[HN Gopher] uBlock Origin 1.41
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       uBlock Origin 1.41
        
       Author : favourable
       Score  : 440 points
       Date   : 2022-02-10 15:11 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (github.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
        
       | 2-718-281-828 wrote:
       | At the risk of comming off as pathetic but it just struck my mind
       | that Raymond probably deserves something like a Time's Person of
       | the Year (if not Decade) award. I mean - this is the only piece
       | of software (not exaggerating - I'm actually just realizing it
       | now) which I consistently install everywhere and anywhere me or
       | somebody who means something to me is accessing the internet
       | from. We reached a point where for me and probably each one of
       | you guys the Internet is unusable / unbearable without it! It's
       | an integral part of the Internet now to just make it and keep it
       | useful.
        
       | lazlee wrote:
       | I find it funny that when HN loaded for me, the post below this
       | one was "How I changed my mind about advertising." Not here - ads
       | begone. Wuthout UblockO the net is ugly and insufferable.
        
         | lazlee wrote:
         | Now if only somebody made a decent ad blocker for phones. I
         | haven't been able to find one (android) that works decently.
        
           | xigoi wrote:
           | For system-wide blocking (no root required):
           | https://f-droid.org/packages/org.blokada.fem.fdroid
           | 
           | For browser ads, just use Firefox or one of its forks and
           | install uBO.
        
           | aceazzameen wrote:
           | I've been using Firefox + uBO on Android. But I also run
           | NetGuard from F-Droid as a local VPN ad blocker. I used to
           | run Blokada, which does the same thing and is good too. But I
           | like the more granular control over each app in NetGuard.
        
           | hoppyhoppy2 wrote:
           | I use Firefox + uBlock Origin, but to block ads in other apps
           | I also use the NextDNS app (you can set up a custom set of
           | blocklists, including adblock lists, in your NextDNS
           | account).
        
           | gpm wrote:
           | Firefox + UBlock works great on android.
           | 
           | DNS66 works ok for apps that aren't browsers.
        
           | elcomet wrote:
           | I use brave browser for the fone, it works very well. And for
           | youtube, I use the youtube vanced app which blocks ads by
           | default.
        
             | Shared404 wrote:
             | For youtube on android, also see Newpipe.
             | 
             | Only downside for my usecase is that it doesn't support
             | chromecast, but that only comes up once in a blue moon.
        
               | lazlee wrote:
               | Thanks everyone. I'll check those out.
        
           | dazdaz wrote:
           | On a rooted phone, AdAway works fine.
           | https://github.com/AdAway/AdAway
        
         | npteljes wrote:
         | Link to the discussion: "I changed my mind about advertising"
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30270450
        
       | mikece wrote:
       | This is always the first addon/extension I add to a browse;
       | installing uBlock is like "sudo apt update && sudo apt update -y"
       | on a freshly installed system -- you're asking for trouble if you
       | don't secure things as soon as possible.
        
         | gggfvvff wrote:
         | The worst thing is that Firefox removes all add-ons if it was
         | not used for a while. One can disable this by setting
         | disableResetPrompt to true, but it's annoying e.g. when you set
         | up an ad blocker on your mom's laptop only to find it being
         | removed a few months later.
        
           | harph wrote:
           | First time I heard about this - I set up uBlock on my mom's
           | Firefox years ago, and it's still there...
        
           | neoglow wrote:
           | Don't get me wrong, but that implies she is not using Firefox
           | as her daily driver.
           | 
           | Changing the icon to, shudder, the edge icon might help and
           | call it "Internet" and maybe she will use it. Most people do
           | not really know, or care, that their browser is.
           | 
           | I do this with very un - techsavvy people and install uBo and
           | they have a fairly safe time online.
        
         | favourable wrote:
         | Indeed. I'm no stranger to creating new browser profiles for
         | different things, and the first thing I do when setting up a
         | new profile (in Firefox) is to install uBo. I have it turned
         | off in one profile for sites that break when using it. For some
         | reason, some e-commerce stores don't work with it, because of
         | KYC BS and having them flagging you as suspicious because
         | you're using an AD-blocker. That I can tolerate though (it's
         | finance right?). But for the bulk of my browsing, uBo is
         | essential.
        
           | ziml77 wrote:
           | I turn it off when I'm buying from a site because I've had
           | cases where the blocking interferes with the checkout. In one
           | case recently, when I forgot to disable it, the transaction
           | half went through. I was charged but the order was stuck
           | pending payment and it required me contacting their support
           | team to manually override that.
        
             | favourable wrote:
             | Yeah the reason I have a dedicated profile for e-commerce
             | (with uBo not installed) is that e-commerce sometimes use
             | an array of different domains during the checkout process,
             | and you have to whitelist each domain which is bothersome.
             | Best just not using uBo entirely during the process.
        
               | ziml77 wrote:
               | I keep a Chrome install for when disabling uBlock for the
               | main site doesn't work. Moving over to that also has the
               | benefit of removing Firefox as a reason the checkout
               | might not be working (I tend to assume that the only
               | browser people test for is Chrome).
               | 
               | I have had a few cases where even that didn't work and
               | instead I had to switch to my phone and disconnect from
               | my wifi to ensure that the DNS block list I use isn't the
               | problem.
        
         | rightbyte wrote:
         | I was setting up a workplace computer last week. It was
         | shocking to see all the scams circulating in the adds.
         | Especially the download scams on download pages. Next time I
         | will change the order and install uBlock the first thing after
         | the browser.
        
       | NelsonMinar wrote:
       | What a wacky industry we are in. 90% of the websites people like
       | us build are primarily there to show us ads. And then there's
       | this one addon maintained by one guy (and an army of helpers) for
       | free that removes those ads and makes the web more usable again.
        
