Re: [Taler] Taler prioritizes nonfree browser

[Florian Dold]

Hi Caleb,

thank you for the feedback.

Indeed the message about not having a recent enough version of
Chromium/Chrome installed should only appear when the user is actually
using one of these browsers.

I also agree that we should put libre browsers first, Richard suggested
to have two columns, the first one with free browsers, the second one
with non-free browsers.

About the "Install wallet" button, I'd like us to have one for Firefox
too, but it seems like right now this two-click installation process is
not (yet?) supported by Firefox.  Again we could make the button
invisible unless the user is already Chromium/Chrome, to avoid the
impression that we favor non-free browsers.

By now it looks like Firefox has all the features that were previously
missing or broken to fully support the Taler wallet, so we should start
emphasizing that we want users to use and test it preferably with libre
browsers.

Regarding IceCat, we should start emphasizing it once it has caught up
with the features from Firefox that we need for our wallet to run properly.

So no disagreement here, this just stemmed from certain features being
less stable or missing from Firefox in the past.  We always made sure
that we only rely on features that will be available in Firefox very soon.

- Florian

On 11/23/2017 12:07 PM, Caleb Herbert wrote:
> I have found an issue in Taler's documentation.
> 
> When talking about the wallet extension on the GNU Taler website, Chrome
> and Chromium are consistently mentioned first, and Firefox (IceCat) is
> pushed into a corner with Opera.  It's even mentioned twice.
> 
>         We currently provide a wallet browser extension for Chromium,
>         Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Edge.
>         
>         https://gnutaler.org/citizens.html
>         
> Chrome is also given first-class treatment on the page for downloading
> the extension.  https://gnutaler.org/wallet.html
> 
>       * Chrome is mentioned first
>       * A prominent one-click "Install wallet" button is there for
>         Chrome
>       * Above the button is a message that acts like not having Chrome
>         installed is less than ideal
>       * Firefox has no button
> 
> The website consistently makes Chrome more prominent and convenient, to
> the detriment of Firefox.
> 
> Unlike Firefox, Chromium is outright hostile to privacy and free
> software. No version of it in any form can currently exists on free
> distros, because Parabola can't build it without blobs and obfuscated
> non-source.
> https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/libreplanet-discuss/2017-01/msg00048.html
> 
> Meanwhile, versions of Firefox exist on free distros in a few forms:
> IceWeasel, IceCat, FireDog, Abrowser.
> 
> Firefox is clearly more friendly to free software and should be given
> priority over Chromium.  Right now, Chromium should be given priority
> only in code audits.
> 
> The GNU Coding Standards say
> 
>         However, you should give only the necessary information to help
>         those who already use the non-free program to use your program
>         with it—don’t give, or refer to, any further information about
>         the proprietary program, and don’t imply that the proprietary
>         program enhances your program, or that its existence is in any
>         way a good thing. The goal should be that people already using
>         the proprietary program will get the advice they need about how
>         to use your free program with it, while people who don’t already
>         use the proprietary program will not see anything likely to lead
>         them to take an interest in it.
>         
>         https://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/standards.html#References
> 
> Please support browsers that can be used on free distros.  Don't give
> Chromium more prominence than more respectable browsers like IceCat and
> Firefox.
>