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Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard
Linux users are more likely than most to be familiar with Chromium, Google's the free and open source web project that serves as the basis for their wildly popular Chrome. Since the project's inception over a decade ago, users have been able to compile the BSD licensed code into a browser that's almost the same as the closed-source Chrome. As such, most distributions offer their own package for the browser and some even include it in the base install. Unfortunately, that may be changing soon.
[...] To the average Chromium user, this doesn't sound like much of a problem. In fact, you might even assume it doesn't apply to you. The language used in the post makes it sound like Google is referring to browsers which are spun off of the Chromium codebase, and at least in part, they are. But the search giant is also using this opportunity to codify their belief that the only official Chromium builds are the ones that they provide themselves. With that simple change, anyone using a distribution-specific build of Chromium just became persona non grata.
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Wednesday January 27 2021, @06:42PM
Even if Google was the "do no evil" corporation they once claimed themselves to be, giving stuff away for "free" will always hinge on whether or not they still want to support the technology involved. If one was to base a large proportion of what they do on using such a service, they will never get a guarantee that said service wouldn't suddenly be dropped or changed one day to attract a growing market with different needs. If one's data is essential and important, one had better come up with a better way rather than bank on the whims of someone else. You won't find such free for long.