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Why is PiHole even mentioned as alternative to UbO? It is not a comparable thing! There is SO MUCH stuff you cannot do without access to the page contents. cook

by 112233 2y ago

Why is PiHole even mentioned as alternative to UbO? It is not a comparable thing! There is SO MUCH stuff you cannot do without access to the page contents. cookies. tracking parameters. "pixels". javascript. etc etc

dredmorbius 2y ago
PiHole, or equivalent DNS-based blocking tools protect networks, presuming your DHCP server points clients to the PiHole DNS server. ALL devices and apps on those devices which rely on the indicated DNS server benefit. uBlock Origin protects individual browser profiles only. That is, if you have uBlock Origin installed and it's enabled on a given browser profile, that specific usage is protected. Yes, uBo gives far more power in blocking online content, where it's available. But it only goes so far. With PiHole, one of the disadvantages is that when you use another network you lose all your ad / malware blocking protections. I find it jarring when I use a tool w/o any native ad-blocking on an outside network. Best practice is to use both DNS-based blocking (for global coverage on your LAN) AND uBlock Origin for browser instances where it's available (desktop generally, Firefox/Android on mobile).
- 112233 2y ago
  Exactly. Thank you for taking the time and elaborating on the difference for those, who may be confused about it. Now compare to the article: "chrome users are forced to use less capable UbO lite. Enter PiHole!" So, basically, PiHole gives you all that you lose because of the Chrome dropping v2. I cannot read that in any other way.
  - dredmorbius 2y ago
    Quibble: PiHole gives you back some of what you lose with uBo. uBo will block more than just source-based content (though it does include very extensive domain blocklists). It will also, for example, block YouTube ads (added by YT, but not sponsorship bits within the video itself), ads identified by CSS or JS syntax, and (if you choose to do so) other Web annoyances, for example sticky header/navigation bars if those are present and you've installed the appropriate additional blocklists. PiHole can't do any of the latter, though again, it's far better than nothing, and covers more than just the browser. Example of the latter, one of the Android podcast apps I have inserts advertising, that happens to be caught (usually) by my DNS-based blackhole when I'm at home, but not when I'm travelling. It's jarring to see those ads should I fire up the app when I'm on the road.
    - 112233 2y ago
      quibble quibble: PiHole does not give you anything when going from uBo to uBo lite (edit: which is the scenario covered in the article), because e.g. CNAME decloaking was never available on Chrome! Conversely, adding PiHole helps even if you manage to keep chrome with manifest v2 working!

by 112233 2y ago

dredmorbius 2y ago

PiHole, or equivalent DNS-based blocking tools protect networks, presuming your DHCP server points clients to the PiHole DNS server. ALL devices and apps on those devices which rely on the indicated DNS server benefit. uBlock Origin protects individual browser profiles only. That is, if you have uBlock Origin installed and it's enabled on a given browser profile, that specific usage is protected. Yes, uBo gives far more power in blocking online content, where it's available. But it only goes so far. With PiHole, one of the disadvantages is that when you use another network you lose all your ad / malware blocking protections. I find it jarring when I use a tool w/o any native ad-blocking on an outside network. Best practice is to use both DNS-based blocking (for global coverage on your LAN) AND uBlock Origin for browser instances where it's available (desktop generally, Firefox/Android on mobile).

112233 2y ago
Exactly. Thank you for taking the time and elaborating on the difference for those, who may be confused about it. Now compare to the article: "chrome users are forced to use less capable UbO lite. Enter PiHole!" So, basically, PiHole gives you all that you lose because of the Chrome dropping v2. I cannot read that in any other way.
- dredmorbius 2y ago
  Quibble: PiHole gives you back some of what you lose with uBo. uBo will block more than just source-based content (though it does include very extensive domain blocklists). It will also, for example, block YouTube ads (added by YT, but not sponsorship bits within the video itself), ads identified by CSS or JS syntax, and (if you choose to do so) other Web annoyances, for example sticky header/navigation bars if those are present and you've installed the appropriate additional blocklists. PiHole can't do any of the latter, though again, it's far better than nothing, and covers more than just the browser. Example of the latter, one of the Android podcast apps I have inserts advertising, that happens to be caught (usually) by my DNS-based blackhole when I'm at home, but not when I'm travelling. It's jarring to see those ads should I fire up the app when I'm on the road.
  - 112233 2y ago
    quibble quibble: PiHole does not give you anything when going from uBo to uBo lite (edit: which is the scenario covered in the article), because e.g. CNAME decloaking was never available on Chrome! Conversely, adding PiHole helps even if you manage to keep chrome with manifest v2 working!