I understand firefox is free software and greatly customisable. I think forks like LibreWolf are fantastic. But I believe the FOSS community needs to be more critical of mozilla. They haven’t been the sharpest tool in the drawer for a while…

Full article: https://brave.com/compare/firefox-vs-brave/

  • N0x0n@lemmy.ml
    0·
    8 months ago

    Out of the box, Firefox is good enough for those who have “nothing to hide” normies. Just turn some visible button on/off and look at them go 🤷🏼.

    But if you value your privacy, there are some hidden tweaks you have to apply that most lemmy users are aware off (about:config, resistsFingerPrint, webRTC, ipv6, whatever …)

    If you wan’t to go a step further, go through arkenfox’s well documented user.js or just install arkenfox or any of the Firefox/Chromium derivatives.

    Then comes TOR and other hidden web browser like I2P, which are probably over kill for most lemmy users except if you’re Edward Snowden or if you really, really care for your privacy/anonimity.

    In the end if your really want to go of the radar, the only real solution is to never touch any connected device, burner phone, burn your house, your wife (no don’t do that !!) and go live in the woods :) feel the real wireless connection with nature ! Damn if we only could value more that connection 😮‍💨

    • FatCat@lemmy.worldOP
      0·
      8 months ago

      I disagree. Even those who don’t care about privacy should have maximum privacy from their browser out of the box. People have a right not to be mistreated by nefarious actors.

      • olympus@kbin.social
        0·
        8 months ago

        Maximum privacy many times comes with compatibility issues and pages which don’t properly.
        Brave is an ad company, so they are interested in blocking the ads of other ad companies, that’s their business and that’s why they do it.
        Firefox is not a browser from an ad company, so what they offer out of the box is a browser with the less compatibility issues possible, and that’s not an easy task when they use their own engine.
        The job to block ads etc is done by extensions in Firefox and since Firefox is not an ad company it makes sense for them.
        They have ublock origin as a recommended featured extension.

          • olympus@kbin.social
            0·
            8 months ago

            Brave is not funded by an ad company like Google.
            Because they are an ad company themselves, no ad company is going to fund them, they are competitors.
            Apart from that Brave is dependant to Google way more. More than 90% of their browser’s code is by Google developers. They don’t even have their own store lol and distribute extensions in Brave through Google’s chrome store!
            That’s independence? Calling Google for something basic like installing extensions to your browser?
            I prefer Mozilla’s and Vivaldi’s model. They both get money from their search deals (Mozilla with Google, Vivaldi with Microsoft) but they are not ad companies themselves.
            Yes, I wouldn’t use a browser from an ad company, no matter the size of the company.

          • Nyonnyan@lemmy.world
            0·
            8 months ago

            Correct, but so is linux itself as seen here, likewise, Microsoft also helps the development of the linux kernel as seen on this Linux Foundation webpage. Sometimes ad services sponsor non ad related projects.

            In the case of firefox however, they are funded by google to have it be the default search engine, and not because Firefox itself sells ad spaces. So I dont quite get the point you are making

      • N0x0n@lemmy.ml
        0·
        8 months ago

        They wouldn’t go to snapchat, X, facebook, google, tiktok, whatever, in the first place if they really care about privacy.

        OOTB Firefox is meant for those kind of people, who just care enough to not be bothered by “conspiracy theorist”.

        Those who really care/value privacy/anonimity are in the 5% range globally (I don’t have real numbers to back of my claim, it’s just to empahsize the number here).

        Give it a try by yourself, go out into the streets and talk to strangers how much they value privacy and what effort they put into to have their privacy. Talk to them about tiktok, youtube, instagram, X, see of far their believe in privacy would go.

    • whatsgoingdom@rollenspiel.forum
      0·
      8 months ago

      Do you have a guide you can recommend for Lemmy users who are not that aware of the settings mentioned in the second paragraph but would like to be?

      • N0x0n@lemmy.ml
        0·
        8 months ago

        Not exactly a guide but there is this wonderful github repo.

        Some advice to give it a try: Open firefox (desktop only) in the search box type about:profiles and create a new profile to put the user.js in without affecting your main profile.

        This github repo is rather complex and there is alot to read and grasp, but it’s a very good starting point to harden your firefox.

        You can also give a look at the arkenfox user.js.

        Those are complex user.js but you can produce your own with the tweaks you need, in case you need video confercence or what else.