Linux & Open Source News Browser extensions sell what you view to AI companies, GNOME funding, Wayback progresses
12 snips
Jul 12, 2025 Discover alarming trends as hundreds of browser extensions leverage AI to harvest your data. The GNOME Foundation is stepping up, funding developers to enhance its projects. Exciting updates surface, including the alpha release of GNOME 49 and Wayback's new home at Freedesktop.org. Meanwhile, Google is pushing its Gemini AI into Android apps, while Chromium browsers promise even faster performance. Tune in for insights on how these developments impact user privacy and the open-source landscape.
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Browser Extensions Spy with AI
- Many browser extensions use the MellowTel library to scrape browsing content and sell it to AI companies.
- This exposes users' private and sensitive information without their knowledge, making it highly unethical.
Support GNOME Developers Directly
- The GNOME Foundation plans to fund GNOME developers directly once basic expenses are covered.
- They will use grants, fellowships, and donation notifications modeled after KDE to support development.
Wayback's Modern X11 Compatibility
- Wayback offers a Wayland-compatible X11 compatibility layer allowing full X11 feature set without the constraints of XWayland.
- This modern approach helps run legacy X11 apps integrated fully with Wayland desktops.