         | progx wrote:
         | The problem are not ads. The problem is the huge amount of ads,
         | bigger bigger bigger, animated, with sound, tracking and and
         | and... Nobody has a problem with small decent ads without
         | tracking, but that was not enough for big companies.
        
           | matheusmoreira wrote:
           | > Nobody has a problem with small decent ads without tracking
           | 
           | I do. When I want to see products, I'll explicitly ask for
           | them. Nobody is allowed to grab my attention unsolicited. I
           | have attention deficit, it's hard enough to focus as it is
           | and I really don't need entitled company thinking it's okay
           | to just hijack it at their convenience. I really couldn't
           | care less about their "legitimate business interests" or
           | whatever.
           | 
           | When email users do it, we call it spam. When applications do
           | it, we call it focus stealing. Advertising is just yet
           | another form of abuse that should not be tolerated under any
           | circumstances. If they won't stop, we'll make technology that
           | will make them stop. We don't need to apologize for it or try
           | to reach a compromise with them. Their business model is
           | unacceptable, period.
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | TuringNYC wrote:
           | For me the problem is also that you get ads even if you did
           | pay. I pay for WSJ and Bloomberg and still get presented with
           | ads. Whats the point?
        
             | wintermutestwin wrote:
             | What's worse is you get tracked even if you are paying.
        
           | BiteCode_dev wrote:
           | Oh yes, the problem are the ads.
           | 
           | Even subtitle ads break your focus from the content, give bad
           | incentives, unfair leverage, etc.
           | 
           | If ads were not here, most junk content in the internet would
           | not exist because people would not pay 20 cents to see it.
           | They pay to see it with ads, because it's a price they don't
           | pay consciously, nor can they assess the consequences
           | clearly.
           | 
           | I'm for the total and complete ban of ads. A content can't
           | exist without it? Ask people to pay. If they don't, it means
           | it didn't have real value. Let it die.
           | 
           | Worse, ads create a huge asymmetry of power in the favor of
           | those who already have it. If you can throw a lot of money to
           | ads, you can gain on the competition. Local small shops can't
           | do that, so ads promotes way more coca cola than organic
           | carrots.
           | 
           | Besides, the people publishing ads have an agenda that almost
           | never align with the customers interest. People say there are
           | ads they want to see, but the reality is that even those ads
           | are not trying to make you more knowledgeable. They try to
           | sell you something.
           | 
           | We have thousands of communities of experts in stuff,
           | testers, consumers, bloggers, than can inform you. You don't
           | need ads to know about something.
           | 
           | Society as a whole would be better without it.
           | 
           | Newspaper would be more objective, streets would be more
           | beautiful, content would be more qualitative.
           | 
           | What about all those youtubers that couldn't exist without
           | ads ?
           | 
           | 99.99999% of them are crap. The youtube frontpage is a trash
           | can.
           | 
           | A minority is good, but in the new adsless society, some of
           | them would survive in a different way. Some would not, but
           | the benefits are more important. Just like the US didn't keep
           | thralls because "think of the economy".
           | 
           | Finally, the ads lead to websites to promote engagement at
           | all cost, which fuels fake news, outrages, and tribalism on
           | social medias. Ads are a burden to the human species.
           | 
           | And I say that... as a person who gets a lot of revenue from
           | ads.
        
           | rawoke083600 wrote:
           | I HATE the 'modern-web' it is x10 worse on mobile.
           | 
           | You usually have to wait for the trackers, ads, popups,
           | accept-popups,newsletters signups etc. I basically cant view
           | 60% of the webpages google recommends for me ony android
           | mobile. The other 40% is usually just super thin seo content
           | :/
           | 
           | I just finished reading the Gemini Protocol specs. I really
           | hope something like this takes off and there will be a second
           | 'silo/community' running alongside the modern web.
        
             | rightbyte wrote:
             | You can have uBO for Firefox mobile.
        
               | tfigment wrote:
               | Or use firefox focus which is faster ime and while not as
               | aggressive in filtering as uBO does a good job and saves
               | nothing beyond current session (cookies, ...)
        
             | npteljes wrote:
             | You can just say "web" - for 20+ years it has been looking
             | like this.
        
             | properparity wrote:
             | Yep.
             | 
             | I don't use uBO just for ads, I have tons of custom
             | cosmetic filters to block all the god damn always-on-top
             | video players, popups, fullscreen fade outs, annoying
             | sidebars, non-ad animations, fonts, etc.
        
               | rawoke083600 wrote:
               | Right ! Its a total disaster !
        
           | ASalazarMX wrote:
           | Whoever designed those video players that autoplay and follow
           | you when you scroll down and give you no option to turn off
           | that behavior... that kind of evilness is actually admirable.
        
         | abledon wrote:
         | through sheer scale of reach of the plugin, protecting our
         | mental health from intrusive ads in our subconscious more than
         | work done by 10s of thousands of therapists
        
         | schleck8 wrote:
         | The addon itsself, sure, but it relies on filterlists that are
         | moderated by a lot of people.
        
       | sherr wrote:
       | Thank you Raymond and all others involved with uBlock Origin. It
       | makes the internet bearable for me and other family members.
       | 
       | Every time I use the "YouTube" app on my elderly relatives TV and
       | see how often it is interrupted with adverts I count my blessings
       | that this add-on exists.
        
         | AnonHP wrote:
         | Tangential question to anyone reading this: How does uBlock
         | Origin block in-video ads that are in video format? I thought
         | all those are embedded in the video stream and served from the
         | same hosts that serve the video. If not, how has YouTube not
         | changed the way it serves the video to disable such blocking
         | functionality? Note that this is not about text ads that may be
         | overlaid in the video or text ads elsewhere on the YouTube
         | page.
        
