+ Inferencium+
+
+ + + + +
Posted: 2022-12-20 (UTC+00:00)
+Updated: 2022-12-20 (UTC+00:00)
+It's no secret that I'm an advocate of Chromium and will use it for the foreseeable future. It is
+a highly secure web browser which provides strong protection against malicious wesbites and the code
+they run, and, while I am not too interested in high performance, it is a very performant web
+browser, despite its security features.
+
+However, the intention of this blog post is not to promote Chromium for any reason, but rather show
+an issue with it; an issue which is larger than may be realised by web-surfing users. That issue is
+the large monopoly Chromium has in the web browser market;
+Chromium's market share is around 65%,
+making it the largest slice of the cake. The issue becomes even deeper and more problematic when you
+realise that the second-place web browser, Safari, has only an 18% market share.
+
+The main issue with this type of monopoly is the large amounts of power and influence it gives
+Chromium, which can lead to, and is leading to, excessive authority of how the web should work, and
+the standards which are implemented, which all other web browsers must comply with in order to have
+a fully working web.
+
+
In order to combat the Chromium monopoly, users typically go over to Chromium's classical rival,
+Firefox. However, Firefox is dying and has lost almost all of its userbase over the last 2-3 years;
+the reason for this is a tale of selfishness and greed, caused by Firefox's parent company to go off
+course and lose its original goal of providing a freedom-respecting, open web. Mozilla caused
+self-inflicted damage which it cannot recover from, and, to me, is already dead. The vultures are
+simply waiting for the final, small group of users to abandon the project before Firefox finally
+succumbs to its own demise; the demise it caused itself.
+
+If attempting to increase Firefox's market share to previous levels will be in vain, what is the
+solution? How can we prevent Chromium from completely taking over the web and dictating everything
+we do and how the web should be designed and used?
+To find the answer to these important but difficult questions, we must go to the alternatives which
+still have a fighting chance. Safari, developed by Apple, is based on WebKit, an engine completely
+independent of Chromium and Firefox.
+
+Just using a non-Chromium-based web browser is not enough; the choice must already have enough
+market share to still be relevant, and be capable of gaining new users. Safari, being preinstalled
+on Apple devices including iPhone and Mac, already has a great advantage over Firefox. Apple
+devices, especially iPhone, is abundant in streets everywhere on the planet. Safari is the default
+choice for Apple users and has a large market share simply because of how widespread it is.
+Exploiting this fact is the only way to gain more market share and take down Chromium before it is
+too late; the clock is ticking, and Apple are the only ones preventing Chromium from completely
+taking over the web. Backing Safari instead of Firefox will keep the WebKit market share from
+falling to a critically low percentage, making it impossible to make a comeback, as has happened to
+Firefox. Sometimes, directly supporting a political party is not the way to get them into power,
+supporting the second-place alternative is, in order to keep the one you don't want out of power,
+giving the party you do want in power an advantage. To win this war against the Chromium monopoly,
+we must be tactical, not emotional.
+
Supporting Safari is the first step in supporting WebKit and promoting usage of the independent
+web engine. Buying time while supporting and contributing to WebKit browser projects is the best and
+only chance anyone has at competing with Chromium, and preventing it from increasing its dominance
+to unstoppable levels, at which point there will be no return.
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