@wuwei @jonas I think you're confusing the Searxes instance (searxes.eu.org) w/the the decentralized #searx network. If you use a searx instance arbitrarily it often gets zero results; but Searxes avoids that problem & gives good results

@jonas @wuwei and to say any searx instance "don't return anything due to bad configuration", it's wrong to say the config is bad. It's a consequence of /scraping/ instead of /buying API access/, & this is good for #privacy. #DDG buys API access, which entails helping #Verizon (a privacy abuser) profit.

@resist1984 @wuwei @jonas DDG is generally received as privacy-friendly. Check PrivacyTools, ThinkPrivacy and the EFF. Furthermore, a lot of users find even DDG not as user-friendly as they would like. It would be a nightmare to convince them to use Searxes. 😕

@sudo @jonas @wuwei That's grasping for straws. I struggle to see how someone can be so mentally challenged as to be unable do a #Searxes query, even if the field has an Esperanto background. Results are in English. There are also other options that don't simultaneously feed Amazon, Verizon-Yahoo, and MS. DDG is a poor recommendation from a #privacy PoV.

@resist1984 @sudo @jonas @wuwei If DDG doesn't keep records and track users, and doesn't even have an option to "sign in", then how is it a bad privacy oriented recommendation? A search engine that doesn't track you, doesn't keep records, doesn't tie an account to individuals, doesn't alter search results based on your past searches, and uses https, seems kinda like the definition of a good privacy oriented search engine.

@gerowen @wuwei @jonas @sudo you are *trusting* #DDG to do what they say they do, & they've already been caught violating their privacy policy by issueing tracker cookies. The CEO also has a history of #privacy abuse. DDG is obviously untrustworthy. DDG also finances privacy abusers (#Verizon, #Amazon, & #MS), & supports #CloudFlare.

@resist1984
We must be related... we have the same eyes

@resist1984 I'm aware that they store a tracking cookie because that's how your settings are saved between sessions. I haven't heard anything about them financing Microsoft though. I have seen articles like this about them though. Would you care to give me a source to read about how they finance privacy abusers? If it's true I'd definitely be interested in educating myself.

https://fossforce.com/2016/05/duckduckgo-gives-open-source-projects/

@gerowen #DDG stopped using tracking cookies when they got caught & someone called them out for violating their #privacy policy. The cookie that stores preferences is a conventional cookie, not a #trackingcookie. #Duckduckgo pays #MS for Bing API access. Last I checked it was stated on duck.co.

@resist1984 @jonas @wuwei Please remember that not everyone is talented or even interested in everything. There are some people who can swim very well while there are others who are learning to swim or even afraid of water. That does not imply that they are 'mentally challenged', though. That is why, for the good of everyone, we need to recommend something that anyone can use easily. What matters is that they can do what they need to do while also having a certain degree of privacy. Cheers! 😁

@sudo @wuwei @jonas you don't understand. It takes no more talent to use a Searxes search field than it does to use a DDG search field. If someone is too mentally challenged to use #Searxes, then they are also incapable of using #DDG.

@jonas @wuwei @sudo IOW, you can get more #privacy with the same amount of skill from Searxes than DDG.

@resist1984 @sudo @wuwei @jonas Hey miss I was born mentally challenged but that doesn't stop me from Searxes.

@resist1984

No, I'm afraid I wasn't confusing a tree for the forest.

However can you expand on your Searxes avoids that problem comment?

Are you talking about constant public instance switching, self-hosting, meta-searxes or something else entierly?
@jonas

@wuwei @jonas Searxes is coded to randomly select from a pool of quality searx instances on each query. It then does some post-processing to filter #CloudFlare results. Searxes never says "due to #CAPTCHA there are no results". IDK how it avoids that. Either the source pool is only instances that don't scrape or it jumps to another instance in the background.

@resist1984

I looked at it now. It's a meta-searx. That means it scrapes off of other searx instances and switches between them as needed.

However it also means it lacks some basic searx features like choosing which search engines to use.
Something that is very important depending on your language or when searching for images and other specific file formats.

Also it's hosted by some random dude in Germany which isn't exactly ideal.

Thanks for the link still

@jonas

@wuwei @jonas Like #DDG, all searx instances are inherently meta-search engines. Searxes is a meta-search of searx instances, which you could call a meta-meta-search. Meta-searching does not necessarily imply scraping. A meta-search can be accomplished by scraping &/or using an API. The searx s/w is #freesoftware not designed for corporate protectionism. It's unlikely that Searxes scrapes.

@jonas @wuwei many searx nodes scrape b/c they tend to be non-profit projects. But Searxes most likely uses an open API to get results from searx nodes.

@wuwei @jonas #DDG is a US-based /for profit/ corporation that pays privacy abusing surveillance capitalists (VZ, MS, Amazon), which should make you far more uncomfortable than a random guy in a basement working on a project that is likely not for profit.

@jonas @wuwei also note that if whatever strange bias leads to you trust a profit driven corporation more than a privacy driven non-profit, #mojeek would be a better choice than #ddg