           | cyral wrote:
           | I imagine that encoding the ads into videos would be too
           | expensive. Ads change often and are personalized, so the
           | video streams would also need to be personalized and couldn't
           | be cached and served from a simple edge CDN anymore. Instead
           | each ad is it's own stream which is loaded (or in this case,
           | not loaded, so instead of blocking playback entirely it just
           | skips the ad).
        
         | Retr0id wrote:
         | PSA: If it's a recent-ish LG TV, you can root it and install an
         | ad-free youtube app in just a few clicks. That said, one might
         | be afraid of potential future breakage/maintenance burden from
         | installing homebrew software for a relative.
         | 
         | https://rootmy.tv/
         | 
         | https://repo.webosbrew.org/apps/youtube.leanback.v4
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | kristofferR wrote:
           | Yeah, I've done this on my LG C9, works awesome.
           | 
           | Apart from SponsorBlock in YT, the most useful thing I've
           | found is the Hyperion sender app. I'm really looking forward
           | to building my DIY Ambilight when the pieces arrive, and it's
           | really nice to automatically capture all output, instead of
           | capturing through HDMI.
        
             | behnamoh wrote:
             | SponsorBlock is awesome. I just wish it could automatically
             | "detect" those sections without users input. Something like
             | a neural network to detect if a section is sponsorship.
        
           | thiht wrote:
           | On Android TV there's SmartTubeNext that I've installed
           | without root access. It's such a joy to use. It's honestly
           | better than the official Youtube app (it handles multi
           | accounts properly) and even embeds SponsorBlock by default!
           | And it doesn't show the comments, which is another feature as
           | far as I'm concerned.
        
             | smoldesu wrote:
             | I installed SmartTubeNext last week and it feels like a
             | burden has been lifted from my everyday life. There's
             | genuinely not enough praise that can be given for it; it's
             | arguably the perfect YouTube app for your TV.
        
             | pimeys wrote:
             | It also supports logging in multiple accounts and remote
             | play. Thank you for mentioning this!
        
           | capableweb wrote:
           | As I'm just about to start shopping for TVs, like LG
           | generally and would love it if I could root it, you know if
           | there is any list of compatible models somewhere? I did some
           | browsing and could only find which webOS versions that are
           | vulnerable, but not which LG model runs what version ("out of
           | factory" version at the very least).
        
             | Retr0id wrote:
             | If you buy any retail model today, it will be compatible.
        
               | capableweb wrote:
               | Great, thanks for the reply!
        
           | chaosharmonic wrote:
           | Can you load custom OS images onto them, or is this the same
           | situation as with bootloaders on most Android devices?
        
           | apexalpha wrote:
           | Wow, I had no idea! Thanks for the tip I have some reading to
           | do.
        
         | mkesper wrote:
         | Set up something like a pi-hole.
        
           | monkmartinez wrote:
           | Unfortunately, Pi-hole does not work for Youtube ads... At
           | least, I have been unable to find a reliable way to implement
           | it. My house would be much better for it, but I can not seem
           | to find a solution.
        
             | arbitrage wrote:
             | It may be the devices not honouring your DNS directives.
             | Sometimes they will still reach out to their own resolvers.
             | 
             | It helps if you have a network perimeter firewall to block
             | unauthorized DNS usage.
        
               | JackGreyhat wrote:
               | I think youtube serves ads from its own domain, as a
               | first party. This makes it harder for a pihole to block.
               | Ublock does it differently, looking at elements etc...a
               | pihole just tries to block dns requests to ad domains,
               | not looking at code that your browser is trying to load.
        
         | mrkramer wrote:
         | >Every time I use the "YouTube" app on my elderly relatives TV
         | and see how often it is interrupted with adverts I count my
         | blessings that this add-on exists.
         | 
         | Sad reality is Google can make ad blockers obsolete if they
         | really wanted to but I don't think it will happen anytime soon
         | since antitrust lawsuit is pressuring them to ease aggressive
         | business practices.
        
         | npteljes wrote:
         | I mean, YouTube at least offers a subscription that makes the
         | ads go away. Which is not the case with the cesspool that's the
         | rest of the internet basically. It's such a privilege that a
         | software like this exists, and is offered for free with no
         | strings attached.
        
           | avgDev wrote:
           | The problem is YouTubers still get sponsored and advertise
           | within the video. I would not want to pay for YouTube Premium
           | and still get exposed to those ads.
        
             | post_break wrote:
             | Sponsor block extension. It's ad blocking extensions the
             | whole way down.
        
               | mrkramer wrote:
               | FTC said that creators and influencers on social media
               | services need to put "sponsored", "promoted" or "ad" tag
               | disclosure on brands they are endorsing so it would be
               | possibly for someone to make uBlock Origin filter which
               | blocks such content.
        
               | post_break wrote:
               | The sponsor block extension is crowd funded, people put
               | where the sponsor message is and it automatically skips
               | it. Not sure if ublock can seek inside a youtube video.
        
               | mrkramer wrote:
               | >Not sure if ublock can seek inside a youtube video.
               | 
               | I was referring to a hashtag or simply a tag a piece of
               | text that can be spotted and then that type of content
               | skipped.
        
           | kmlx wrote:
           | yes, this. but this practice is less common than i would have
           | assumed at first.
           | 
           | there are websites out there that even after paying their
           | subscription they still put up ads.
        
