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How does splitting off Chrome as a separate company solve anything? They would still rely on Google for funding (like Mozilla) and being close friends they woul
by niutech 2y ago
How does splitting off Chrome as a separate company solve anything? They would still rely on Google for funding (like Mozilla) and being close friends they would do whatever Alphabet tells them to do.
A better solution is to implement a bill like DMA in the EU to enforce competition among web browser vendors and fight monopolies.
- verve_rat 2y agoBut now Bing would have a chance of becoming the default search engine of the most used browser in the world. That's the difference.
- crazygringo 2y agoBing is already the default search engine on the default browser of the most used OS in the world. If they're not competing well, then that's entirely their fault. Microsoft is not at any kind of disadvantage here.
- bee_rider 2y agoI don’t think Bing is the default search engine for Android’s browser. I could be wrong though. Is it? That would be a surprisingly fair-minded move of Google.
- EasyMark 2y agoBy context I’m pretty sure they mean Windows OS and not android, sometimes you have to take things in context. Depending on context one could easily argue that linux is the most common operating system depending on where you draw the line on operating system
- bee_rider 2y agoI am pointing out that Windows is not the most common OS, and Android is. The original comment was saying that Google is able to perform anti-competitively because they control the most popular browser. The followup (which I responded to) is saying that the existence of Windows as the most popular OS, and Microsoft’s control over the default browser there, mitigates this anti-competitive potential. The fact that Windows is not the most popular OS (and that, in fact, the most popular OS is controlled by Google) undermines that argument. Linux is not the most popular OS in any context that includes doing searches with the thing, unless you include Android, but Android just uses Linux for the kernel mostly, and an OS is more than a kernel.
- nightski 2y agoIt's the most common desktop OS. No one was confused by what the parent meant since Windows is not a mobile operating system and doesn't compete in that market.
- bee_rider 2y agoBing and Google are competing in the market of search engines, not some device specific search engine market.
- lukas099 2y agoI think it's fair for them to point out (however snarkily) that Windows is not the most popular OS. In the context of the discussion, I think it matters that there is another OS, Android, that is more popular.
- ranger_danger 2y agoI think their point is that you can't just say "most popular" without more context because not only is it often subjective, but it can also be interpreted in different ways. Most popular by type of device? number of total users worldwide? etc.
- echoangle 2y agoEvery Linux distro just uses Linux for the kernel, right? What else is there? Init system and user space stuff isn’t Linux in any Linux distro either, because Linux is a kernel. The real thing that might make Android not a normal Linux distro is the heavy modification of the Kernel.
- bee_rider 2y agoA Linux distro uses the Linux kernel by definition, I guess, so I think you are right about that. We could talk about distros in general, maybe Homebrew and Cygwin, if we didn’t want to define a distro as being a Linux distro. But I’m not sure what the point is. I’m not clear on what they meant by Linux. But if we use a definition of “Linux OS” that includes Android and is restricted to devices which people typically use to perform searches (aka consumer devices) (since that was the original topic), then Linux is mostly Android and it is a kind of pointless distinction to make. If we want to use some definition of Linux that precludes Android, and covers all devices that use the Linux kernel, then we have a bunch of servers, streaming boxes, smart lightbulbs, whatever. If we want to use a definition which is, like, what I think everyone means when they say Linux in the context of market share: GNU/Linux or BusyBox/other/Linux (I was hoping to avoid the GNU/Linux meme, but here we are), then that doesn’t have much market share.
- niutech 2y agoNot Linux, but MINIX is the most common OS: https://medium.com/@RealWorldCyberSecurity/ever-heard-of-minix-its-the-world-s-most-widely-used-operating-system-fcb6941f3db2 https://medium.com/@RealWorldCyberSecurity/ever-heard-of-min...
- firefax 2y ago>Bing is already the default search engine on the default browser of the most used OS in the world. It's actually more embedded in Windows than Google is in Android. If you change your default engine in Android it changes across the OS. In Windows, there are dialogs that say "search bing for" embedded into places like the right click menu when you have text highlighted that remain even after attempting to express a different search choice. Another example is the search bar in a new tab.
- PittleyDunkin 2y agoFrankly, who cares. The important part is that google doesn't own a browser.
- scarface_74 2y agoIs the justice department then going to stop Google from using the open source Chromium project to create a new browser?
- efitz 2y agoAlmost certainly that would be part of a consent decree, which would prohibit Google from creating or controlling a browser for some period of time, and would include court supervision.
- scarface_74 2y agoSo Google could also not ship a browser with Android devices? Chromebooks?
- placardloop 2y agoSelling devices with a browser installed or available for installation is completely tangential to creating and/or controlling the development of said browser.
- scarface_74 2y agoWould Google not be allowed to make any changes to the open source Chromium browser before installing it on its own hardware?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- kernal 2y ago
- lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 2y ago> A better solution is to implement a bill Not that I disagree with the overall point, but this is something the DOJ does not do. They would just look at the current laws and decide who to prosecute based on their interpretation of events.
- scarface_74 2y agoUnless you own a Chromebook, if you have Chrome on your computer, you made a choice to download it. How would a browser choice screen help?
- throwaway888889 2y agoLook at the effects of breaking up the bells into smaller companies....
- Ferret7446 2y agoWhich of the bells provided a valuable free product that could only be funded via other product revenue streams?
- throwaway888889 2y agoBSD Unix comes to mind.