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Each Firefox download has a unique identifier

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Re: Each Firefox download has a unique identifier

#381

Post by bigbugbag »

Deukhoofd wrote: post #324
car_analogy wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course the "attack" is easy to avoid. But you first have to know about it. Mozilla should not be planting such landmines.

Checking the bug tracker, it only does something if you have Firefox Data Collection turned on in the settings. Personally, the first thing I do is turning that off on a fresh install.

considering it sends your unique ID (or download token) during installation, when you disable settings after installation, it's already too late.

it seems there's actually a way to turn it off before installation using enterprise policies, but I have not tried it as I left mozilla's firefox long ago first for waterfox and now librewolf.

Re: Each Firefox download has a unique identifier

#383

Post by coolandsmartrr »

o_m wrote: post #365
coolandsmartrr wrote: post #352

Is there a good alternative to Firefox or Chrome? Chromium-based browsers really bog down my MacBook, so I've been using Firefox instead. However, I tend to notice small bugs, and been wondering if there are other useful and lightweight browsers.

Safari. Other than those three there aren't any mature browser engines.

Safari is very energy-efficient for sure.

On the other hand, what I dislike about Safari is the hassle of installing extensions. Everything has to be installed through the App Store as an independent app.

Re: Each Firefox download has a unique identifier

#384

Post by neycoda »

technobabbler wrote: post #332
thyrox wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know I let a lot of important things in Firefox slide (like the poor Webspeech API support, bad text-to-speech, some missing extensions and a lot of other things) but I still make it a habit to use it over Chrome (and recommend it to everybody) as somewhere in my mind it feels like a small revolt against the giant evil Google corp. But stuff like this and other shenanigans in the past (like Mr.robot, misuse of fu…

Firefox has no real competitive pressure and no need to improve. Google is their sugar daddy and Mozilla stopped innovating a decade ago. It's just constantly playing catchup while suckling on Google teats, desperately clinging onto relevance. Without Google nobody would pay for their browser. At this point it'd be better for the web if we standardized on Blink and moved on, cleaning up some of the invasive tracking…

So Google is keeping Firefox alive as a way to stave off anti-trust scrutiny, but crippling it to keep Chrome dominance...?

Re: Each Firefox download has a unique identifier

#385

Post by nnt38 »

onurtag wrote: post #362
devwastaken wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mozilla as an org is a husk of it's former self. They're constantly playing catch up with Firefox, almost abandonwared thunderbird, and have little actual usable innovation. What part of Firefox is "open source" when you can't integrate in your own projects? What's the point when the tech is non portable? Chromium is the clear OS winner, so open and modular you can just make your own browsers.

> What's the point when the tech is non portable I know that you meant something else with this, but the wording amused me as currently Firefox is the only up-to-date "portable" browser that lets you carry around your browser profile in a usb stick. Anything with Chromium deletes your extensions, passwords etc. whenever you open it in a new computer.

You are wrong, portable chromium exists.

https://chromium.woolyss.com/

Re: Each Firefox download has a unique identifier

#386

Post by dangerface »

sellerie wrote: post #308
OrlandoHakim wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I switched to Brave - no regrets

People complain about firefox doing shady stuff and then use Brave lmao. Just leaving these here: https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/19125#issuecom... https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/16611#issuecom...

The first bug is because of daylight savings the was also in chrome. People mistakenly thought it was to do with brave servers being down.

The second one is people trying to install plugins from the chrome web store, apparently it has to do this through brave servers. I don't think it's entirely unreasonable that when installing a plugin from your browser that your browser has to connect to a server to do so.

Trying to present bugs as some sort of malware is dishonest, the source code is open if it was really phoning home why not just link that code?

Re: Each Firefox download has a unique identifier

#387

Post by onurtag »

nnt38 wrote: post #385
onurtag wrote: post #362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What's the point when the tech is non portable I know that you meant something else with this, but the wording amused me as currently Firefox is the only up-to-date "portable" browser that lets you carry around your browser profile in a usb stick. Anything with Chromium deletes your extensions, passwords etc. whenever you open it in a new computer.

You are wrong, portable chromium exists. https://chromium.woolyss.com/

Yes, they exist and the application is portable. It works when you open it.

But your profile is not fully portable. They have a page explaining exactly what I mean.

https://chromium.woolyss.com/#secure-preferences

Re: Each Firefox download has a unique identifier

#388

Post by illiac786 »

aembleton wrote: post #351
aembleton wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Librefox https://github.com/intika/Librefox/

As pointed out elsewhere, this is unmaintained, and you should instead use https://librewolf.net/

Does not work with 1password for me. Seems I'm not the only one: https://www.reddit.com/r/LibreWolf/comments/qom9br/1password...

Re: Each Firefox download has a unique identifier

#389

Post by dangerface »

OrlandoHakim wrote: post #194
rackjack wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What're the alternatives to Firefox? The only ones that come to mind are Opera and Brave, and Brave had some controversy too.

What is controversial about Brave? Seems like the best alternative at the moment IMHO

They report anonymised data that can be turned off. They also connect to servers for auto updates and safe browsing checks, everything you would expect of a modern secure browser.

The people upset with brave for auto updates also consider tor browser spyware because it checks for updates LOL.

Re: Each Firefox download has a unique identifier

#390

Post by SheinhardtWigCo »

technobabbler wrote: post #334
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can disable the sponsored links.

Yeah, by using a better browser... Mozilla is kinda incompetent these days and shouldn't be trusted with stewardship. All they do is posture and market. All the real engineering seemingly stopped a long time ago. Arguably Google can't either but at least they provide the engineering talent, if not the ethical leadership. Mozilla just offers spam.

In what areas do you think Chrome demonstrates engineering talent where Firefox is lacking?
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