             | NoPicklez wrote:
             | Youtube still put up sponsored ads unfortunately, even if
             | premium
        
             | redwall_hp wrote:
             | Hulu charges money and still interrupts shows with ads.
             | Cable television ended up that way eventually too, despite
             | one of the original selling points being the lack of ads.
             | They always keep trying to take more.
        
       | shmerl wrote:
       | I guess Mozilla add-ons repo is a bit behind? It still shows
       | 1.40.8.
        
         | yborg wrote:
         | Firefox: Review pending
         | 
         | Should update presently.
        
         | dartharva wrote:
         | The update has been rejected by the Mozilla team.
        
           | shmerl wrote:
           | What was the issue?
        
             | dankwizard wrote:
             | Click the article, it's one of the first lines. But to save
             | you the click it was due to a Chess match he played against
             | Mozilla in '18, they are still bitter about losing
        
       | lostgame wrote:
       | Someone posted a comment I'd replied to in another thread here
       | about iOS sideloading.
       | 
       | They'd asked 'why do you even need sideloading, what apps would
       | you even need?'
       | 
       | I'd said 'emulators', but uBlock is _definitely_ another thing I
       | wish I could sideload onto my iPhone.
        
       | sdze wrote:
       | It is a pity that Apple decides to castrate Safari's API in such
       | a way that uBlock Origin won't function.
       | 
       | It is _the_ best AdBlock out there in my opinion. Works
       | especially well for certain dirty pages with nasty ads.
        
         | AnonHP wrote:
         | Apple introduced content blocking in Safari in iOS 9 with
         | privacy in mind. Essentially, content blockers started off as
         | filter lists that Safari would use. Even with the more recent
         | support for WebExtensions, this wouldn't allow uBlock Origin
         | because uBO gets to see every network request made, intercept
         | it, match the requests with the blocking rules and prevent or
         | allow them. Granted that uBO is trustworthy and has never
         | siphoned off browsing behavior to other systems. But that risk
         | exists with almost every extension of this kind on other
         | browsers.
         | 
         | I use Firefox with uBO, and am not supportive of Apple's
         | position on not allowing uBO. But I see the value in
         | controlling what information browser extensions can see,
         | capture and possibly exfiltrate.
        
       | matheusmoreira wrote:
       | Thanks for your work. This is always the first extension I
       | install on every browser I come across.
        
       | Taylor_OD wrote:
       | uBlock Origin is great. If you don't have it, you should get it.
       | I don't understand how people use the web without it.
        
       | ck2 wrote:
       | The minimum browser bump is important to note because of the
       | security in versions before 1.39
       | 
       | https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/tag/1.39.0
        
       | shantara wrote:
       | >uBO works best on Firefox
       | 
       | Not a fan of the recent Firefox changes, but alone makes me keep
       | it as the default browser
        
         | ravenstine wrote:
         | Same. I'm sad to say that Mozilla really lost its way, but
         | Firefox is still the most libre browser I know of, thus I will
         | continue to use it until it becomes otherwise.
        
           | sleepless wrote:
           | "Lost its way" is non-actionable and unsubstantiated
           | criticism that reflects poorly on the person making such
           | statement.
           | 
           | What specifically do you disagree with? I actually feel the
           | opposite way. Finally after years of ignoring macOS Firefox
           | feels more at home and the UI changes make it much more
           | pleasant to use.
        
             | ravenstine wrote:
             | This is a discussion forum, not an academic debate. The
             | core of my statement is that Firefox has qualities that
             | make me want to continue using it despite how I disagree
             | with how Mozilla operates. I don't owe anyone actionable
             | criticism or evidence to backup my sentiment.
             | 
             | > What specifically do you disagree with? I actually feel
             | the opposite way. Finally after years of ignoring macOS
             | Firefox feels more at home and the UI changes make it much
             | more pleasant to use.
             | 
             | Mozilla owns Firefox, but Mozilla is not Firefox. Firefox,
             | for the most part, is fine. The text input I'm typing this
             | in is being rendered by Firefox.
             | 
             | As far as specifics go, Mozilla can hardly be considered
             | well managed by any objective sense. The market share of
             | Firefox has been declining rapidly for years, and Firefox
             | is the product everyone knows Mozilla for. Why then has
             | Mozilla not done anything meaningful to course correct? Why
             | do their executives of a non-profit foundation still get
             | raises when their core product is losing? (to be fair they
             | don't make much compared to for-profit salaries) Why are
             | they more interested in selling other products in a space
             | where there's already massive competition, and using
             | Udemy's pricing trickery to convince you that you're
             | getting a good deal? Why did they abandon Servo? Why did
             | they integrate a commercial service, Pocket, into Firefox
             | and make it opt-out? Did they _really_ need to make Brendon
             | Eich leave because he committed the deadly sin of... _being
             | against gay marriage?_ Do they really need to be blogging
             | about political activism that has nothing to do with the
             | web?
             | 
             | These are all facts you can look up easily.
             | 
             | Yeah, I don't like them. They're not well managed, and they
             | pretty much only exist in their current form because Google
             | needs them to exist. If Google stopped giving money to the
             | Mozilla foundation, lots of people would be laid off,
             | Firefox would go into a tailspin, and they'd be left with a
             | VPN service nobody really wanted. Maybe if money spent on
             | Mozilla VPN clearly went to making Firefox better, more
             | developer friendly, and more prolific, then it would be a
             | somewhat different story, but whether that is actually the
             | case isn't obvious. Even then, it's debatable to what
             | extent any VPN service isn't snake oil.
        
             | PopAlongKid wrote:
             | "reflects poorly on the person making such statement" is
             | non-actionable and unsubstantiated criticism.
        
