Preferred Browser

[Unchart3dSandb0x]

i have 3 browsers that i currently use, firefox, edge and ulaa, https://ulaa.com/

Ulaa was one I hadn't heard of. And, they have an Android version. One of the things I liked about Firefox was the cross-platform access and the option of syncing bookmarks from my mobile. Of course, Chrome does that too.

[diabolicbg]

Of course, Chrome does that too.

And of course, Google is the biggest spy.

[Unchart3dSandb0x]

And of course, Google is the biggest spy.

I know, right?

[Lady Fitzgerald]

And of course, Google is the biggest spy.

I know, right?

Dang right!

[diabolicbg]

There is a saying in Bulgarian: "I only trust my dick because it hasn't touched me yet."

[Prsman]

If you have firejail installed. Open a terminal and enter:

Code: Select all

sudo firejail --nettrace

Then open your browser from Menu. Who's talking to who? Ctrl c to close the program.

(EDIT) if you want to know where the traffic comes from, you can install geoip-bin from Synaptic.

[Jymm]

Waterfox, no telemetry.

Waterfox looks real interesting. I've never used it, but read about it. If I recall, they were going to offer an Android version and it didn't happen. I could be wrong. My memory is... wait. What were we talking about?

Waterfox is Firefox with the telemetry turned off, as some have said you can do it with about:config yourself, Waterfox just does it for you. Generally Waterfox is not in repositories and you have to install the tarball. Sparky Linux is the one exception I have ran into, There is also Waterfox Classic which is often in the repositories, but I don't like the GUI. Librewolf is also along the same lines, based on Firefox but with more privacy. If you want to install the tarball their are online tutorials, or contact me and I can send you the one I use.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

...Librewolf is also along the same lines, based on Firefox but with more privacy. If you want to install the tarball their are online tutorials, or contact me and I can send you the one I use.

Why not just link the tutorial you use here? Or, even better yet, since websites tend to be ephemeral, create and post a tutorial in the Tutorial subforum here. That way, more people will be able to find it and you won't get pestered to get it. When creating the tutorial, please make it simple, complete, and step by step. Assume whoever will use the tutorial knows nothing about computers and include every little detail, no matter how obvious it may seem to you.

[Jymm]

I had it on a USB key and had to find it. I don't do the terminal much so have some other ways to accomplish things in italics. I use this on installs on Mint, Sparky, Ubuntu Mate, Sprial and Parrot, all with the Mate Desktop. Of course each new release of a tar ball will be named with a different identifier you must use

install waterfox tarball

Step 1 :download the .tar file and then move it to the directory where you want to install it.
sudo mv waterfox-G4.0.5.en-US.linux-x86_64.tar.bz2 /opt (I open two file browsers as sudo and move it to opt that way) in terminal.

cd /opt/ in terminal

sudo tar -xjvf waterfox-G4.0.2.1.en-US.linux-x86_64.tar.bz2 in terminal (I use engrampa archive manager to extract waterfox in opt)

sudo chown -R $USER /opt/waterfox in terminal (opt is root, this gives your user name ownership)


pluma ~/.local/share/applications/waterfox.desktop in terminal (This opens the desktop entry and will save it in the correct place)

(it’ll open Pluma or your default text editor where you need to insert the specifications of the desktop entry.)

paste the following in the editor and save:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Waterfox
Exec=/opt/waterfox/waterfox %u
Terminal=false
Icon=/opt/waterfox/browser/chrome/icons/default/default128.png
Type=Application
Categories=Application;Network;X-Developer;

chmod +x ~/.local/share/applications/waterfox.desktop in terminal


finally you can remove the .tar file using the following command (I just delete the tarball in opt)

sudo rm -rf waterfox*.tar.bz2 in terminal


When Waterfox issues a new release you only have to download it and move it to opt and extract it. You do not have to do the ownership and menu over, they still point to Waterfox in opt. You may have to go into the menu editor and check it to appear in the start menu or log in and out.

[Jymm]

https://dev.to/arbitrary/how-to-install ... linux-33aa

[Moem]

Waterfox looks real interesting. I've never used it, but read about it. If I recall, they were going to offer an Android version and it didn't happen.

Waterfox is my primary browser of choice; my secondary is Chromium.

Waterfox for Android seems to exist now. I don't use it because i don't use Android. If I did, I would.

