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LibreWolf – Custom version of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom

librewolf.net

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Re: LibreWolf – Custom version of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom

#101

Post by tech234a »

rascul wrote: post #92
sneak wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mozilla ships Firefox with telemetry (aka spyware, given that it operates silently and automatically without consent) enabled by default. They also ship closed source DRM in the browser which infringes on software freedoms. Mozilla doesn't actually care that much about privacy or freedom, it's just marketing to make line go up and to the right while Mozilla staff can keep collecting paychecks for being "the good guys…

> They also ship closed source DRM in the browser which infringes on software freedoms. I thought it wasn't shipped with the browser but the browser asks if you want to download it when you first need it.

EME-free builds are available if you know where to look: https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/117.0/

Re: LibreWolf – Custom version of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom

#102

Post by lemper »

rascul wrote: post #88
brirec wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Am I misreading the financial statement linked by your sibling comment? It looks like they spent in the $250,000 or so range on all salaries combined in a given year, but maybe I’m misreading it.

It's in thousands so it should be $250,000,000? I don't know that I'm reading it right either.

https://calpaterson.com/mozilla.html

Re: LibreWolf – Custom version of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom

#103

Post by alwayslikethis »

kornhole wrote: post #14
extr0pian wrote: post #10

Just yesterday I had noticed that, "Suggestions from sponsors" in the address bar had been turned back on after a recent Firefox update, and then installed Librewolf. I really want to use it as my main browser, but certain use cases such as online banking (at least with my credit union) doesn't seem to work properly, so I re-disabled "Suggestions from sponsors" in Firefox and went on with my day. Seriously, changing…

I use both Firefox and Librewolf to achieve browser isolation. Librewolf is my default browser for all anonymous browsing such as news sites. I use Firefox for all my real name ID account logins such as banking. This way your Librewolf browser fingerprint is never associated to your real ID.

I still think it's better to use Firefox containers on either of these browser, and combine them with temporary containers to isolate different aspects of your online life. By default all browser sessions are ephemeral, so no cookies are stored, just like incognito mode. Only when you whitelist a site to use a named container do they gain the ability to use your local storage. Using different containers appear to change fingerprints, it seems.

Re: LibreWolf – Custom version of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom

#104

Post by whatscooking »

itvision wrote: post #26

The biggest problem with all these "privacy" oriented web browsers is that you have to trust their creators explicitly and I just cannot. Most often the developers are some random anonymous Joes without CVs or anything proving they have reputation at stake. Thank you, but no thank you. Even if the official Firefox "leaks" something it's well controlled and well known. What do these browsers do? I've no idea.

I hate this “I can’t trust open source” mentality. Open source contributors automatically getting labeled as malware is insane. I’d rather trust an individual contributor over large corporate interests any day of the week. And don’t act like the same thing can’t happen to corporate software

Re: LibreWolf – Custom version of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom

#105

Post by donkeybeer »

lemper wrote: post #81
_a_a_a_ wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but very little of the money given to them goes to the browser itself or even their research projects hi, do you have a breakdown or some stats for this?

not him. but there's this person whose paycheck is 7digits. pretty sure the person in question doesn't know a lick about rendering engine or other nitty gritty details of how browser works.

Remember how the new CEO upon joining fired 250 employees and simultaneously upped her own pay to 2.5 million? (Its much more now)

Re: LibreWolf – Custom version of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom

#106

Post by cuddlyogre »

sneak wrote: post #53
westpfelia wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So your general thesis is that software that tracks errors and problems the software might have, and software that deliberately slows down the machine to make you buy new hardware A LA Apple is 100% the same thing?

The Apple throttling thing was specifically to extend the life of the device. When a battery is old, if the CPU is not throttled, the device will instantly power off when the draw is too high. Apple was throttling the CPU when the battery was old and could not sustain such power draw peaks in an effort to make the device remain usable for a longer period with a mostly-consumed battery pack. Had they not done so, the…

A replaceable battery is a better solution.