               | unethical_ban wrote:
               | No, it isn't. The implication is "To hold oneself to a
               | better standard, make actionable and/or substantiated
               | statements, especially when making critical statements."
               | 
               | People seem to shit on Mozilla/Firefox often, and often
               | without any evidence or useful data to work with. And
               | they often say they use Chrome instead, run by an
               | organization that those same people would probably say is
               | user-hostile.
               | 
               | It's like seeing people criticize corruption in Western
               | democratic governments and declaring they're avoiding
               | that mess by moving to Moscow.
        
               | ohyeshedid wrote:
               | > The implication is "To hold oneself to a better
               | standard, make actionable and/or substantiated
               | statements, especially when making critical statements."
               | 
               | Ok, but defining the implications of 1st party statements
               | to 3rd parties is tricksy business.
               | 
               | > People seem to shit on Mozilla/Firefox often, and often
               | without any evidence or useful data to work with. And
               | they often say they use Chrome instead, run by an
               | organization that those same people would probably say is
               | user-hostile.
               | 
               | Except ravenstine didn't do any of that, so you're
               | applying your issues with other people to the wrong
               | conversation. They responded with depth before you posted
               | this.
               | 
               | > It's like seeing people criticize corruption in Western
               | democratic governments and declaring they're avoiding
               | that mess by moving to Moscow.
               | 
               | You sure you're in the same conversation as everyone
               | else?
        
         | freediver wrote:
         | It would be good to have a way to reproduce these results on
         | modern versions of browsers.
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | mrguyorama wrote:
       | This person is aggressively against being rewarded for their
       | selfless desire to make the internet functional, nicer, quieter,
       | and more about the users.
       | 
       | How many of you here instead spend your 40 hours a week making 6
       | digit salaries at a company that wants nothing more than to own
       | the attention of everyone who connects to a network? How many of
       | you have actively worked to create systems and technology to
       | invade the screens and speakers of users who wanted nothing of
       | the sort? How many of you have sat in meetings about
       | "attribution" or "analytics" and lied to yourself about what you
       | were building and what it would do to millions of people?
        
         | cptskippy wrote:
         | > This person is aggressively against being rewarded
         | 
         | Back when uB was transferred to a different maintainer and uBO
         | came about, I recall reading something about this. It isn't so
         | much that they don't want reward or recognition but rather the
         | do not want the obligation that comes with it.
         | 
         | Back when I maintained a couple Add-ons for Firefox there was a
         | constant external pressure from users to
         | fix/improve/maintain/develop the Add-on. In addition to that,
         | the user base wants to engage and feel part of a community and
         | interact with you. In a way it's stifling and why I eventually
         | abandoned the Add-ons.
         | 
         | When you start accepting recognition or donations for work you
         | share, there's obligation tied to it.
         | 
         | Some people don't want the obligation, it has nothing to do
         | with virtue.
        
           | mrguyorama wrote:
           | The reason for their desire to not be rewarded is orthogonal
           | to their virtue in spending their limited time and effort and
           | resources in making the internet a better place, which IMO is
           | virtuous.
           | 
           | That's what I was trying to get at. What legacy are you
           | leaving this world? Are you truly leaving it a better place
           | than you were given?
        
           | WheatM wrote:
        
       | geoffeg wrote:
       | Does anyone know of a way to run uBlock Origin as an HTTP(s)
       | proxy? I'd really like to be able to provide uBlock Origin style
       | functionality to mobile and other browsers on my network that
       | can't easily run uBlock. Historically privoxy could do some of
       | what uBlock does, but development on privoxy seems to have
       | declined...
        
         | LinuxBender wrote:
         | Yes and no. One could create a Squid SSL-Bump (MITM) proxy and
         | create ACL's that operate closely to uBlock. There won't be
         | full parity between the two so uBlock would still provide some
         | benefit to the client. The method of using Squid as a MITM
         | proxy method assumes one can install and trust a server public
         | key into the clients. Squid will limit what HTTP protocols one
         | could use. e.g. h2, alpn won't be supported. If one does not
         | mind those limitations and having to maintain a small list of
         | sites to bypass MITM due to public key pinning then Squid can
         | have rules for anything the client or server can see. Domains,
         | URL's, Content-Type, Size, Methods, Ports, you name it. One
         | could save some bandwidth on static content as an additional
         | benefit.
        
         | CodeHz wrote:
         | You could try adguard (android version), but it is paid.
         | 
         | And the biggest problem is most of sites are already upgraded
         | to https, it needs MITM attack, but lots of applications won't
         | accept any user certificate... (so adguard needs be installed
         | to let those apps bypass its proxy, that's mean, you cannot
         | just host a central proxy server to filter all ssl traffic)
        
         | quesera wrote:
         | Is Privoxy development velocity the best metric?
         | 
         | Once the framework is in place, the interesting action is in
         | filter configuration, right?
         | 
         | https://www.privoxy.org/ says latest release is about two
         | months ago.
        
         | imglorp wrote:
         | Pihole? I think they share some block lists.
        
           | freedrock87 wrote:
           | Only does DNS blocking
        
         | nix0n wrote:
         | If you have Android, the easiest way to run uBlock Origin is to
         | install it for mobile Firefox.
        
           | boring_twenties wrote:
           | Yes, unfortunately it won't help you if you use any apps that
           | display arbitrary websites in the system webview. E.g. a
           | reddit client.
        
             | bentcorner wrote:
             | If you set it as the default browser, well-behaving apps
             | that use Chrome Custom Tabs will use firefox in these
             | situations.
        
