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[diggerdogwoofwoof]

I recently realized that Firefox is not as independent as they say.  The space bars for typing into say clearly search with google also I have to fill in a google cookies consent in order to use. There are many other search engines out there that claim to be independent but collect info or use other search engine platforms to operate from.  The only truely independent search engine I can find is Tor which has a bad image. Maybe it deserves the image as it bounces information around from server to server to make tracing impossible.  I dont want that degree of privacy as I am not doing anything criminal.

I want a search engine where my privacy is guaranteed, where my activities are not tracked and where people do not sell my information to advertisers. I do not want anything to do with firms who store every detail of information about me.  This stuff could be used against an individual by Governments.  Democracy is a fragile tool.  If an individual is a serious criminal or suspected terrorist then Government can get the necessary consent from courts to follow and trace that person

Why cant linux create a search engine where there is no collection of data or sites visited, no cookies or adverts. Linux does quite well as open source. Wouldn't a decent search engine to go alongside Thunderbird mail help attract people

[Keith]

Hi Diggsy.

Firefox is a "web browser" rather than  search engine.  It goes to wherever you have set it to go (in the address bar), and at start-up, your default destination is - guess what? - Google, which is a search engine.  It is true that Firefox does use "back-office" software provided by Google, but I've not seen reports of it being misused, and Mozilla is positive about personal privacy - see https://www.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/privacy/. 

The best search engine that I have found is DuckDuckGo about which Wikipedia says "DuckDuckGo (also abbreviated as DDG) is an internet search engine that emphasizes protecting searchers' privacy and avoiding the filter bubble of personalized search results.[3] DuckDuckGo distinguishes itself from other search engines by not profiling its users and by showing all users the same search results for a given search term.[5] " See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuckDuckGo. 
You can set DDG as your default search engine by following the instructions here: https://duckduckgo.com/install. 

You can improve your privacy by installing the "Privacy Badger" Firefox Add-On.  Click on the Application menu (top right of search bar) and select "Add-ons & themes";  search for "Privacy Badger"; and click on it to install. 

You ask "Why can't Linux create a search engine where there is no collection of data or sites visited, no cookies or adverts".  You forget that Linux is not a company; it is an operating system developed and maintained by volunteers in their spare time - they are not obliged to provide other software - and it's all provided for free.  You might like to as yourself how it's funded.  And good search engines exist already, as I've shown above. 

Keith

[mikep]

Actually Keith, Linux isn't even an operating system. It's the kernel around which each distro builds an operating system.

Your point is absolutely correct though. Linux isn't a single entity and is maintained by volunteers, whether the kernel itself or the distros based on it.

Besides which, creating and supporting a search engine is a very different challenge from writing an OS and presumably involves massively more investment in hardware.

[Keith]

Thanks for the correction, Mike. 

Keith