[ivar]

I use different browsers to keep certain logins separated. Main pc at work = Opera, Chrome and Firefox. Also use Vivaldi more and more.

Edge is supposed to be very good in microsoft exosystems, but I cant stand the nag screens at first startup

also, appears microsoft made a "mistake", lol!
https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/16/2407 ... ta-bug-fix

I remember back in the late 90's, internet explorer ruled the www and I hated it intensely already back then. Opera was a godsend with tabbed browsing , I used it from version 4.something. Still use it a lot out of old habit

[Unchart3dSandb0x]

Waterfox looks real interesting. I've never used it, but read about it. If I recall, they were going to offer an Android version and it didn't happen.

Waterfox is my primary browser of choice; my secondary is Chromium.

Waterfox for Android seems to exist now. I don't use it because i don't use Android. If I did, I would.

Cool. I'll have to check it out again. The last time I looked was a few years ago. Right now, I'm mainly using the Samsung browser on my phone. Ialso have the Firefox loaded so I can sync bookmarks.

[Winchester99]

I was a long-time Firefox user, ever since Windows 98 (if I remember correctly) through to XP as I preferred it to Explorer, then when I went over to Mint in 2014, I continued with Firefox as it's the default browser.

A few weeks ago, I was interested in finding out about other browsers, mainly as I found that Firefox was slower than it used to be, and I had it installed on my mobile but synchronisation wasn't all that good, sometimes websites and searches accessed on one device failed to show up on the other. Also the mobile version, for me at least, wasn't particularly intuitive to navigate.
I decided to give Vivaldi a try, and installed it from the .deb file.

Vivaldi is billed as very customisable, which it is, and has a built-in email client, which can be used for multiple email addresses. The browser interface seemed a little cluttered to me at first, but of course you always need to give new things a chance when you change from something you are used to.
There is also a "Note" function, which can be used manually or can automatically save information from a web page.
Anyway, after a few weeks, I am much more comfortable with Vivaldi, I have uninstalled Firefox from both my devices and added Vivaldi to my mobile as well.
Synchronisation is spot-on, navigation on my mobile is much more comfortable. It is faster than Firefox on both devices.
The built-in ad blocker works well.
I don't have a lot of tabs open at any one time, but lots of tabs can apparently be organised as required.
What it all comes down to is that I find Vivaldi does what I want very efficiently, so that I have replaced Firefox after many years.
There are many experts on the forum, who are much better placed than myself to advise on avoiding the more undesirable aspects of browsers, such as telemetry, I speak purely as someone who is very much a non-expert but that's my contribution which I hope might be of assistance.

[rickNS]

Ulaa was one I hadn't heard of.

This may be another you have not heard about, not talked about much, and not mentioned in this thread yet (i checked to the end), Slimjet.
https://www.slimjet.com/en/index_ie8.php

There is a video on the page too.

[jackkileen]

LibreWolf.

For me it comes down to usability, tabs, separate search box, privacy and security.
The browsers below are tested out of the box so most of those browsers can be better configured through their Settings.

Continued>>>>>>

[NoHo Hank]

"Preferred" is meaningless.
Further read: viewtopic.php?t=397740

thnx for the substantial information! That says it about all OK settings in LW has to be tweaked as welll when on Linux. And in UBO some filters can be added, maybe No Script to add and a safe search engine etc. Still MV and LW are a good start!
Anyhow a nice link!

[Hoser Rob]

All these 'alternative' browsers are based on Firefox or Chromium AFAIK. I used to experiment with some of them but I discovered that the security updates always came a few days after the same ones for FF or chrome. That's a bit strange for programs that claim better security and that's what I call a deal breaker. Now I use firefox-esr as my default and keep Chrome around in case I need it for compatibility reasons.

[MikeNovember]

"Preferred" is meaningless.
Further read: viewtopic.php?t=397740

thnx for the substantial information! That says it about all OK settings in LW has to be tweaked as welll when on Linux. And in UBO some filters can be added, maybe No Script to add and a safe search engine etc. Still MV and LW are a good start!
Anyhow a nice link!

Hi,

Much more about browsers settings in my guide,
viewtopic.php?t=397740

Regards,

MN

[trike lady]

I just installed the Waterfox browser. First impression is the browser seems much lighter and looks the same as Firefox.