             | xigoi wrote:
             | https://f-droid.org/packages/org.blokada.fem.fdroid
        
           | vanilla_nut wrote:
           | Precisely. On iOS, I've recently been enjoying Hyperweb,
           | which you can add some of uBlock Origin's blocklists to. My
           | experience so far has been great, though I'm aware that their
           | blocking is probably based on Safari's neutered "content
           | blocker" API so it isn't quite as fast or efficient.
        
             | ASalazarMX wrote:
             | I've been very happy with the free tier of Lockdown
             | Privacy, which blocks ads in every app, not only Safari. It
             | creates a dummy VPN which can filter. Not as powerful as
             | uBlock Origin, but it blocks in-app ads too.
        
         | favourable wrote:
         | Have you considered pi-hole[0], NextDNS[1], or AdGuard[2]?
         | 
         | [0] https://pi-hole.net/
         | 
         | [1] https://nextdns.io/
         | 
         | [2] https://adguard.com/en/welcome.html
        
           | geoffeg wrote:
           | I have pi-hole, and while DNS filtering does eliminate a
           | majority of annoyances on the web, there's still a large
           | amount that I need uBlock for.
        
             | vdfs wrote:
             | DNS filtering is the only option outside the browser
             | because of SSL
        
               | Chabsff wrote:
               | That's not necessarily true. SSL/TLS does not prevent all
               | MITM, it prevents _unwanted_ MITM.
               | 
               | To be fair, I don't think you can install certificates on
               | a Chromecast for example, so it might not be practically
               | feasible for all devices, but a blanket "SSL makes that
               | impossible" is not correct.
        
               | qwertyuiop_ wrote:
               | _SSL /TLS does not prevent all MITM, it prevents unwanted
               | MITM._
               | 
               | That's news to me. Can you expand on this ? I always
               | assumed if an API Endpoint for example is served on TLS
               | it's secure till the termination. No ?
        
               | nicoburns wrote:
               | You can always choose to install your own root
               | certificates, at which point your browsers will trust any
               | certificates issued by them (which could be your own mitm
               | proxy)
        
               | remh wrote:
               | It would cause issues for websites / apps using HSTS /
               | Certificate pinning (a.k.a. most big websites)
        
               | makeworld wrote:
               | No, HSTS doesn't pin the cert, it just says that TLS must
               | be used. A custom root certificate will fulfill that
               | requirement.
               | 
               | Cert pinning isn't used by browsers in general.
        
               | derimagia wrote:
               | In practice it's usually done with SSL termination (MITM
               | but you have a trusted certificate)
               | 
               | Adguard Docs on it:
               | https://kb.adguard.com/en/general/https-filtering#how-
               | does-h...
               | 
               | Charles Proxy:
               | https://www.charlesproxy.com/documentation/proxying/ssl-
               | prox...
        
       | NotAWorkNick wrote:
       | From the release notes -
       | 
       | New - Dark mode Support for dark mode added to the Settings pane,
       | under the (new) Appearance section:
       | 
       | Thanks Raymond!
        
         | favourable wrote:
         | I'm excited for this too:
         | 
         | > A new setting in "Filter lists" pane to control whether uBO
         | should wait for all filter lists to be loaded before
         | unsuspending network activity.
        
       | haunter wrote:
       | uBlock Origin + ungoogled-chromium [1] is what I use daily. And I
       | don't how to appreciate people who are working on these projects
       | 
       | 1, https://github.com/Eloston/ungoogled-chromium
        
         | computronus wrote:
         | From https://ublockorigin.com/ itself: "The uBlock Origin
         | project still specifically refuses donations at this time, and
         | instead advises all of its clients, users and supporters to
         | donate to block list maintainers."
         | 
         | As an example, I donate to https://patreon.com/blocklist .
         | Amazingly, right now, there are only 43 patrons.
        
           | ents wrote:
           | I donate to oisd.nl -- the wife approved Pi-Hole DNS list
           | that can also work with uBo.
        
             | tylerfontaine wrote:
             | Unfortunately, the list doesn't seem to be compatible with
             | piHole (at least >5.0), and in searching around there's
             | some beef between pi-hole folks and the oisd maintainer. I
             | won't perpetuate it by posting links, but it's sad to see
             | for sure.
        
         | pritambaral wrote:
         | Head's up for anyone going down this route: uBlock Origin is
         | going to be gimped when Chrom{e,ium} switches exclusively to
         | Manifest V3.
        
           | fourseventy wrote:
           | Whats Manifest V3?
        
             | pritambaral wrote:
             | https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&q
             | u...
        
             | josefx wrote:
             | Modern browsers share a "standard" list of APIs for
             | plugins, that makes it possible to write a plugin that runs
             | in both Chrome and Firefox. Google decided to remove
             | several APIs for "performance" and "privacy" reasons from
             | the third version of that list. It just happens that all
             | dropped APIs where used by ad blockers and that some of the
             | announced "replacement" APIs weren't even able to handle
             | the most commonly used static block lists. As far as I
             | understand the replacement APIs where developed in
             | cooperation with Ad block plus, which just happens to allow
             | Googles ads under its acceptable ads program.
        
             | favourable wrote:
             | > Whats Manifest V3?
             | 
             | In simple terms, it's Google's attempt to stop AD-blockers
             | interfering with their business model.
        
           | nicoburns wrote:
           | I think it's very much still an "if" not a "when". Chrome
           | will stop being a lot of peoples' recommended browser if they
           | do this, and could well end up losing them a lot of users.
        
       | SkySkimmer wrote:
       | I've blocked so many fixed position headers with this thing.
       | Although tbh I should learn the filter syntax to make them
       | position: absolute instead.
        
       | loop0 wrote:
       | Ever since I heard about AdGuard Home I never looked back. I have
       | a raspberry pi 4 serving all dns requests from every electronic
       | at my house for 215 days of uptime now without any issues.
       | Browsing the web seems faster and cleaner ever since.
        
