Chromium: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 21:46, 7 December 2024

Note: try to keep this page up-to-date by updating the status of the extensions and patches.

Chromium

Type	Free
Layout engine	Blink
Website	https://www.chromium.org/Home/

Chromium is a free and open source Web browser developed by Google and other contributors. It is known for its ubiquitous JavaScript engine, excessive memory usage, multi-process security model, and rapid development cycle.

When it was initially released, Chromium was vastly superior to other major browsers in terms of performance, but this advantage gradually diminished in the years following its release as the other browsers caught up. Today, Chromium's major draw is being in absolutely everything.

Google Chrome

The Google Chrome icon

Google Chrome is a proprietary sister project of Chromium developed by Google.

In addition to Chromium's usual set of features, it includes proprietary blobs full of DRM and advertising bloat. Because of this, it is often accused of being a botnet by the more security-conscious participants on /g/, for good reason.

Official release channels

Stable is targeted at most home and office users
Beta, for those who want to try new features early.
Canary is the bleeding-edge channel, intended for web developers. Instability and vulnerabilities are to be expected.

Tracking details

Google Chrome's user tracking capabilities include, but are not necessarily limited to the following:

Installation: upon installation, Google Chrome sends a randomly generated token from the installer back to Google. This is used to measure the success rate of Chrome installations. This feature is non-optional.
RLZ identifier: an encoded string that, according to Google, contains non-identifying bits of information about where Chrome was downloaded from and when it was installed. It is transmitted to Google upon the first launch, first use of the address bar, and first Google search query. The collected information is used to measure the success of promotional campaigns. This feature is non-optional, but Google does provide the necessary source code to decode the string.
ClientID: a unique identifier coupled with user preferences, logs of usages metrics, and crashes. This feature is optional and disabled by default.
OmniBox predictions: any text typed into the address bar is sent to Google. This feature is optional, but enabled by default.
Page-not-found web service: upon receiving a server not found response, the query typed into the address bar is sent to Google. This feature is optional, but enabled by default.
Spell-checking web service: any text typed is transmitted to Google. This feature is optional and disabled by default.
Google update: data concerning the user's Chrome usage, operating system details, and Chrome version is transmitted to Google periodically. This feature is non-optional.

Notable forks

Thorium

Thorium is a fork developed with speed in mind. It sees performance improvements of 8%-38% over stock Chromium.

Ungoogled Chromium

ungoogled-chromium is a fork built with privacy as a top priority, with Google's privacy invading aspects stripped out of the browser. It's free and open source, leveraging some patch sets from the the Iridium browser. The only real drawback is that you are limited to gimped Manifest V3 extensions, and thus can only install the "lite" version of uBlock Origin.

Recommended extensions

Adblocking, privacy, and security

uBlock Origin Lite

uBlock Origin Lite is a lightweight and low-resource adblocker. Has many filter lists built in, with EasyList, Peter Lowe’s Ad server list, EasyPrivacy, and Malware domains enabled by default. It is, as the name implies, not as capable as the full version, and as such does not include cosmetic filtering or scriptlet injection. This should be used as your last line of defense against online advertisements. The full fat version of uBlock Origin, however. is still available for Firefox and it's derivatives.

Decentraleyes

Decentraleyes prevents a lot of requests from reaching content delivery networks like Google Hosted Libraries, and serves local files to keep sites from breaking. Complements your existing content blockers and helps to prevent fingerprinting.

ClearURLs

ClearURLs is an extension that automatically removes tracking elements from URLs to help protect your privacy when interacting with the botnet.

Usability

Dark Reader

Dark Reader allows the user to apply an automatically generated dark theme to any website. Your mileage may vary.

Stylus

Stylus allows the user to apply custom visual styles to Websites, internal browser pages, and more.

Violentmonkey

Violentmonkey adds a proper user script manager to Chromium. While it is certainly possible to install user scripts as Chromium extensions without this extension, it makes managing them much more convenient.

