY?t=294
      - emaro 4y ago
        Yes, it's not actively developed anymore because of the large overlap in functionality with uBlock Origin as well as the maintainance burden. However it's not equivalent, because in uMatrix you have even more fine-grained control which content a certain domain in a certain context can load (i.e. scripts, images, css and xhr requests).
        411111111111111 4y ago
        Its functionality is equivalent, its ease of use isn't (at least in my opinion) with uBlock origins UI you can block by content type and then whitelist the domains which are still allowed and that feels less granular then the uMatrix configuration dialog. But if you check the generated dynamic rules in the settings you'll see that it supports the same granular controls as uMatrix
guerrilla 4y ago
How is it able to be free without seeking donations? Asking for a friend who's about to get into something.
- e3bc54b2 4y ago
  Not everything is about money. Sometimes its principles, sometimes its about giving back to the world, sometimes its the fun of it, or just raw boredom. I do not claim to know what motivates gorhill, but so far none of his motivations in building uBO seem to be against my own motivation to use it, so it is fine.
  - guerrilla 4y ago
    > Not everything is about money. Sometimes its principles, sometimes its about giving back to the world, sometimes its the fun of it, or just raw boredom. No, he has to be able to support himself somehow. Food costs money. Plenty of people have great motives, few have the means to execute on them.
    - e3bc54b2 4y ago
      > Plenty of people have great motives, few have the means to execute on them. Sure. Not plenty, but still a lot of people have the means, and few of them choose to execute. Larse Ingebrigsten was a CTO of startup that got acquired and now maintains GNU Emacs. Bram Moolenaar has had consistent job since forever (not sure what % of paid time is dedicated to Vim maintenance). Richard Stallman quit and made his first money selling Emacs tapes. Some open source devs rely on consulting work. Some (Like Drew DeVault) have actual sustainable business model that are not donations (and still give away their services when it makes sense). I do not know of gorhill, but my first guess would be that he has a stable job that pays well enough and doesn't encroach on his private life and hobbies, which I believe uBO is one of. Oh, and to add to it, it becomes incredibly easier if you find likeminded people to join in. Linus Torvalds is able to take weeks off because GKH is more than capable to handle the work in his absence. Andreas Kling has Linus Groh as co-maintainer to review PRs even considering ginormous scope of SerenityOS. As with everything, more capable minds share the load. On top of that, uBlock Origin is still just an engine. A large bulk of work (as admitted on uBO README.md) is done in the lists like fanboy's. They are also largely contributor driven (and sometimes donations).

dylan604 4y ago

thank you gorhill for making the internet a useable space.

naikrovek 4y ago
hear, hear.

Abishek_Muthian 4y ago

uBlock Origin is the only browser extension I use on Firefox, Even after loosing trust on browser extensions in general after witnessing a recommended Firefox add-on indulge in malicious activity[1] and reading numerous stories of how browser extension publishers with large number of users are routinely approached to integrate malware. The reason why I cannot do away with uBlock Origin is because its not just an Ad-blocker as its philosophy states, I need it to make websites usable by blocking elements like auto pop-up news video player, Blocking side bars to resize the websites to preferred width (When playing videos), Disable tracking and often just to load the websites faster. [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20210924045611/https://github.com/ken107/read-aloud/issues/232 https://web.archive.org/web/20210924045611/https://github.co...

RunSet 4y ago
To those familiar with the HTML DOM I recommend uMatrix from the same author as uBlock origin. It makes a good companion to uBlock Origin and provides much finer control. https://github.com/gorhill/uMatrix https://github.com/gorhill/uMatrix
- dicriseg 4y ago
  That repo is archived. Is the project dead?
  - 411111111111111 4y ago
    Isn't it pretty much redundant? You just have to enable advanced mode in ublock origin extension settings. The interface is arguably slightly harder to figure out though, but the functionality is there once you've enabled it. the ublock origin repo actually has a video linked how it works: https://youtu.be/2lisQQmWQkY?t=294 https://youtu.be/2lisQQmWQkY?t=294
    - emaro 4y ago
      Yes, it's not actively developed anymore because of the large overlap in functionality with uBlock Origin as well as the maintainance burden. However it's not equivalent, because in uMatrix you have even more fine-grained control which content a certain domain in a certain context can load (i.e. scripts, images, css and xhr requests).
      - 411111111111111 4y ago
        Its functionality is equivalent, its ease of use isn't (at least in my opinion) with uBlock origins UI you can block by content type and then whitelist the domains which are still allowed and that feels less granular then the uMatrix configuration dialog. But if you check the generated dynamic rules in the settings you'll see that it supports the same granular controls as uMatrix

guerrilla 4y ago

How is it able to be free without seeking donations? Asking for a friend who's about to get into something.

e3bc54b2 4y ago
Not everything is about money. Sometimes its principles, sometimes its about giving back to the world, sometimes its the fun of it, or just raw boredom. I do not claim to know what motivates gorhill, but so far none of his motivations in building uBO seem to be against my own motivation to use it, so it is fine.
- guerrilla 4y ago
  > Not everything is about money. Sometimes its principles, sometimes its about giving back to the world, sometimes its the fun of it, or just raw boredom. No, he has to be able to support himself somehow. Food costs money. Plenty of people have great motives, few have the means to execute on them.
  - e3bc54b2 4y ago
    > Plenty of people have great motives, few have the means to execute on them. Sure. Not plenty, but still a lot of people have the means, and few of them choose to execute. Larse Ingebrigsten was a CTO of startup that got acquired and now maintains GNU Emacs. Bram Moolenaar has had consistent job since forever (not sure what % of paid time is dedicated to Vim maintenance). Richard Stallman quit and made his first money selling Emacs tapes. Some open source devs rely on consulting work. Some (Like Drew DeVault) have actual sustainable business model that are not donations (and still give away their services when it makes sense). I do not know of gorhill, but my first guess would be that he has a stable job that pays well enough and doesn't encroach on his private life and hobbies, which I believe uBO is one of. Oh, and to add to it, it becomes incredibly easier if you find likeminded people to join in. Linus Torvalds is able to take weeks off because GKH is more than capable to handle the work in his absence. Andreas Kling has Linus Groh as co-maintainer to review PRs even considering ginormous scope of SerenityOS. As with everything, more capable minds share the load. On top of that, uBlock Origin is still just an engine. A large bulk of work (as admitted on uBO README.md) is done in the lists like fanboy's. They are also largely contributor driven (and sometimes donations).