2025 FOSS tools I use
Notes
#TangentNotes @tangentnotes
Browser
#Librewolf @librewolf
#Waterfox @Waterfox
Search
#Mojeek @Mojeek
#Ecosia @ecosia
#Qwant @Qwant
___
Sharing to @opensource
The overhead of disabling every single AI-first change in Firefox is already starting to weigh on firefox-forks.
My view on this hasn't really shifted in the last few months: unless an existing organization, with strong principles, steps forwards and commits to a hard fork I don't really see a future for Firefox.
(I think there are probably only 1-2 orgs with the combination of experience / maturity to actually pull that off, and none of them seem to be even considering that kind of future)
@sarahjamielewis not sure whether #firefox forks like in @iode's #iodéOS can also offer "AI disable by default" or remove any #AI code, but it seems a legitimite way to go. Also, it will be an #EU country to handle such modifications. #France #digitalsouvereignity
"""
iodé Browser
iodé browser is based on Firefox with #telemetry disabled, trackers removed, and alternative search engines: #Qwant (default), #Brave, #Ecosia, #Metager, Qwant light, #Startpage and several #Searx instances.
"""
https://iode.tech/iodeos/
2025 FOSS tools I use
Notes
#TangentNotes @tangentnotes
Browser
#Librewolf @librewolf
#Waterfox @Waterfox
Search
#Mojeek @Mojeek
#Ecosia @ecosia
#Qwant @Qwant
___
Sharing to @opensource
“An extremely negative signal”: French court dismisses search engine Qwant's case against Microsoft
"In a ruling handed down on Thursday, the Competition Authority found that Microsoft did not abuse its dominant position. This is a setback for Qwant, which is seeking to break free from its dependence on the American giant.
The verdict is in, and it does not favor Qwant. The French search engine, which has been engaged in legal proceedings for nearly a year against Microsoft, accusing it of abusing its dominant position in the B2B search engine market, has been dismissed by the Competition Authority.
In its verdict handed down on Thursday, the authority found that Qwant had not provided “sufficient evidence” to demonstrate that the American giant was dominant in the market in question, nor that “the conditions for abuse of economic dependence were met.”
Archive: https://archive.is/q5NRx
@ueeu The press release is indeed not convincing. #Qwant may be developing its own search technology ( #ESP, with #ecosia), but until they develop it, they are dependent on #Bing. The fact that #Microsoft imposes restrictions on the development of #ESP demonstrates and strengthens that dependence. #antitrust
“An extremely negative signal”: French court dismisses search engine Qwant's case against Microsoft
"In a ruling handed down on Thursday, the Competition Authority found that Microsoft did not abuse its dominant position. This is a setback for Qwant, which is seeking to break free from its dependence on the American giant.
The verdict is in, and it does not favor Qwant. The French search engine, which has been engaged in legal proceedings for nearly a year against Microsoft, accusing it of abusing its dominant position in the B2B search engine market, has been dismissed by the Competition Authority.
In its verdict handed down on Thursday, the authority found that Qwant had not provided “sufficient evidence” to demonstrate that the American giant was dominant in the market in question, nor that “the conditions for abuse of economic dependence were met.”
Archive: https://archive.is/q5NRx
Quali alternative a Google Search? Se volete riappropriarvi della privacy nelle vostre ricerche ecco qualche motori di ricerca alternativo!
https://www.lealternative.net/2019/10/18/alternative-a-google-search/
The Qwant search engine buys its French competitor Lilo 🇫🇷
https://www.lecho.be/entreprises/tech-science/le-moteur-de-recherche-qwant-rachete-son-concurrent-francais-lilo/10607272.html
#BuyEuropean#EuropeanAlternatives#Qwant#Lilo#SearchEngine
Twórcy przeglądarek internetowych mają często interes w tym, żeby nakłaniać do korzystania z tej czy innej wyszukiwarki. Nie bez powodu któraś konkretnie jest ustawiona jako domyślna. Ale możecie zrobić z tym porządek i ustawić, jako domyślną, dowolną wyszukiwarkę. Wystarczy postępować zgodnie z instrukcją (przykład opisany na #Firefox). Ja na przykład ustawiłem sobie teraz #Qwant. Wcześniej miałem Startpage, Ecosia i DuckDuckGo. Nie przywiązuję się do jednej konkretnej. Ostatnio bardzo mieszam i sprawdzam, która jak sobie działa.
Twórcy przeglądarek internetowych mają często interes w tym, żeby nakłaniać do korzystania z tej czy innej wyszukiwarki. Nie bez powodu któraś konkretnie jest ustawiona jako domyślna. Ale możecie zrobić z tym porządek i ustawić, jako domyślną, dowolną wyszukiwarkę. Wystarczy postępować zgodnie z instrukcją (przykład opisany na #Firefox). Ja na przykład ustawiłem sobie teraz #Qwant. Wcześniej miałem Startpage, Ecosia i DuckDuckGo. Nie przywiązuję się do jednej konkretnej. Ostatnio bardzo mieszam i sprawdzam, która jak sobie działa.
I was really hopeful about #Ecosia but then they, like #Mozilla, turned to #LLM and put a (really poorly implemented) AI Chat feature in their product. 😬
For a business whose goal is to better the environment and plant trees, I would have thought their ethos would be anti-AI. 🤔
Anyway, now they're collaborating with #Qwant to make a new European-based search index called #Staan to power AI products.
OVH has acquired Qwant and the company has new ownership.
"Octave Klaba, founder of France-headquartered cloud hosting services business OVHcloud, is set to acquire faltering search engine Qwant. Mr. Klaba has struck an agreement with state lender Caisse des Depots et Consignations (CDC) to take control of the company, which has struggled to compete with Google despite being backed by the French government.
The deal will see Octave Klaba and his brother Miroslaw own 75% of Synfonium, a new company that will acquire Qwant, with the remaining 25% held by CDC."
Staan¹ (Search Trusted API Access Network) is a joint venture between @ecosia and @Qwant:
> We’ve started delivering search results from our new European-based search index to #ecosia users! This will help us build the kind of ethical and fair Internet we believe in.
https://blog.ecosia.org/launching-our-european-search-index/
Staan¹ (Search Trusted API Access Network) is a joint venture between @ecosia and @Qwant:
> We’ve started delivering search results from our new European-based search index to #ecosia users! This will help us build the kind of ethical and fair Internet we believe in.
https://blog.ecosia.org/launching-our-european-search-index/
Interesting, but disappointing tech news. EU search engines Lilo, Ecosia and Qwant are creating new EU based search index. This is something EU defined needs.
Disappointing part is that it is heavily focused on LLMs and focuses on providing for example AI summaries.
I think even more sadder part is that is might be the right choice since a lot of people are already using LLMs instead of actual search. While I hope this project succeeds, I think it is sad that LLMs are focus of everything.
@Techaltar For Nebula Q&A What do you think about this project and do you think creating AI focused search index is a right choice?
Google on ollut hakukoneiden kiistaton kuningas, mutta sen laatu on viime vuodet heikentynyt. Mutta sille on tarjolla on eurooppalainen vaihtoehto, joka toimii yllättävän hyvin! Tällä videolla näytän, miten Qwant-hakukone toimii, millaisia tuloksia se antaa ja miten sen saa helposti selaimen oletushakukoneeksi. 👇🏻
#Qwant #hakukone #yksityisyys #eurooppalainen#BuyFromEU #tietoturva
