Fedora ain't playin' around w/Firefox 3.

[Mauriat]

On Thu, Jun 19, 2008 at 9:55 AM, Patrick O'Callaghan
<pocallaghan at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> indirecty we have to accept or disable the "services".
>
> 1) The "services" aren't the browser and thus are in no way involved
> with the freeness of the software, and 2) if you disagree then simply
> disable them.

1. The "Services" are built into the browser provided by the company(+
its partners) that produces the browser. They are coupled, no?
2. Perhaps they should not be enabled by default in Fedora?

>>  This is all and it is simple, right.  But that does not mean that
>> they do not have any trackware/spyware added?  Are there other things
>> that we need to look out for?
>
> If you are worried then download the source and look at it. Rebuild it
> if you want. That's the ultimate guarantee of free software.

That's unrealistic to the average user don't you think?

Some people believe there is some implicit "trust" in using open
source software. I disagree, the only thing you are guaranteed with
open source software is the agenda of the developers (in all fairness
this most often aligns with the users desires). However seeing that
Mozilla Corp is 85% (?) funded by Google, is it unreasonable to
question their intentions?

>> * To those that also use Ubuntu,  Did firefox do the same thing on
>> Ubuntu? or did it just happen here?
>
> I installed FF 3 on Ubuntu yesterday and can't honestly remember.

Well it would have helped if you noticed.
Someone using Ubuntu - I would ask if these "Services" are enabled by default?

>> Now the same can be said of firefox.  You can tell firefox, which
>> sites are safe and which ones are not, google collects some data about
>> which sites you visit and ..., this is the part that makes me
>> concerned.  Otherwise, I would not have responded or asked in the
>> first place.  We have to read carefully and the fine print that is
>> also hard to read.
>
> Once again, if this worries you then disable it. At least Mozilla
> clearly states up front what is involved, which cannot be said for a lot
> of other crapware out there.

Well seeing as Fedora doesn't ship with so-called crapware that
comparison is meaningless.

While I agree some people maybe over reacting - seeing as they can
totally disable this (as I do), but I disagree that everything is
clearly stated. It did seem a bit confusing on this rather unusual
start page, as well as having to accept any agreements.

-Mauriat