Re: LibreWolf – Custom version of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom

#107

Post by danjoredd »

dralley wrote: post #94
danjoredd wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mozilla has been frustrating, at least to me lately. I want to support them, but very little of the money given to them goes to the browser itself or even their research projects, and the "phoning home" aspect also annoys me. On top of that they are also heavily funded by Google. My personal theory on why they do that is so they don't get hit with an antitrust. Its concerning to me though because that means Google ha…

>but very little of the money given to them goes to the browser itself or even their research projects They can't take money given to a 501c3 charitable organization and use it to fund the expenses of a for-profit corporation (Mozilla Corp). That would be tax fraud. On the other hand the Mozilla Corp has to exist because otherwise it would be legally challenging to do a lot of things they need to do such as business…

I disagree that its FUD. The fact of the matter is that Google is their biggest financial contributor, and that means by proxy Google can influence them. I don't have any examples right off the bat, but that doesn't discount the fact that it's a clear conflict of interest.

Re: LibreWolf – Custom version of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom

#108

Post by taway1237 »

sneak wrote: post #59
mangecoeur wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Telemetry and spyware are not the same thing (irrespective of whatever Firefox is doing). There is a big difference between tracking to try to understand how users are using a software or getting information on bugs and crashes, and tracking with the aim of monetizing personal data. I'm personally not crazy about telemetry implying information is uploaded to a software provider, but from experience I know that trying…

> There is a big difference between tracking to try to understand how users are using a software or getting information on bugs and crashes, and tracking with the aim of monetizing personal data. I don't see the difference. In one case you are trying to improve your product using stolen data (which presumably results in your user sat scores and/or userbase going up and you continuing to receive a paycheck, ie monetiz…

Spyware exists primarily to steal data, firefox also has "some" other uses. Calling firefox "spyware" dilutes the meaning by implying it's somehow similar to actual spyware.

Re: LibreWolf – Custom version of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom

#109

Post by dralley »

danjoredd wrote: post #107
dralley wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>but very little of the money given to them goes to the browser itself or even their research projects They can't take money given to a 501c3 charitable organization and use it to fund the expenses of a for-profit corporation (Mozilla Corp). That would be tax fraud. On the other hand the Mozilla Corp has to exist because otherwise it would be legally challenging to do a lot of things they need to do such as business…

I disagree that its FUD. The fact of the matter is that Google is their biggest financial contributor, and that means by proxy Google can influence them. I don't have any examples right off the bat, but that doesn't discount the fact that it's a clear conflict of interest.

>The fact of the matter is that Google is their biggest financial contributor, and that means by proxy Google can influence them. I don't have any examples right off the bat,

Exhibit A.

Fine, it's a potential conflict of interest. But there's still a step between having a potential conflict of interest and being compromised by Google / influenced by proxy. You don't get to jump from point A to point B. That's FUD.

There are near-monthly examples of Mozilla going against Google on big-ticket items, and nobody seems to be able to point to any examples otherwise, but we're supposed to criticize them for being too dependent on Google while ALSO criticizing them for profitable side-projects or cross-marketing that diversifies their revenue (like VPN, Pocket, the Disney movie thing, etc.)

Simultaneously:

* "how dare they work on something other than Firefox even if it makes money" and

* "how dare they monetize Firefox" and

* "how dare they take so much money from Google"

Re: LibreWolf – Custom version of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom

#110

Post by taway1237 »

maccard wrote: post #28
sneak wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mozilla ships Firefox with telemetry (aka spyware, given that it operates silently and automatically without consent) enabled by default. They also ship closed source DRM in the browser which infringes on software freedoms. Mozilla doesn't actually care that much about privacy or freedom, it's just marketing to make line go up and to the right while Mozilla staff can keep collecting paychecks for being "the good guys…

> Mozilla ships Firefox with telemetry (aka spyware, given that it operates silently and automatically without consent) enabled by default. So opt out of it. Calling it spyware is inflammatory, and disregards the reality of the world that we exist in. > It's just marketing to make line go up and to the right while Mozilla staff can keep collecting paychecks for being "the good guys". There's a lot of money involved.…

100% agree, but I have to add:DRM is not necessary for all media, just a small percentage of sites (like netflix/spotify i guess) use it. I personally never enabled DRM in my firefox.
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