Headline: “Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski just said he wants to buy Google Chrome following the DOJ’s move to force Google to sell it. Pavlovski intends to rename it ‘Rumble Chrome.’”
If Google is forced to sell Chrome, how will that impact Brave? Brave’s Leo AI (which I really like) says that Chromium is an independent non-profit project, which I didn’t know, but thought it was maintained by Google, with its deep pockets. Could Chromium be self-supporting without Google?
So the buyer takes on all of (and more than):
All open Chromium issues:
Chromium Bug Life Cycle and Reporting Guidelines:
https://www.chromium.org/for-testers/bug-reporting-guidelines/
Chromium Blog:
Chromium Extensions:
Reporting Chrome OS bugs:
https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/docs/+/master/reporting_bugs.md
Chromium Security:
[Participation in] CVE - Google Chrome
And, if Google Chrome (and therefore Chromium) changes hands, then what happens when some significant customer base just walks away?
@ElectricBrain Yes, it could be self-supporting. As you have read, it is an open source project. If nothing else, it may just translate to Microsoft or one of the others picking up the slack. But it is a community project with no direct ownership.
Not sure if it used those words, but if so then is a bit of a misnomer. The difference is a “non-profit” usually refers to an organization that operates for public benefit and has no income. It is bound to a charter and typically has a Board of Directors.
Since Chromium isn’t a single entity and not operating under anything, it does not earn any money. So it would have “no profit” but not be deemed a “nonprofit” or “non-profit.” Anyway, not wanting to split hairs but just wanted to point that out.
Non-profits can have huge incomes and lavish large salaries and benefits on their employees. They use that name because they don’t distribute profits to owners, they funnel everything to staff and whatever their official activity is.
The term ‘non-profit’ refers to an official designation, usually under laws like 501(c)(3) in the U.S., which requires meeting specific criteria for governance, mission, and financial reporting.
Chromium, on the other hand, is not a non-profit in this sense. It’s neither registered as a non-profit nor structured as an independent organization. Instead, it’s a collaborative codebase with no revenue generation of its own
If your point was more general and not specific to Chromium, it’s worth noting that non-profits are subject to strict regulations regarding their finances. While they can pay high salaries or spend heavily, they are legally required to use their funds in alignment with their stated mission. Non-profits are also required to file detailed financial reports, like the Form 990 in the U.S., which the public can review. Mismanagement of funds or failure to meet these regulations can lead to serious consequences, including fines, loss of tax-exempt status, or even criminal charges in severe cases.
Fun fact: I was the Chief Compliance Officer (A position on the board of directors) for a nonprofit. My position was to actually help make sure that they complied with all federal and state regulations.
I was replying to your claim about non-profits having no income. They do, as does the Chromium project.
Yep, just correction on wrong term used. Bound to happen when juggling multiple things but terminology indeed matters. Intent was to say profit rather than income.
That’s incorrect. The Chromium project itself doesn’t generate income or profit. Browsers built on Chromium might earn revenue, but that’s separate from the project itself.
Non-profits often don’t generate revenues, but they have an income nonetheless, via donations. With the Chromium being internal within Google that may come entirely in the form of developers, server space and bandwidth, or it may be given a budget.
Sorry, in haste I misquoted Leo; the term was indeed “an open-source project”. You’re correct. I asked Leo “If Google is forced to sell Chrome, what happens to Chromium?” Try it yourself; presumably you’d get the same response.
Aside from all the noise about non-profits… I expect that a large percentage of updates to chromium come from Google, supported by their funding. Supporting a browser is a big, expensive task. That support will have to come from somewhere.
It will affect other chromium-based browsers like Vivaldi as well.