The end of uBlock Origin for Google Chrome?

The end of uBlock Origin for Google Chrome?
October 12, 2019
https://www.ghacks.net/2019/10/12/the-end-of-ublock-origin-for-google-chrome/

 

Quote from the article:

That's exactly what I've done since a few weeks ago, using Firefox now.

 

I hope this makes him give more attention to the legacy version (1.16.4.11 as of now), the one Palemoon users install.

 

What's Chrome?

 

What the hell, this is some shocking news. Will this also be the end of uBlock on other browsers like Vivaldi? Perhaps they should open their own extension store, just like Opera.

 

Not that shocking. We've been discussing this for weeks. I tried some WebKit based Linux browsers because of this Googleballs. Luckily Firefox is my default on Ubuntu, I also use it on Mac. I use ABP and Ghostery Lite with Safari which blocks most things. I've experimented with ABP and Ghostery on my Chromebook. I think the Googleballs will waste Ghostery eventually though.

Yes.

I doubt that this will happen. Opera's inbuilt blocker isn't that bad.

 

Good decision

I mean, this stupid decision by the Chrome Web Store maintainers in combination with

1. the fact that blocking in Chromium/Chrome is unreliable (this includes Vivaldi and Brave), and
2. that manifest 3 will cripple blockers even more

confirms that Chrom{e|ium} is becoming less and less an alternative for users cherishing their privacy.

It might be that Chromium still has a slight advantage if it comes to security. On the other hand, these differences are more and more negligible - and the Fission project will bring site isolation to Firefox as well pretty soon. Besides, I'm running Firefox with Firejail, so I'm not worried at all.

 

I never thought I'd find myself migrating away from Chromium based browsers, because of it's secure architecture, but Google's control freak behavior and intrusiveness has driven me away. This latest development is another show stopper. It's just so much easier on Linux using Firejail to sandbox Firefox with uBlockO and NoScript, the latter being used only for its XSS functionality. it's just going to take some ongoing determination to pry myself completely away from Windows.

Thanks summerheat! I also agree with you on your points made. Indeed I believe FF running under Firejail in Linux removes practically any and all security concerns.

 

Chrome fully vetted this extension - or did they? Actually, I think they shot themselves in the foot when they approved it and now they know it and regret it. Not giving a detailed reason for rejecting the latest UBO release is a clear indication that this was the opportunity they were waiting for to get rid of UBO. Their business model and the website owner's business will not allow the suppression of advertising.

Chrome will suffer the consequences of removing UBO from Chrome, but the percentage of users leaving Chrome will probably not be seismic. Other extensions that limit ads will also eventually get the boot, however I expect some of them will do whatever it takes to stay in good stead (aka grovel).

Let's see how this all pans out. I use Chrome on Windows and I'm on a metered connection. Raymond Hill has done a lot for a better browsing experience and security as a whole. I will find another browser that allows UBO if Chrome does the dirty deed.

 

FWIW ~
I've setup Opera with uBlock Origin and uBlock Origin Extra.

 

No

 

I don't believe them.

 

It got approved apparently.
https://www.reddit.com/r/chrome/comments/dgoymg/comment/f3fwlto

 

Were they influenced by the suggestion to go to another browser perhaps?

 

If you have both Vivaldi and Opera installed, you should be able to install Opera extensions in Vivaldi. Open the Opera extensions site here

https://addons.opera.com/en-gb/extensions/?ref=page

find the extension you want, then right-click on the 'Add to Opera' button, then click 'Copy link address'. Paste this URL into Vivaldi's Location Bar (it won't work in Opera), click 'Save As', say where the download is to go, then click 'Save'. If necessary, change the file extension of the downloaded file from .nex to .crx, open Vivaldi's extension page and drag and drop the file onto it, where it should then install in the usual way. This has worked for me in the past, so it may still be worth a try.

 

Note this and/or Manifest v3 does NOT mean the end of ad-blocker, particularlly those who're satisfied w/ ABP/Ghostery with subscription only are most likely not to be affected much. What the manifest kills are advanced functionallity of uBO and staffs like Noscript. But it surely biases the balance of the game btwn advertisers & blockers, 'cause declarative rules can easily be bypassed.

Keeping the blocking capability of WebRequest API appears not to be trivial, but as Google plans to keep it for enterprise it will be possible for other vendor to open it to home user. Brave also plans to open its extension store.

As the article said, Google has long been doing this and there's no reason they treat the latest uBO differently.

You can also manually install extensions by enabling developer mode, tho on Windows editing local policy is required.

 

For those who think Fx w/ Firejail can be alternative to Chromium sandbox, see the series of CopperheadOS' Tweets.

They ended w/ internal dissension but this does not decrease the value of their opinion who'd been contributed Android (yes, AOSP - not only CopperheadOS) security much. He also pointed out the fact major distributions come w/ significant rate of components lacking proper memory protection - there are some academic papers confirming his assertion. You can build safe Linux from Arch or Gentoo, but it's a pain. Every time I install Ubuntu, I start from removing all unneeded staffs. But it's another matter if these things matter at all for home user.

 

Facts are one thing, what do you believe is another.

 

Glad that I skipped chrome/chromium and went for Firefox once it became fast enough with Quantum.

 

If I'm not able to control ads on Chrome, I will certainly switch to another browser, but I doubt they will make such a critical decision...

 

I also point out Copperhead guys have contributed to Rust too, tho it seems they're disappointed for several reason, one being Rust maintainer prioritized little performance gain over stack safety.

To avoid OT, I make my intention clear: you have to ask yourself which one you prioritize, tighter content blocking or tighter sandbox? Firejail & Rust don't change the situation. If other browser vendor keep support for uBO and you complement its neutered capability on Chromium, you can go in between by using two browsers in diff way.

 

AdGuard's comments on the upcoming Chrome's API changes
https://adguard.com/en/blog/chrome-api-comment.html

 

I switched to FF at that time also. So far I didn't regret it one bit.

 

It seems Ghostery will be affected much by the manifest.

Ha, the last part is only true if you allow MitM for AG.

It should also be noted what Chromium devs call dynamic rule is not what is called so on uBO.

 

I don't see that firejail tweet anywhere on that page. I loaded all of them and a search still doesn't find it.