Well, we had a good run lads, enshitification is here.
Any recommendations for open source alternatives that are convenient and also have an android app supporting ublock origin.
this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2025
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Not really open source, but want to mention it anyways. Take a look at the Norwegian browser Vivaldi. I made the switch recently and am really happy with it. Their privacy policy seems good, and they have a clear no AI stance. Their android browser is by far the best android browser from a UX standpoint in my opinion.
I might be biased as a Norwegian 😉
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(2 replies)
librewolf on pc and ironfox on android. both forks of firefox.
+1 for LibreWolf. Dialy driver and not looking back.
Ice Raven on Android.
This is my pair as well
Why IronFox over fennec?
More privacy related defaults. Essentially the about:config is more or less filled out for you on Ironfox.
Danke danke
Librewolf, Servo looks promising but is very far off and just an engine I think? Idk I keep looking at it and want it.
Servo isn't a full browser, it's a tech testbed for Mozilla to test out their various rewritten Rust components. I wish they would have promoted it to full browser status, but I think intention was always to take pieces of Servo as they were completed and drop them into Firefox.
Damn, maybe I can't read but I didnt find that info on their page.
Hmm seems like it's only partially true these days. Looking at their webpage they have a screenshot of their Wikipedia entry (why they didn't just link to it I have no idea) that provides some more up to date info. It was a testbed and they mention a project Quantum where the tech was added into Firefox's Gecko engine. In 2020 Mozilla laid off all their Servo devs and handed the project over to Linux Foundation Europe. It seems like since then they've reenvisioned the project as an embeddable rendering engine similar to WebKit or V8.
Edit: Further details available on the Wikipedia page. In particular this last paragraph seems highly relevant:
In January 2023, the Servo project announced that new external funding had enabled a team of developers to reactivate the project.[23] The initial roadmap focused on selecting one of the two existing layout engines for further development, followed by working towards basic CSS2 conformance.[24] In February 2024, at FOSDEM 2024, the Servo Project team outlined their plans for a 'reboot' of Servo.[25]
It seems like the 'reboot' is focused on turning it into a competitor for WebKit/V8. Looking at the projects roadmap it seems there are currently no plans in the works to make it a proper standalone browser.
Oh, well thank you for the info. I guess its a good thing Librewolf already exists.
Waterfox
Man all this makes me want to just use Links2 for everything and being a luddite. Complete with cabin in the woods. So frustrating.
There's a links2!?!?!?
Yeesh. So what's an alternative?
I'm very happy with librewolf on desktop and ironfox on mobile
Same.
LibreWolf, or if you can tolerate some breakage, PaleMoon or Basilisk (I say 'if you can tolerate some breakage' because Goanna is hard-forked from old ESR code, and PaleMoon and Basilisk are both Goanna-based).
As I understand it, these changes don't affect browsers that use FF as a base, so Zen Browser might not be affected.
I've been trying it out this week, and it's good. And can still use all the FF extensions.
To add to the list:
Mullvad browser (pc only) (removes blobs,proprietary crap, telemetry, and is otherwise hardened and was developed in partnership with the tor org. Some prefs are fine to change but you're best off by leaving as is.
Tor browser - nuff said. If you want anonymity use this. Don't change any prefs.
Arkenfox has a nodded user.is file you can simply drop into your current ff profile dir. It includes many hidden prefs and settings and allows you to customize for your needs/threat model.
Arkenfox's mods are used by other privacy friendly browsers. As are some tor mods.
If you can find your way around about:config and don't mind some learning, you can achieve most of the results of hardened broswers.
There are guides to further harden your ff. Search for Hardened Firefox.
waterfox
waterfox waterfox waterfox