Tweaks and Fixes

Suspending unneeded tabs

If you have tabs sitting around that you don't really actively need, you can unload them using Memory Saver mode

Installing extensions

If you cannot install extensions with your version of Chromium, install this extension

External links

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[File:Software_Chromium.png|thumb|right|The Chromium Icon]]
-Chromium is a free and open source Web browser developed by Google and other contributors. It is known for its extremely fast JavaScript engine, multiprocess security model, and rapid development cycle. When it was initially released, Chromium was vastly superior to the other major browsers in terms of performance, but this advantage gradually diminished in the years following its release as the other browsers caught up. Today, Chromium maintains an edge only in JavaScript performance and UI responsiveness. Recently, Google forked the Apple-controlled Webkit project to give Chromium its own layout engine, Blink.
+{{note|try to keep this page up-to-date by updating the status of the extensions and patches.}}
+{{Browser Infobox
+|name= Chromium
+|image= [[file:Software_Chromium.png|64px]]
+|type= Free
+|layout= Blink
+|website=https://www.chromium.org/Home/}}
+'''Chromium''' is a free and open source Web browser developed by Google and other contributors. It is known for its ubiquitous JavaScript engine, excessive memory usage, multi-process security model, and rapid development cycle.
-== Google Chrome ==
+When it was initially released, Chromium was vastly superior to other major browsers in terms of performance, but this advantage gradually diminished in the years following its release as the other browsers caught up. Today, Chromium's major draw is [[JavaScript|being in absolutely everything]].
-[[File:Chrome.png|thumb|right|The Google Chrome Icon]]
+==Google Chrome==
-Google Chrome is a proprietary sister project of Chromium developed by Google. In addition to Chromium's usual set of features, it packages Google's 'Pepper' Flash plug-in, a Foxit-based in-line PDF reader, an automatic updater, and several controversial tracking capabilities. Due to the tracking capabilities, it is commonly accused of being a [[botnet]] by the more security-conscious participants on /g/.
+[[File:Chrome.png|thumb|The Google Chrome icon|128x128px]]
-=== Official Release Channels ===
+Google Chrome is a proprietary sister project of Chromium developed by Google.
-* Stable is targeted at most home and office users.
+In addition to Chromium's usual set of features, it includes proprietary blobs full of DRM and advertising bloat. Because of this, it is often accused of being a [[botnet]] by the more security-conscious participants on /g/, [[Welcome to the Botnet|'''for good reason''']].
-* Beta.
-* Dev.
-* Canary is a bleeding-edge channel. Instability and vulnerabilities are to be expected.
-=== Tracking Details ===
+===Official release channels===
-Google Chrome's user tracking capabilities include, but are not necessarily limited to the following:
+*[https://www.google.com/chrome/ Stable] is targeted at most home and office users
+*[https://www.google.com/chrome/beta/ Beta], for those who want to try new features early.
+*[https://www.google.com/chrome/canary/ Canary] is the bleeding-edge channel, intended for web developers. Instability and vulnerabilities are to be expected.
-* Installation. Upon installation, Google Chrome sends a randomly generated token from the installer back to Google. This is used to measure the success rate of Chrome installations. This feature is non-optional.
+===Tracking details ===
-* RLZ Identifier. An encoded string that, according to Google, contains non-identifying bits of information about where Chrome was downloaded from and when it was installed. It is transmitted to Google upon the first launch, first use of the address bar, and first Google search query. The collected information is used to measure the success of promotional campaigns. This feature is non-optional, but Google does provide the necessary source code to decode the string.
-* ClientID. A unique identifier coupled with user preferences, logs of usages metrics, and crashes. This feature is optional and disabled by default.
-* OmniBox Predictions. Any text typed into the address bar is sent to Google. This feature is optional, but enabled by default.
-* Page-Not-Found Web Service. Upon receiving a server not found response, the query typed into the address bar is sent to Google. This feature is optional, but enabled by default.
-* Spell-Checking Web Service. Any text typed is transmitted to Google. This feature is optional and disabled by default.
-* Google Update. Data concerning the user's Chrome usage, operating system details, and Chrome version is transmitted to Google periodically. This feature is non-optional.
