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A look at Firefox forks

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161–170 of 390 posts

Re: A look at Firefox forks

#161
post #8

I read in a few places that LibreWolf's anti-fingerprinting features are breaking websites. One person complained that their meeting got scheduled incorrectly because the browser was messing with the user's time zone (for privacy reasons).

> LibreWolf's anti-fingerprinting features are breaking websites

I parse this not as LibreWolf breaking anything, but instead as,

"LibreWolf's anti-fingerprinting features are working against broken, dark-pattern websites"

Re: A look at Firefox forks

#162

> The Floorp project is a much newer entrant.... According to its donations page, donors who contribute at the $100 level may submit ads to feature in the new tab page So if I get it right, people can 'donate' money to floorp project in exchange for service (advertisement). Like when I go to the grocery shop and I make a donation, in exchange I get back home with a pack of beer. I didn't know I was donating so much,…

I take your point, but it is worth noting that gifts, services, and goods are often exchanged for money and termed "donations" when the dollar amount greatly exceeds what one would normally pay, with the understanding that the proceeds go to a certain cause/group/organization.

Re: A look at Firefox forks

#163
post #77

I've been using zen lately mostly for the combination of "essentials" + "workspace" tab management scheme. I love having a space for tabs while also having a spot to pin stuff like email and bluesky which doesn't necessarily fit into one category or other. Admittedly I haven't tried many other options, except sidebery which was good but not quite there for me.

Firefox has vertical tabs and tab groups now; those aren't specific to Zen

Re: A look at Firefox forks

#164
post #8

I read in a few places that LibreWolf's anti-fingerprinting features are breaking websites. One person complained that their meeting got scheduled incorrectly because the browser was messing with the user's time zone (for privacy reasons).

> LibreWolf's anti-fingerprinting features are breaking websites I parse this not as LibreWolf breaking anything , but instead as, "LibreWolf's anti-fingerprinting features are working against broken, dark-pattern websites"

I'm not convinced that "trusting the browser about the timezone it says it's in" is a dark pattern when it's done in service of scheduling meetings that the user directly requested.

Re: A look at Firefox forks

#165
post #149

Is there any fork which disables firefox's auto upgrade? I am not able disable it on Firefox or zen browser.

You can do this with vanilla Firefox using policies.json[1]. Check out `DisableAppUpdate` attribute.

If you're using Firefox from nixpkgs this is already disabled by default[2].

[1]: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/customizing-firefox-usi...

[2]: https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/nixos-24.11/pkgs/appli...

Re: A look at Firefox forks

#166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know that this idea would work for literally just Firefox, but I strongly believe that people would be willing to pay for a Firefox fork that has a laser focus on fit and finish and poweruser features. Think a “Firefox Pro” of sorts. Why do I think this? Three reasons: - It elevates the browser into a higher category of tool, where currently Firefox inhabits the same space as OS-bundled calculators and text e…

If someone was building "Arc but for Firefox" I'd gladly pay for that. Firefox is, because of its position in the market, incapable of doing anything broadly interesting that's not "Be as Chrome-like as possible." They sneak in features that are nice, but I simply don't think we'll ever see Mozilla put out something that does anything that really sets Firefox apart. We'll only ever just get marginally better privacy…

> They sneak in features that are nice, but I simply don't think we'll ever see Mozilla put out something that does anything that really sets Firefox apart.

> and yet Firefox 136 looks impressively similar to both Firefox 36 and Firefox 3.6.

Firefox 36 and 3.6 were pre-Quantum/Electrolysis. In those days, the XUL addons had an insane amount of control and could do so many things simply not possible nowadays, that if you took advantage of made a browser that looks nothing like modern Firefox.

Re: A look at Firefox forks

#167

For years I've thought of creating a "paid" Firefox fork that is _just_ Firefox rebranded, but otherwise the exact codebase. The money brought in would be used to pay an open source developer to work strictly on things intended to be sent upstream to the Mozilla Firefox. If nothing else, it would prove whether or not people are willing to pay for Firefox. The problem with Firefox currently is the organizational struc…

If you can get your organisation registered as a deductible gift recipient (DGR) in Australia, then I'll bet a few people here — myself included — would contribute. Being able to help out _and_ reduce ones tax bill at the same time seems to have a magical effect on some people — again, myself included.

Re: A look at Firefox forks

#168
post #8

I read in a few places that LibreWolf's anti-fingerprinting features are breaking websites. One person complained that their meeting got scheduled incorrectly because the browser was messing with the user's time zone (for privacy reasons).

I also ran into this, but it was manageable (after a bit of research of course).

Would love to see a "startup"-Dialog, where they explain these features in a bit of detail with a choice of three modes...

Finger printing and privacy protection:

- [x] Full - best for privacy (default)

- [ ] Moderate - most features work, but may break some websites

- [ ] Off - just behave like normal Firefox

The last option would be for firefox users who just want a browser working like before. Although this might not be the target audience, I think this could support funding.

However, I also ran into the issue of Librewolf deleting ALL cookies by default when it closes. I would also love to have Domain whitelist for this:

- Delete all cookies except the following websites: a.org, b.com, c.net

Oh, and another tip: Don't go to there matrix channel with your first class account, they have a spam problem and Element is nowhere near prepared for it with any settings to prevent getting spam invitations. Once you were in, you get spam invitations all the time.

Re: A look at Firefox forks

#169
post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A more insidious aspect of grocery shoppings is that companies can pay for better placement on the store shelves & floor.

can donate* for better placement

Sounds like a good way to increase donations to shareholders.

Re: A look at Firefox forks

#170

For years I've thought of creating a "paid" Firefox fork that is _just_ Firefox rebranded, but otherwise the exact codebase. The money brought in would be used to pay an open source developer to work strictly on things intended to be sent upstream to the Mozilla Firefox. If nothing else, it would prove whether or not people are willing to pay for Firefox. The problem with Firefox currently is the organizational struc…

why wouldn't those people just donate to Mozilla?
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