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Choose the browser that best suits your privacy needs

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Re: Choose the browser that best suits your privacy needs

#391

Post by jpc0 »

masfoobar wrote: post #148

I have been a happy Firefox user for 15 years... maybe more. I have seen people use and complain Internet Explorer in my younger days, from version 6 to 7, etc. Even though I mention Firefox to them, they stay with IE. What amazes me is how quick they transitioned to Google Chrome when it released. This was around 2009. It amazes me how quick people jump to something especially when it has a big company behind advert…

> What amazes me is how quick they transitioned to Google Chrome when it released.

When Chrome originally released firefox was better than IE but chrome was head and shoulders above both of them.

Moving to Chrome from firefox at the time was a breath of fresh air. Nowadays there's very little difference, there was a short period of time I found Firefox faster but now I doubt most users would be able to tell the difference in performance

Re: Choose the browser that best suits your privacy needs

#392

Post by jorams »

JonathanBeuys wrote: post #368
jorams wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To make this work you need to set the XDG_RUNTIME_DIR environment variable to the same value it has in the environment Firefox is running in. For example: sudo -u desktopuser XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/1000 firefox --new-window

Please try this for yourself. It does not work. Gives the same "Firefox is already running, but is not responding." dialog.

I did try it. It even works from a different VT directly logged in as root if I also specify DISPLAY:

    sudo -u desktopuser XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/1000 DISPLAY=:0.0 firefox --new-window
If I now switch back to the VT running my desktop, a new Firefox window has opened.

Maybe your root terminal has other environment variables set that break it? A different DBUS session maybe?

Re: Choose the browser that best suits your privacy needs

#393

Post by xvector »

ta1243 wrote: post #311
water-your-self wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ads are a theft from word of mouth. Advertising spend should be regulated.

Adverts are a theft of time and attention, they are manipulative brainwashing by companies with more resources than the majority of countries.

Ads are fine. I've discovered so many fantastic products through them (did my research before buying, of course.)

And they are also the only business model we have been able to think of that enables the free flow of information on the scale we see today. Unless governments step up to foot the bill for Maps, YouTube, Reddit, etc, ads are all we've got.

I've never seen an ad that "stole" my time and attention. They are easy to scroll past and/or ignore. If an ad is stealing someone's time and attention, perhaps they need to work on their concentration and discipline instead of blaming the ad.

Re: Choose the browser that best suits your privacy needs

#394

Post by Dah00n »

wkat4242 wrote: post #302
bad_user wrote: post #100

I keep seeing Edge mentioned as a worthy alternative, and I just don't get it. First, all Chromium-based browsers will eventually block uBlock Origin for the sole reason that they can't maintain Manifest v2 on their own, and they all rely on Chrome's Web Store anyway. This won't happen immediately because Manifest v2 will probably stick around for longer because of enterprise users, but the writing is on the wall. Th…

Yeah I don't understand Microsoft trying to push Edge so much and more so, people actually falling for it. They're admitting that they are unable to build a good browser themselves, then they basically rip off chrome and skin it up a bit and we're supposed to think it's amazing?? And then they start adding all this scamware like the "shopping assistant" and "buy now pay later" scams. Google doesn't even go that far a…

> I would use the real thing and not the knockoff.

So you are not a fan of Brave either? A lesser Devil is still a Devil, after all.

Re: Choose the browser that best suits your privacy needs

#396

Post by wkat4242 »

girvo wrote: post #216
dark-star wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My guess is that i wasn't marketing. It was because FF was dog-slow back then and Chrome was (still is) blazingly fast

Most non-technical users don't give a crap about how fast or slow their browser was: if they did, they would've switched from IE to Firefox the first go 'round. To downplay the fact that google advertised Chrome on google.com is to rewrite history, in my opinion.

Yeah I've been helping people fixing up old tablets, one user got me to fix an iPad 3rd generation (the first with retina) and besides having an ancient iOS version it was just so frustratingly slow doing anything. Obviously, it was only a dual-core or something and totally bogged down by the high resolution for its day.

However she thought it was totally fine as she was used to it :S

Re: Choose the browser that best suits your privacy needs

#397

Post by Beijinger »

nomilk wrote: post #73

FWIW I got annoyed with chrome's distracting home screen, and pondered how long it would take for a 10+ year chrome user to switch to firefox. The answer (on macOS) was 5 minutes. I was shocked how easy it was (and, frankly, how similar it was). When you first open firefox, it gives options to import all your chrome settings (including saved passwords etc). Super cool.

I don't understand why people switch browsers. I have many browsers installed on my machine. For browsing I use a heavily modificated firefox. It would be difficult to use this browser for banking or even booking a plane ticket (plane booking websites can be quite fragile!).

Use a browser for browsing, e.g. firefox with a tons of plus is, from ublock, noscript and a dozen others and use a main browser like chrome for banking and some other stuff. Don't use a minor browser (opera, vivaldi etc.) for banking.

Re: Choose the browser that best suits your privacy needs

#398

Post by rollcat »

The article is bollocks. Recommending Pale Moon in 2023 is plain irresponsible. No process isolation/sandboxing for tabs/websites/addons, playing constant catch-up with Firefox on implementing security fixes/mitigations (made more difficult by how far back the fork has happened), disregarding all the optimizations that brought Firefox closer to being on par with Chrome (which translates to higher power usage).

In my opinion Pale Moon should never be recommended as an alternative to Chrome for the average person; it should be seen as a specialized tool for people who are willing to trade away security and performance for customization. If you don't have customization needs that are this specific, using it is a net loss.

Re: Choose the browser that best suits your privacy needs

#399

Post by pgraf »

theGeatZhopa wrote: post #382
insanitybit wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't use 3D modeling software, but I use a browser for like... 95% of my day. Any minor UX differences are going to be like nails on a chalkboard, given that. It's no wonder why people don't want to switch, really.

I don't know.. but.. it's the way people may use the computer. A former colleague used exactly one window, no matter if it's word or any other software. And most important: the other programs have to be closed, firstly, before switching to eg. browsing. Even my 85y old grandfather who bought his first computer with 73y is capable to use more then 2 windows at once. So for me, i work with chrome, edge and Firefox (mai…

If you just like the mental separation but don‘t want Chrome, you could also create Firefox profiles with different themes. You can even tweak the browser icon, so I found that sufficient for mental separation

Re: Choose the browser that best suits your privacy needs

#400

Post by mrweasel »

vasvae3 wrote: post #212
nomilk wrote: post #73

FWIW I got annoyed with chrome's distracting home screen, and pondered how long it would take for a 10+ year chrome user to switch to firefox. The answer (on macOS) was 5 minutes. I was shocked how easy it was (and, frankly, how similar it was). When you first open firefox, it gives options to import all your chrome settings (including saved passwords etc). Super cool.

You are annoyed with chrome's distracting home screen that shows your most visited sites but you are not annoyed with firefox's distracting home screen that shows your most visited sites plus some ads?

It continues to surprise me that people use the home screen, regardless of it being Firefox or Chrome. New window, new tab, I always set that to a blank page, in my mind that should be the default.
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