-== Notable Forks ==
+Google Chrome's user tracking capabilities include, but are [https://privacyworld.neocities.org/guides/chrome not necessarily limited] to the following:
-=== Comodo Dragon ===
+*'''''Installation:''''' upon installation, Google Chrome sends a randomly generated token from the installer back to Google. This is used to measure the success rate of Chrome installations. This feature is non-optional.
+* '''''RLZ identifier:''''' an encoded string that, according to Google, contains non-identifying bits of information about where Chrome was downloaded from and when it was installed. It is transmitted to Google upon the first launch, first use of the address bar, and first Google search query. The collected information is used to measure the success of promotional campaigns. This feature is non-optional, but Google does provide the necessary source code to decode the string.
+*'''''ClientID:''''' a unique identifier coupled with user preferences, logs of usages metrics, and crashes. This feature is optional and disabled by default.
+*'''''OmniBox predictions:''''' any text typed into the address bar is sent to Google. This feature is optional, but enabled by default.
+*'''''Page-not-found web service:''''' upon receiving a server not found response, the query typed into the address bar is sent to Google. This feature is optional, but enabled by default.
+*'''''Spell-checking web service:''''' any text typed is transmitted to Google. This feature is optional and disabled by default.
+*'''''Google update:''''' data concerning the user's Chrome usage, operating system details, and Chrome version is transmitted to Google periodically. This feature is non-optional.
-Comodo Dragon is a proprietary fork of Chromium developed by Comodo.
+==Notable forks ==
+===Thorium ===
-=== SRWare Iron ===
+[https://thorium.rocks/ Thorium] is a fork developed with speed in mind. It sees [https://thorium.rocks/performance performance improvements of 8%-38% over stock Chromium.]
-SRWare Iron is a proprietary fork of Chromium developed by SRWare.
+===Ungoogled Chromium ===
-http://neugierig.org/software/chromium/notes/2009/12/iron.html
-== Extensions ==
+[https://github.com/ungoogled-software/ungoogled-chromium ungoogled-chromium] is a fork built with privacy as a top priority, with Google's privacy invading aspects stripped out of the browser. It's free and open source, leveraging some patch sets from the the Iridium browser. The only real drawback is that you are limited to gimped Manifest V3 extensions, and thus can only install the "lite" version of uBlock Origin.
-=== Installing Extensions ===
+==Recommended extensions ==
+===Adblocking, privacy, and security===
+[[File:uBlock.png|48px]] '''uBlock Origin Lite'''
-Certain extensions demand that the user login to a Google account to install them from the Chrome Web Store, but a workaround exists. The major weakness of this workaround is that the extension cannot be automatically updated. If you are not willing to manually update the extension in question, your options are either living without it or switching to another browser.
+[https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBOL-home uBlock Origin Lite] is a lightweight and low-resource adblocker. Has many filter lists built in, with EasyList, Peter Lowe’s Ad server list, EasyPrivacy, and Malware domains enabled by default. It is, as the name implies, [https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBOL-home/wiki/Frequently-asked-questions-(FAQ)#filtering-capabilities-which-cant-be-ported-to-mv3 not as capable as the full version], and as such does not include cosmetic filtering or scriptlet injection. This should be used as your last line of defense against online advertisements. The full fat version of uBlock Origin, however. is still available for Firefox and it's derivatives.
-* In this example, we will be using the Google Drive extension (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-drive/apdfllckaahabafndbhieahigkjlhalf), but you can substitute it with any extension you prefer.
+====Decentraleyes====
-* Examine the URL of the extension that you wish to install and locate its ID. The ID is the apparent gibberish following the extension's name in the URL. In our example, it happens to be ''apdfllckaahabafndbhieahigkjlhalf''.
+[https://decentraleyes.org/ Decentraleyes] prevents a lot of requests from reaching content delivery networks like Google Hosted Libraries, and serves local files to keep sites from breaking. Complements your existing content blockers and helps to prevent fingerprinting.
-* Once you have located the ID, insert it in place of the bracketed statement in the following URL.
-* <nowiki>https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx?response=redirect&x=id%3D[Your ID Goes Here]%26uc</nowiki>