         | CamJN wrote:
         | Well, all dns except that over ipv6, DOH, DOT, software using a
         | separate resolver hard-coded to a specific ip... The amount of
         | work to force dns to your dns server these days is nuts.
         | 
         | I use a pi-hole and these days I have to:
         | 
         | - block dns advertisement of my ISP's dns server for ipv6
         | (which, there's no UI for that on my router so i have to edit
         | the config by hand) - maintain a list of dns over https ips and
         | block them in my firewall (since mitming this traffic is a huge
         | pain) - force all traffic to port 853 to my pi and setup a
         | masquerade for that traffic so the client doesn't know - force
         | all traffic to port 53 to my pi and setup a masquerade for that
         | traffic so the client doesn't know
        
       | vanilla_nut wrote:
       | Does anybody know if there's a way to donate to gorhill/uBO
       | development? I looked through the entire README and I don't
       | _think_ there 's any link to send $ (just a "contribute to
       | translation" link -- what a brilliant crowdsourcing solution!).
       | 
       | Does gorhill just do this for free because he's an amazing human
       | being, or am I missing where I can buy him a coffee?
       | 
       | Been trying to make a more conscious effort to donate to
       | meaningful causes this year, and I have to say uBO is one of the
       | strongest forces for good on the internet I know.
        
         | favourable wrote:
         | Yeah they really need a Ko-Fi[0] or Patreon[1] link in the
         | README IMHO.
         | 
         | But that said, looks like they don't _want_ donations[2]
         | 
         | > I don't want the administrative workload coming with
         | donations. I don't want the project to become in need of
         | funding in any way: no dedicated home page + no forum = no cost
         | = no need for funding. I want to be free to move onto something
         | else if ever I get tired working on these projects (no
         | donations = no expectations).
         | 
         | > Have a thought for the maintainers of the various lists.
         | These lists are everything. This can't be emphasized enough.
         | 
         | [0] https://ko-fi.com/
         | 
         | [1] https://www.patreon.com/
         | 
         | [2] https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Why-don't-you-
         | accept-...
        
           | josefx wrote:
           | > Yeah they really need a Ko-Fi[0] or Patreon[1] link in the
           | README IMHO.
           | 
           | I am quite sure that kind of nonsense lead to the Origin
           | fork. As far as I understand the old uBlock project was taken
           | over by a contributor who offered to manage user requests but
           | immediately started to look for ways to monetize it and
           | things only went downhill from there.
        
             | ask_b123 wrote:
             | You mean things went gorhill from there? :-)
             | 
             | But yes, although I'd be quite happy to donate to uBO (it
             | is the only extension I find indispensable and I even
             | abandoned Safari after it stopped working there), I cannot
             | help but admire their stance on donations.
        
           | ihuman wrote:
           | The README also says they don't want donations
           | 
           | > Free. Open source. For users by users. _No donations
           | sought._
        
         | TheChaplain wrote:
         | Write him an email and sincerely thank him for the work, and
         | ask if there is any charity he would prefer you donate to.
        
         | JohnTHaller wrote:
         | I recall him stating he didn't want to take donations because
         | he didn't want the chance of money coming in from someone that
         | could influence the decisions of the project (see AdBlock
         | Plus).
        
           | dont__panic wrote:
           | And every time I learn more about gorhill, I respect him
           | more. Forget looking up to the Bezoses and Zucks of the world
           | as role models, or even the Gates. This is someone who writes
           | software that improves the quality of life of tens of
           | millions of people across the planet, maybe even hundreds. I
           | haven't heard a bad thing about him yet.
        
             | bentcorner wrote:
             | > _This is someone who writes software that improves the
             | quality of life of tens of millions of people across the
             | planet, maybe even hundreds._
             | 
             | The sad thing is that it doesn't have to be this way, if
             | ads weren't so terrible or intrusive gorhill could be
             | working on something else instead. I'm sure people will
             | point out the upside of browser ads but I speculate that
             | it's a net (!) negative.
        
               | npteljes wrote:
               | I agree, but the notion of doing something like this is
               | inspiring. The FOSS movement is full this sentiment and
               | it's nothing short of a miracle.
        
           | agumonkey wrote:
           | couldn't we cap the donations and anonymize it ?
           | 
           | maybe find other ways to thank or help gorhill.. his work is
           | too much of a gift
        
             | npteljes wrote:
             | I suggest to take the goodwill elsewhere. This person
             | actively don't need it, but a myriad of other causes do.
        
               | agumonkey wrote:
               | I already do that.
        
         | nevitablentropy wrote:
         | Per the About section [0] on the README:
         | 
         | uBlock Origin's manifesto. Free. Open source. For users by
         | users. No donations sought.
         | 
         | Without the preset lists of filters, this extension is nothing.
         | So if ever you really do want to contribute something, think
         | about the people working hard to maintain the filter lists you
         | are using, which were made available to use by all for free.
         | 
         | You can contribute by helping translate uBlock Origin on
         | Crowdin.
         | 
         | [0]: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock#about
        
       | JimWestergren wrote:
       | This is uBlock Origin (the good one) and not uBlock. Info
       | https://www.reddit.com/r/ublock/comments/32mos6/ublock_vs_ub...
        
         | favourable wrote:
         | Amended. The Github repo is named `uBlock`[0] so there will be
         | confusion for people about which is the 'best' version (Hint:
         | it's uBo)
         | 
         | [0] https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock
        
       | rasz wrote:
       | >By default, at browser launch uBO waits for all filter lists to
       | be loaded before unsuspending network activity so as to ensure
       | web pages are properly filtered at launch.
       | 
       | Fun Fact: uBO might wait, but Chrome DGAF and will load pages
       | without waiting for all extensions to properly load.
        
