Hm, it looks like the ticket under which they added the "Your default search engine has been changed" message is private.
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1748923
https://github.com/mozilla/gecko-dev/commit/d28e21ce8c21dd2a...
> Mozilla was unable to secure formal permission to continue including certain search engines in Firefox. We provided an opportunity to previously-included search engines to sign an agreement and the engines that did not complete the agreement will be removed from Firefox.
Does anyone have a list of the search engines which were removed?
How about listing which fucking search engines are affected?
Guess that'd be too easy for Mozilla.
Mozilla was unable to secure my formal permission to remove any part of my configuration at first (during an update).
Edit: And it's the browser that you have not to update if you want to keep things working as they used to.
Wait- since when did we need a plug-in/extension to add a default search engine? Did I miss something or is this a new "feature"?
Mozilla, please!
I really, really want to use Firefox but I also want to have a home page on my own hard disc and my own choice of search engine that doesn't get switched out at every upgrade.
Please, do better! I'm this close to giving up on you.
When I worked at Mozilla, the official policy was that when the user overrides the default search engine, then that search engine pref is left alone.
(Note that if the user never changed the default, but the default itself changed, for example when Mozilla switched from Google to Yahoo (or vice versa), that was considered to be fair game.)
Whenever this happened while I was there, it was always due to an actual bug. I highly doubt that there is anything nefarious going on here.
Mozilla has (had?) an agreement with Google to make their search engine the default one in exchange for no less than $400 million/year. The agreement would last until some time in 2023, so (if that's the reason) it could be a decision from Google to stop paying.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/sources-mozilla-extends-its-go...
> What countries will be affected by this change?
> This change will apply to users in all countries who are using an affected search engine with Mozilla.
What a pointless answer.
Are there any details on the nature of the agreement? Is it just permission to use trademarks or something?
This is the list of search engines https://github.com/mozilla/gecko-dev/tree/master/browser/com... that Firefox ships with. It's a long list so it's easy to imagine that not all of them completed the agreement.
'smart' move by some MBA on their exec Team that just maximized their personal bonus. If they want the Google subsidies to keep flowing, while they are loosing users they'd better nudge those remaining users to search engines that pay them. I was morally conflicted for a long time for not using firefox and more recently for not even testing in firefox anymore. But I don't feel that way any more. They are beyond saving. IBM, Mozilla, Oracle, morally equivalent. I mainly use ungoogled chromium and safari. Qutebrowser would become my daily driver whenever they implement extension support. They recently secured some EU funding, so there could be a lot of developments soon.Nyxt looks interesting too.
Is this related to the Linux Mint partnership?
https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=4244
I'm specifically wondering if the impacted users are Mint users who had DDG has their default search engine.
From the ashes of the Netscape-source based code rose Phoenix.
From the request by that BIOS-company by the same name rose Firebird
From the request by the makers of the database by the same name rose Firefox
Now, after many years, I'm hoping that from the ashes of the disaster which is the Mitchell Baker misled Mozilla organisation annex political action committee will rise the next iteration of what was destined to be one of the cornerstones of free software, the browser.
Call the thing Ouroboros - the snake that eats its tail in a continuous tale of death and rebirth. Call it Fenghuang is you want to pull in some Chinese mindset. Call it Anastasia, call it Babatunde or Yetunde, call it by any other name which is related to rebirth (which all those names I mentioned do) but for the love of ${deity} get rid of the current Mozilla leadership and correct course to where browsers are supposed to go: installed on user devices. Send Mitchell Baker to pasture without a golden handshake. Do whatever it takes.