-* In our example, the final URL is: https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx?response=redirect&x=id%3Dapdfllckaahabafndbhieahigkjlhalf%26uc
-* Now that we have our URL, we must open it in a new tab and save the offered CRX file to a convenient location.
-* Unfortunately, the file will not work for us as is, since we are not installing from the Chrome Web Store.
-* To work around this problem, we must extract the contents of the CRX file to a folder with an archiver like 7zip.
-* Once we have extracted the archive, we must enable 'developer mode' on our extensions page and load the folder as an unpacked extsion.
-* Provided the everything went according to plan, we should have have a working extension.
-=== Notable Extensions ===
+====[[File:ClearURLs.png|48px]]ClearURLs====
+[https://clearurls.xyz ClearURLs] is an extension that automatically removes tracking elements from URLs to help protect your privacy when interacting with the botnet.
-''There seem to be many extensions for Chromium that claim to block advertisements. The two listed here perform exactly as advertised, but the rest are probably best left alone.''
+===Usability===
+'''Dark Reader'''
-* [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/adblock-plus/cfhdojbkjhnklbpkdaibdccddilifddb Adblock Plus] - This extension, originally forked from AdThwart, is controlled by the company responsible for the popular Firefox Adblock Plus Add-On. It includes an 'acceptable ads' list that can be disabled.
+[https://darkreader.org/ Dark Reader] allows the user to apply an automatically generated dark theme to any website. Your mileage may vary.
-* [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/adblock/gighmmpiobklfepjocnamgkkbiglidom Adblock] - This alternative to Adblock Plus is preferred by some users. It used to be the most popular extension for Chrome, but it is now better know for its cult-like advertising campaigns on YouTube.
-* [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chromium-updater/hcmicnfbmcjhlbdohdmdhfjlbigkcddl Chromium Updater] - This extension allows Windows and GNU/Linux users to conveniently identify, download, and install the latest Chromium build. It may not be as seamless or convenient as the automatic updates in Comodo Dragon and Google Chrome, but it does get the job done. Obviously, it should only be used with Chromium.
-* [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/https-everywhere/gcbommkclmclpchllfjekcdonpmejbdp HTTPS Everywhere] - This extension is maintained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. It forces supported sites to prefer secure connections. This does occasionally cause problems, so the option to enable or disable the extension on a per-site basis is included.
-* [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pdf-viewer/oemmndcbldboiebfnladdacbdfmadadm PDF Viewer] - This extension adds PDF.js, the free and open source HTML5 PDF reader found in Firefox, to Chromium.
-* [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/stylish/fjnbnpbmkenffdnngjfgmeleoegfcffe Stylish] - This extension allows the user to apply custom visual styles to Websites, internal browser pages, and more.
-* [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tampermonkey/dhdgffkkebhmkfjojejmpbldmpobfkfo Tampermonkey] - This extension adds a proper user script manager to Chromium. While it is certainly possible to install user scripts as Chromium extensions without this extension, it makes managing them much more convenient.
-== External links ==
+'''Stylus'''
-* [http://www.chromium.org/Home The Chromium Homepage]
+[https://add0n.com/stylus.html Stylus] allows the user to apply custom visual styles to Websites, internal browser pages, and more.
-* [https://www.google.com/chrome/ The Google Chrome Homepage]
-* [http://www.chromestatus.com/features Chromium Status]
+[[File:ViolentMonkey.png|48px]]'''Violentmonkey'''
+[https://violentmonkey.github.io/ Violentmonkey] adds a proper user script manager to Chromium. While it is certainly possible to install user scripts as Chromium extensions without this extension, it makes managing them much more convenient.
+==Tweaks and Fixes ==
+====Suspending unneeded tabs====
+If you have tabs sitting around that you don't really actively need, you can unload them using [https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/12929150?hl=en Memory Saver] mode
+===Installing extensions===
+If you cannot install extensions with your version of Chromium, install [https://github.com/NeverDecaf/chromium-web-store this extension]
+==External links ==
+*[https://www.google.com/chrome/ The Google Chrome Homepage]
+*[http://www.chromestatus.com/features Chromium Status]
 [[Category:Browser|Chromium|Chrome]]
+[[Category:Software]]

Chromium: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 21:46, 7 December 2024

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