Hector Martin (@[email protected])
social.treehouse.systems
Attached: 2 images Today I learned that YouTube is deliberately crippling Firefox on Asahi Linux. It will give you lowered video resolutions. If you just replace "aarch64" with "x86_64" in the UA, suddenly you get 4K and everything. They literally have a test for "is ARM", and if so, they consider your system has garbage performance and cripple the available formats/codecs. I checked the code. Logic: Quality 1080 by default. If your machine has 2 or fewer cores, quality 480. If anything ARM, quality 240. Yes, Google thinks all ARM machines are 5 times worse than Intel machines, even if you have 20 cores or something. Why does this not affect Chromium? **Because chromium on aarch64 pretends to be x86_64** `Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/120.0.0.0 Safari/537.36` 🤦‍♂️​🤦‍♂️​🤦‍♂️​🤦‍♂️​🤦‍♂️​ Welp, guess I'm shipping a user agent override for Firefox on Fedora to pretend to be x86. **EDIT**: The plot thickens. Pretending to be ChromeOS aarch64 *still gets 4K*. Specifically: `Mozilla/5.0 (X11; CrOS aarch64 10452.96.0) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/66.0.3359.181 Safari/537.36` still works.
    • El Barto@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1863·
      7 months ago

      Edit 2: Well, at least I know I’m right. Downvote away.

      Sorry, I’m all for net neutrality, but behavior based on browser usage, while dickish, has nothing to do with it.

      Edit: it seems like I’m being schooled. Got any sources to back up your downvotes?

      Edit 3: nope. I’m not being schooled. The downvoters should either get better informed or stop downvoting with their emotions.

      • Zunon@lemmy.worldEnglish
        536·
        7 months ago

        yes it does, net neutrality not only has to do with the ISP but also the services. different useragent string should NOT lead to a worse quality of service.

        • El Barto@lemmy.worldEnglish
          131·
          7 months ago

          Got any source on that? I’m legitimately asking to learn more about that.

        • vithigar@lemmy.caEnglish
          158·
          7 months ago

          Right, but your service provider has nothing to do with that difference. The fact that the entity you’re contacting on the other end of the connection is providing a degraded experience isn’t an internet service delivery problem.

          Your internet service, which is what net neutrality is concerned with, is distinct from services on the internet. In the same way that your phone service has nothing to do with the quality of service you get from HP’s telephone support line.

          • ag10n@lemmy.worldEnglish
            121·
            7 months ago

            The web is based on open standards; that’s what made it universally accessible. How does limiting access based on how you access the web benefit anyone?

            • vonbaronhans@midwest.socialEnglish
              151·
              7 months ago

              It doesn’t, but that isn’t their point. They’re simply pointing out that existing net neutrality laws in the US usually only apply to ISPs and telcos, not internet businesses.

            • prole@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              71·
              7 months ago

              Nobody is defending the practice, they’re just differentiating it from what we’ve previously referred to as “net neutrality,” which is 100% entirely about how ISPs process internet traffic, and not about the services being used within that traffic.

              Unless I missed the memo, and “net neutrality” means something different now.

              • ag10n@lemmy.worldEnglish
                1·
                7 months ago

                Since Google is both the service provider for the client browser and also provides last-mile internet services; they would fit the definition of a supposed neutral ISP but also neutral for applications and services further up the OSI stack.

                Net neutrality is not just a service provider concept but has been viewed this way in the cases service providers have tried to game the system. It also encompasses the concept of an open internet; the neutrality of data is data and presentation, or lack of to the client is defined by open standards, not the desires of any one party.

            • El Barto@lemmy.worldEnglish
              5·
              7 months ago

              Imagine a business making some smoothies with water provided by the utility company. The business decides to sell less appetizing smoothies to certain organizations. Are you saying that that’s a “water utility neutrality” issue?

            • vithigar@lemmy.caEnglish
              61·
              7 months ago

              Where did I say it did? The fact that it’s not a net neutrality issue doesn’t mean it’s not an issue. Net neutrality is just a specific thing that isn’t this.

      • prole@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        5·
        7 months ago

        Hmmm, not sure why people are downvoting…

        Maybe these days people are using the term “net neutrality” in a broader sense to just mean equitable access, rather than the specific meaning that’s been used in the past to refer to ISP behavior and giving preference based on how much is paid?