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Which browser do you use and why? (lemmy.selfhostcat.com)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) by ocean@lemmy.selfhostcat.com to c/linux@lemmy.ml
 

Using firefox but concerned now

Read about some alternatives:

Edit 2/28: It seems there is no general consensus if we should switch and/or to what.

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[–] Xanza@lemm.ee 1 points 42 minutes ago

I've been using Zen for the past couple days and it's absolutely spectacular. I really really been enjoying it.

It claims to be a fork of Firefox but there's still Firefox under the hood and you can tell. But I find that it runs significantly faster than Firefox standard. So who knows. The author seems to be making it as ambiguous as possible so I would think that it's a soft fork that's basically stock Firefox with a few minor changes and a new look.

[–] jadsel@lemmy.wtf 2 points 4 hours ago

I have found Mozilla's sync across devices handy, but now I'm in the process of moving over to using Vanadium on my GrapheneOS phone and FireDragon on desktop.

FireDragon started out as a Librewolf fork, but is more recently based on Floorp. They are still keeping in sync with Librewolf's privacy enhancements, with some of their own thrown in. I like that the default search engine is Garuda's instance of Searx, with Whoogle as another option if you don't want to self host. FireDragon will also sync your Firefox account off Garuda's server instance if you like (which would be more useful if I weren't going with a Chromium fork on mobile). The Garuda project is certainly looking more trustworthy than Mozilla these days.

[–] cy_narrator@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

I use Firefox and Chrome as I am not a woke vegan

[–] ocean@lemmy.selfhostcat.com 6 points 4 hours ago (1 children)
[–] cy_narrator@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 3 hours ago

People that complain on little tiny thing

[–] pfr@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 10 hours ago

The Gnome browser (epiphany?) is actually quite good. But when I'm on windows I use Zen. On GrapheneOS I use IronFox.

I also recently tested Ladybird. It's still not usable for daily use, but I'm excited for it.

[–] huggingstars@programming.dev 2 points 8 hours ago

Firefox on Desktop. Chrome or Vanadium on Mobile.

[–] pineapplelover@lemm.ee 2 points 10 hours ago

On pc I use both librewolf and firefox

On mobile I use mull, fennec, and vanadium if for some reason they want something chromium based

[–] chrand@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 hours ago

Still using Firefox but looking to move to LibreWolf

[–] icogniito@lemmy.zip 8 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Zen, absolutely love the workflow and the fact that it is not chromium based.

Waiting excitedly for ladybird, it is already very impressive but still years left until it is daily drive able

[–] Fluxxr@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

I like zen a lot but I’m struggling to drag a tab from one window to another. The sidebar always collapses on the target window before the tab gets there. Any tips?

[–] ___@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 hour ago

Perhaps right click on the sidebar -> disable compact mode? I haven't had any issues moving tabs between windows, but then again I keep the sidebar persistent

[–] kyub@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

I use several, depending on use case:

  • Tor Browser for general and anonymous web browsing (e.g. reading news, looking up stuff, and so on)
  • Mullvad Browser as a clear web alternative for general use
  • Librewolf for generally logging into sites with personally identifiable accounts (e.g. to buy stuff)
  • Ungoogled Chromium for those few sites which only work with a Chromium-based browser, or other specific cases
  • On Android (GrapheneOS): Tor Browser and Vanadium

All regular browsers have some hardening applied and uBlock Origin installed.

[–] Arfman@aussie.zone 1 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

I was thinking of switching to one of the Firefox forks but have only tried Waterfox so far and not super impressed. I guess Firefox is the best out of the bad bunch until I find an alternative I like.

[–] ocean@lemmy.selfhostcat.com 3 points 4 hours ago

Librewolf looks exactly the same to me

[–] trk@aussie.zone 6 points 17 hours ago

Firefox. And Thunderbird. And donate to Mozilla.

Don't really see the point in using a fork that, by the time you boil it down, just takes Firefox's work and then releases it later.

I want a Google and Apple alternative and I'd rather support it at the top of the chain.

[–] beyond@linkage.ds8.zone 2 points 14 hours ago

Librewolf mainly because that's the Firefox-type browser that comes with my distro (IceCat is there too, but it's based on ESR and not frequently updated).

[–] Turturtley@aussie.zone 7 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

My issue is that while i am concerned about privacy, i’m more concerned with security patching. And none of these smaller browsers have the resources to turn around security fixes as quickly as firefox or chrome.

Firefox is the least of the concerns as long as we have the config options to disable anything deemed not privacy-respecting.

[–] ocean@lemmy.selfhostcat.com 1 points 4 hours ago

This is the only good critique in this entire thread (thank you) BUT librewolf is on the exact same version as Firefox. It appears their updates are pretty fast.

Would you have config recommendations beyond the obvious?

[–] verdigris@lemmy.ml 23 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Still Firefox. Every time Mozilla does anything the entire privacy community goes insane. The terms of use they published seem entirely benign, and the only thing anyone can actually point to is the "direction being worrisome". Well, I'll get worried when they update the terms to be actually onerous. Everything even possibly annoying can be disabled, and it's still the only browser engine offering competition against Chrome ruling the web.

