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Brave started off incredibly sketchy and with terrible reputation, for example https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18734999 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?i

by plopz 5mo ago

Brave started off incredibly sketchy and with terrible reputation, for example https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18734999 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18734999 I haven't ever considered it since and I assume many others are in the same boat.

deleted 5mo ago
[deleted]
rideontime 5mo ago
Same here. I don't care how they responded to the backlash, the fact that it happened in the first place was enough for me.
GeekyBear 5mo ago
> Brave started off incredibly sketchy Chrome has stayed incredibly sketchy from the beginning, when Google gained marketshare by sneaking Chrome into the installer for other products that people intentionally downloaded. Then Chrome did things like "accidentally" uploading your entire browsing history to Google servers when you signed into Gmail. Now they have declared war on ad blockers, despite the government warning that ad networks are too big a malware vector to ignore.
- fragmede 5mo ago
  That's a different kind of sketchy than whatever crypto ad replacement stuff that Brave was accused of doing.
  - GeekyBear 5mo ago
    The only difference is that Google is still doing new sketchy things with Chrome today, two decades later.
  - Dylan16807 5mo ago
    The stuff brave actually did was pretty mild.
    - account42 5mo ago
      Its only mild if you are already a well boiled frog.
      - Dylan16807 5mo ago
        I've never used brave or any browser that did similar things, so I don't think I'm a boiled frog.
  - jorvi 5mo ago
    All they did was add their own affiliate link to crypto links that didn't have them. You didn't get tracked from it, and you didn't lose out on anything. Still sketchy because of the lack of consent, but people act like Brave personally stole money from them. The other "sketchy crypto stuff" is one of the few actually workable alternatives to funding websites with ads on webpages. Again, Brave took in no money (BAT) that you as an admin / creator would have otherwise had, and they keep it in escrow, they don't claim it. The only other sketchy thing I can remember is pre-installing a deactivated VPN so that people could pay, push a button and it'd work immediately. Plenty of companies do hacks like that for the sake of UX. Dropbox used to hack macOS its Accessibility permission so people wouldn't have to dive into settings to toggle certain things. The irony is that Firefox has had their own scandals like surreptitiously installing a hidden ad extension that would advertise for Mr. Robot, but somehow Firefox stans have erased that kerfuffle from their collective memory.
    - Dylan16807 5mo ago
      > The irony is that Firefox has had their own scandals like surreptitiously installing a hidden ad extension that would advertise for Mr. Robot, but somehow Firefox stans have erased that kerfuffle from their collective memory. That isn't what it did.
  - niutech 5mo ago
    This was back in 2020 and they pardoned for it, it's time to give Brave another chance!
nelsonic 5mo ago
Brave is my default browser for non-sensitive tasks; e.g. most web browsing, GitHub, news, etc. The built-in ad-blocker & tracker blocker alone is worth it. Use chrome for testing. Stock Firefox for anything sensitive.

by plopz 5mo ago

deleted 5mo ago

[deleted]

rideontime 5mo ago

Same here. I don't care how they responded to the backlash, the fact that it happened in the first place was enough for me.

GeekyBear 5mo ago

> Brave started off incredibly sketchy Chrome has stayed incredibly sketchy from the beginning, when Google gained marketshare by sneaking Chrome into the installer for other products that people intentionally downloaded. Then Chrome did things like "accidentally" uploading your entire browsing history to Google servers when you signed into Gmail. Now they have declared war on ad blockers, despite the government warning that ad networks are too big a malware vector to ignore.

fragmede 5mo ago
That's a different kind of sketchy than whatever crypto ad replacement stuff that Brave was accused of doing.
- GeekyBear 5mo ago
  The only difference is that Google is still doing new sketchy things with Chrome today, two decades later.
- Dylan16807 5mo ago
  The stuff brave actually did was pretty mild.
  - account42 5mo ago
    Its only mild if you are already a well boiled frog.
    - Dylan16807 5mo ago
      I've never used brave or any browser that did similar things, so I don't think I'm a boiled frog.
- jorvi 5mo ago
  All they did was add their own affiliate link to crypto links that didn't have them. You didn't get tracked from it, and you didn't lose out on anything. Still sketchy because of the lack of consent, but people act like Brave personally stole money from them. The other "sketchy crypto stuff" is one of the few actually workable alternatives to funding websites with ads on webpages. Again, Brave took in no money (BAT) that you as an admin / creator would have otherwise had, and they keep it in escrow, they don't claim it. The only other sketchy thing I can remember is pre-installing a deactivated VPN so that people could pay, push a button and it'd work immediately. Plenty of companies do hacks like that for the sake of UX. Dropbox used to hack macOS its Accessibility permission so people wouldn't have to dive into settings to toggle certain things. The irony is that Firefox has had their own scandals like surreptitiously installing a hidden ad extension that would advertise for Mr. Robot, but somehow Firefox stans have erased that kerfuffle from their collective memory.
  - Dylan16807 5mo ago
    > The irony is that Firefox has had their own scandals like surreptitiously installing a hidden ad extension that would advertise for Mr. Robot, but somehow Firefox stans have erased that kerfuffle from their collective memory. That isn't what it did.
- niutech 5mo ago
  This was back in 2020 and they pardoned for it, it's time to give Brave another chance!

nelsonic 5mo ago

Brave is my default browser for non-sensitive tasks; e.g. most web browsing, GitHub, news, etc. The built-in ad-blocker & tracker blocker alone is worth it. Use chrome for testing. Stock Firefox for anything sensitive.