The Linux Foundation has launched an initiative called the Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers. Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Opera are members of the group.

While the news comes as a surprise, the list of members who have joined the group is unsurprising to say the least. Brave and Vivaldi, DuckDuckGo are not members, and it is not clear why they are not part of the project, given that their browsers are based on the Chromium open source project.

It seems rather silly that Google, Opera, Vivaldi joined hands with other browser makers to fight against Microsoft Edge as part of the Browser Choice Alliance, and now they themselves are part of a group that includes Microsoft. I suppose it is for their perceived version of the greater good.

What is the purpose of Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers?

Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers is an initiative that has been created to aid innovation, improve the adoption, and enhance the open development of projects in Chromium's ecosystem, according to the official announcement. As you may be aware, Google Chrome, Opera Browser, Microsoft Edge use Chromium's Blink engine to power their respective browsers.

The browser makers have partnered with The Linux Foundation to foster an open source environment and support the developers financially and continue the technological progress of Chromium. Basically, this sounds like a second foundational pillar for Chromium, which Google maintained to a large degree on its own until now.

You can find the press releases from Opera, Chromium, Microsoft, and The Linux Foundation on their websites.

How will this affect Firefox or Safari?

But what about other browsers? The whole thing seems rather bizarre, given that most Linux distros ship with Mozilla Firefox preinstalled.

Why would the Linux Foundation support Chromium? By expanding adoption and removing barriers to innovation within the Chromium ecosystem for the entire web industry, are you not hurting other browsers like Firefox (and its forks), Apple Safari and others? Everyone hates Manifest V3 and its aftermath including the removal of uBlock Origin and other extensions from Chrome, will this new initiative fix things, or make it worse?

And the timing is uncanny. Just when the Department of Justice is trying to push Google to potentially sell Chrome, and split Android from the company, suddenly the Linux Foundation declares its support for Chromium browsers? What are the odds of that happening? Is there something happening behind the scenes?

The Linux Foundation will manage the fund of the Supporters of Chromium-based Browsers, and handle things transparently with open governance and community-driven development. Google says that it is "committed to being the responsible steward of the Chromium project and to the massive investment necessary to keep Chromium working well for the entire web industry."

On the other hand, we do have to wonder what would happen if Google is ever forced to sell Chrome. It is possible that the Linux Foundation could take over the development of Chromium from Google, or at least oversee the project.

Some users claim all this could be a PR move by Google in the antitrust case, and that this could help it retain Chrome. Others are saying this could be a big loss for Mozilla. Do you remember Servo? It is an open source browser engine that was created by Mozilla, but the Mozilla Corporation laid off its developers in 2020. The Linux Foundation took over the governance of Servo, and now it supports Chromium. I guess we have come full circle.

What do you think about all this?