[–] ocean@lemmy.selfhostcat.com 3 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

I don’t see how you could find the terms not concerning and their removal of stating they don’t sell data

[–] verdigris@lemmy.ml 4 points 18 hours ago

What in the terms is concerning? They still have the bulk of the language in the old data privacy guarantee as well. This seems like they just got a more circumspect legal department who wants to cover their ass.

It's always been the case that Mozilla could decide to just make Firefox suck ass. Again, I'll be worried when they actually change the terms to something unacceptable.

[–] lemminator@lemmy.today 5 points 18 hours ago
[–] jaypatelani@lemmy.ml 2 points 16 hours ago

Check articFox

[–] COASTER1921@lemmy.ml 1 points 15 hours ago

Starting yesterday unfortunately Chrome and not Firefox. I just need a working web browser and haven't had the time to figure out what is wrong with my Firefox installation. I have no clue why but after updating to firefox 135 it eats up all my RAM (20GB+) and uses a significant amount of CPU while idle with only the process monitor tab open. Attempting to browse is unreasonably slow. Refreshing Firefox did nothing, despite now having a Firefox installation which isn't logged into anything and has no extensions. So I figured that if I'm going to deal with a browser not logged into anything it might as well be Chrome for a bit until I can figure out what the problem is since that's what all of the internet is designed to work with lately.

[–] bruhsoulz@lemmy.ml 2 points 18 hours ago

As of late using konqueror, it quite bs-less

[–] potentiallynotfelix@lemmy.fish 5 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago) (1 children)

I use firefox and am actively looking to change to something, potentially librewolf.

Edit: just installed librewolf. it's super clean and I'm glad I got it. replaced firefox almost instantly.

[–] ethancedwards8@programming.dev 1 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

I like librewolf but for me video is so incredibly slow. Is anyone else having this issue?

[–] kixik@lemmy.ml 1 points 13 hours ago

Have you tried enabling webgl, which by default is disable on Librewolf? You can do that by overwriting the corresponding setting, as it can be done for any Librewolf setting, in particular the webgl override needed is:

defaultPref("webgl.disabled", false);

If you do, Librewolf recommend using the extension "CanvasBlocker" given the fingerprinting allowed by webgl. There's a settings doc BTW..

[–] mexicancartel@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I think there is a generaal consensus to say it's not ARC

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[–] FrostyPolicy@suppo.fi 3 points 22 hours ago
[–] Templa 3 points 22 hours ago

I use Librewolf as my daily driver, however it breaks a lot of websites. We had to purchase plane tickets yesterday and to use regular Firefox.

I was super hyped for Ladybird but there was this weird thing regarding pronouns on their docs (last year?) and no matter the outcome, I just decided to not follow it anymore.

I have Chromium installed for things that break even on regular Firefox and for comparing websites when I need.

On mobile (grapheneOS), I am currently using Firefox Nightly, I think because it was the only one I was able to install extensions from custom repositories, I am not sure if that's still the case. I know I can (and should use) Vanadium, but I always miss my FF extensions when I do it. I play a lot of things so I love when I am automatically redirected from Fandom to a Breeze wiki instance, for example.

I never tried any other browsers of the list, and honestly I am very curious on the differences between Librewolf and Waterfox. Wasn't able to do the research by myself yet.

[–] joyjoy@lemm.ee 2 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (1 children)

Everything is just a skin of either Chrome or Firefox. Until recently, all browser on iPhone were a skin of Safari. Ladybird is the exception.

[–] phar@lemmy.ml 1 points 16 hours ago

Gnome browser and Konqueror are WebKit based like safari is

[–] HotsauceHurricane@lemmy.one 5 points 1 day ago

Librewolf & waterfox are fantastic. Zen is interesting but it takes some work if you are used to firefox/Librewolf. Ladybird isn't out yet 🫠

[–] JanUwU42@lemm.ee 3 points 1 day ago

Zen Browser I love it :)

[–] commander@lemmings.world 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Firefox. Google removed a valuable addon from their store without justifiable reason and kept it removed because there's not sufficient backlash.

The addon is AdNauseam. It's an improvement on uBlock Origin that clicks ads in addition to hiding them.

[–] RecipeForHate1@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 day ago

I moved to LibreWolf back when Mozilla announced AI features

I appreciate its privacy-focused approach

[–] tonytins@pawb.social 31 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Firefox. Equally concerned as well.

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[–] savvywolf@pawb.social 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'm a Firefox user and I'm not really that bothered about this tos changes. If they do mess things up I'll probably just switch to some fork that doesn't do the fuckery.

Wouldn't be surprised if Mint packages Firefox with it (whatever "it" is) disabled, since they build Thunderbird without telemetry.

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[–] SeeFerns@programming.dev 3 points 1 day ago

Been using zen for a few days with ublock, no issues so far but I might go back to librewolf soon even though it feels less modern. It just feels safer, idk tbh

[–] SunDevil@lemmy.ml 18 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

While I'm not sure dropping Firefox is necessary at this juncture, I've had a good experience using LibreFox. Hearing a lot about Zen, though.

Check out Mozilla's clarification: https://www.ghacks.net/2025/02/27/mozillas-new-terms-of-use-causes-confusion-among-firefox-users/

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