       | moedersmooiste wrote:
       | The first thing I install on every fresh desktop OS...
        
       | tiffanyh wrote:
       | iOS availaiblity.
       | 
       | Is there a reason why it's not available on iOS?
        
         | jhickok wrote:
         | Apple is the reason.
         | 
         | https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/158
        
           | tiffanyh wrote:
           | So what's the best adblocker on iOS these days?
           | 
           | Because in your link above, the alternative recommendations
           | have now either become "un-recommended" or have massive
           | reported performance issues.
        
             | ASalazarMX wrote:
             | Performance and battery life were my worries when I tried
             | ad blocking apps on iOS. So far I've been very happy with
             | Lockdown Privacy, which when active, consumes 5% of the
             | battery. In exchange, I barely see ads even inside apps. If
             | only it had as much filter lists as uBlock Origin.
        
             | arepublicadoceu wrote:
             | Safari + Adguard OR 1blocker OR wipr (it's not even close
             | to ublock origin but it's the best you're gonna get on this
             | damned walled garden)
             | 
             | For ioswide adblock: nextdns dns profile is the best you're
             | gonna get as well. With no battery usage as it's just a dns
             | profile.
        
               | tiffanyh wrote:
               | Ironically, uBO author recommends AGAIST what you listed.
               | See the parent link.
        
               | arepublicadoceu wrote:
               | Are you sure?
               | 
               | Just checked the link and the only arguments against
               | 1blocker is the subscription model and paid upgrades.
               | 
               | Nothing significant against adguard or wipr.
               | 
               | The do not recommend list only have:
               | 
               | -Adblock plus
               | 
               | -Ublock
               | 
               | -Adblock for safari
               | 
               | Anyway, as I said, nothing comes close to ublock origin
               | but it is what it is.
        
       | kerneloftruth wrote:
       | The ublock origin creators deserve a Nobel peace prize. No
       | kidding or hyperbole.
        
       | kazinator wrote:
       | Block Element is a quite a useful feature of uBlock Origin.
       | 
       | You can right click on individual things in a website's UI and
       | make them go away using the "Block element ..." context menu
       | command added by uBlock.
       | 
       | This is useful for not only getting rid of ads, but anything that
       | distracts you or tricks you into clicking on it.
       | 
       | For instance, in Reddit, if you find yourself accidentally
       | clicking on switching to New Reddit (which annoyingly updates
       | your profile to make that choice stick), you can just block that
       | button.
        
         | SamuelAdams wrote:
         | Yep I use this to block the stack exchange top block thing on
         | the desktop site. I get sick of dismissing it all the time.
        
           | kazinator wrote:
           | Sorry, what exactly is this "top block thing", on which
           | StackExchange site?
           | 
           | I didn't manually block anything from these sites, but don't
           | see any annoying block near the top.
           | 
           | Well, the main "stackexchange.com" has a dialog-box-like
           | element titled "StackExchange Q&A Communities are Different.
           | Here's how:", with a bunch of content, and a [Learn More]
           | button. You can close this with the X in the top right
           | corner. Is this it?
           | 
           | I guess it doesn't bother me because I've never found that
           | site useful to begin with.
           | 
           | The dismissible block is not actually at the top; it's below
           | the "search all sites" toolbar, and below that block there
           | isn't any particularly useful content, just "hot questions"
           | and a sidebar of "featured sites". Basically nothing other
           | than that toolbar is useful, and that toolbar could just be a
           | tiny browser extension or something. So if I dismiss that
           | box, no useful content moves up to occupy that space. It
           | could bother me a bit if I were interested in browsing the
           | hot questions, rather than search.
           | 
           | Maybe DuckDuckGo has a shortcut for it? Hey, yes it does: !se
           | 
           | If you use DDG, you have no need to visit stackexchange.com
           | just to search all the SE sites; just !se in front of your
           | search terms.
        
             | notreallyserio wrote:
             | I assume they mean the useless "Closed, duplicate" (which
             | almost never links to a duplicate) or "Closed, opinion"
             | box. I forgot I can remove them with UBlock Origin.)
        
         | arrosenberg wrote:
         | FYI, all of the things you block wind up in a text list within
         | the settings of the app, so it's super easy to
         | copy/paste/edit/add elements that way if you need to.
        
         | diabeetusman wrote:
         | I actually found this useful the other day when I was shopping
         | online on a bugged website. After I applied a filter, the
         | loading spinner wouldn't go away, even after it had finished
         | loading the filtered results.
         | 
         | I blocked the loading spinner element and the website worked
         | perfectly after that.
        
         | ohyeshedid wrote:
         | Block Element is the goto where reader view fails.
         | 
         | For a great many sites, I remove headers, footers, sidebars,
         | etc.
        
         | BbzzbB wrote:
         | The eyedrop (permanently hide element) is great for getting
         | through most cookie walls without accepting anything.
         | 
         | The filters (custom rules for hiding stuff) is great for
         | personalizing your browsing. Eliminate scores on Reddit,
         | YouTube video cards containing keywords for stuff you don't
         | want to get spoiled, Tweets types that don't interest you like
         | "Stuff your follows such as "You might like", etc.
        
           | 63 wrote:
           | Don't they just assume using the site without accepting is
           | the same as accepting all?
        
             | EEBio wrote:
             | Some probably do, but any GDPR-compatible website won't.
        
           | agentdrtran wrote:
           | Bypass Paywalls is a great extension that does this
           | automatically.
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2022-02-10 23:02 UTC)