Why Firefox?
Posted by Flaky_Comfortable425@reddit | linux | View on Reddit | 337 comments
This actually makes me curious, when I switch between a lot of distros, jumping from Debian to CentOS to dfferent distros, I can see that they all love firefox, it's not my favorite actually, and there are plenty of internet browsers out there which is free and open source like Brave for example, still I am wondering what kind of attachment they have to this browser
rfpels@reddit
KDE zie Gnome? Or something else?
GigaHelio@reddit
Easy. It's a historically strong, open source browser. It's also not based on chromium. Unlike brave, there's no crypto adware either. Will things change when Ladybird releases? We'll see. But until then Firefox is the only browser that supports an open web.
behindmyscreen_again@reddit
I’d like to see someone rebuild things regarding Firefox to eliminate the crusty parts.
the-johnnadina@reddit
Welllllllllllllllll theres Zen, which is basically firefox with some polish on top. Its kind of like the Arc browser but with none of the AI bs. Its really good for the small project that it is, but i can totally see why its not for everyone. Sadly it doesnt fix any of the compatibility and performance issues that firefox already carries. Its not like a fork would fix those anyway, if you can fix them then you should be pushing them to upstream rather than making your own fork without feature parity.
MoussaAdam@reddit
Zen doesn't "plolish" anything, it just add more stuff that some people finf useful. It's also buggy. The only reason I used it was for the vertical tabs, but now Firefox support vertical tabs so I am back
the-johnnadina@reddit
It polishes the looks IMO. It's also not buggy, it's SUPER buggy lmao. Every single update has some new problem. But i love it because of all the new features it introduces as well as the sleek looks (which i knowww is just CSS but its nice to have it pre-packaged and integrated like that)
MoussaAdam@reddit
it's not worth it in my opinion, firefox already has vertical tabs and is experimenting with tab groups and a way to use the profile switcher. also as far as I remember zen doesn't change much in terms of looks. They just change the layout (there isn't much layout to change, 90% of the screen area of a browser is for displaying the website)
fearless-fossa@reddit
Tab groups are rather outdated nowadays, the interesting new feature are workspaces.
the-johnnadina@reddit
Zen actually recently updated their UI to actually change the looks a bunch, but only recently...
I had no idea firefox had vertical tabs tho?? How do i enable that?
MoussaAdam@reddit
if you are on firefox beta, you van already enable it in the settings. Otherwise you can enable the flag
sidebar.verticalTabsonabout:configimDaGoatnocap@reddit
I stopped using Firefox and switched to brave because every single time a webpage doesn't load in Firefox, it loads in a chromium based browser.
Business_Reindeer910@reddit
I'd prefer a browser based on servo's engine rather than ladybird.
fearless-fossa@reddit
I mean there was the whole thing about the Mr. Robot ad that was effectively malware. And Mozilla loves buying marketing companies.
On top of that Firefox is like a decade behind Chromium browsers like Vivaldi tech wise. The one thing it is good at is mitigating fingerprinting, as it has a large userbase that is more likely to use various adblocks and linux.
jr735@reddit
Vivaldi is not a free browser.
fearless-fossa@reddit
I never claimed it would be, but if I'm asked whether I'm more comfortable to support a small Norwegian company or Mozilla, I'll take the Norwegian nerds any time of the day. If you want to come with the argument of a free browser, please do so with non-Mozilla forks of Firefox.
jr735@reddit
I'm not saying you should or shouldn't use Firefox. I pointed out the Vivaldi is not a free browser. Accordingly, it's not an option for some users, notably myself. Where it's from is of little concern. If it's not free software, I won't use it.
Take a look at Rule 5. Given that, you're going to find many users in here who are absolutely unwilling to use proprietary software.
fearless-fossa@reddit
Alright, if mentioning proprietary software isn't allowed at all I'll delete my posts accordingly.
jr735@reddit
I'm not saying you should do that, either. I'm pointing out Vivaldi is not a free browser, and some of us, because of that, do not consider it an alternative to Firefox, any further than we'd consider Safari or IE or Edge to be alternatives to Firefox.
The idea here is to stimulate discussion and to pay attention to the difference between free and non-free software. If someone wants any alternative to Firefox, Vivaldi is an option. If someone wants a free alternative to Firefox, Vivaldi is not an option.
fearless-fossa@reddit
I'd be fully in favor of a free alternative to Vivaldi, because Firefox simply isn't cutting it for me. Free software can't jerk itself off on being free alone, it needs to also be competitive to proprietary software - and I'm 100% honest, Mozilla as a company is one of the worst examples for free software.
I'm now taking a look at Zen which is a Firefox fork someone else recommended.
jr735@reddit
No, it doesn't have to be competitive. Lynx isn't competitive with Edge or Chrome or chromium or Firefox. It still, however, does exactly what it's supposed to and is still there and available, and usable.
fearless-fossa@reddit
Lynx operates in an entirely different niche.
jr735@reddit
Yes, of course, it does.
Rest-That@reddit
I'm curious, how is it a decade behind? Genuine question
fearless-fossa@reddit
Vivaldi is pretty much ahead of everyone else in terms of poweruser features like tab groups (which were first implemented when it was still Opera), workspaces, vertical tabs, etc. - those were already present in Vivaldi years ago, while Firefox only had them as an add-on that might or might not break with every update. Vivaldi is by far the #1 browser for me in terms of productivity.
I_Can_Flip_Reset@reddit
You should give Zen a try
extravisual@reddit
That doesn't sound like a decade of tech to me. That sounds like a few features that some people value while others don't.
Bombay1234567890@reddit
What are your general feelings about Vivaldi, if I may ask? Sorry if this is too far off-topic.
GigaHelio@reddit
You're pulling a controversy from 7 years ago to compare to a current day piece of adware?
fearless-fossa@reddit
Yes, because I was affected by it at the time and it really rubbed me the wrong way, especially Mozilla's "we're sorry that you didn't like it" apology. And they bought an ad company just last year.
Minobull@reddit
> there are plenty of internet browsers out there
But there isn't. There's Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. That's it. All those other browsers, like Brave, are based on Chromium, which while open-source is still controlled by Google. Giving Google monopolistic control over how websites are rendered is bad.
do-un-to@reddit
Those who forget the lessons of the late '90s are doomed to repeat them. And, frustratingly, drag us along with them.
It's good OP has the intellectual initiative to ask. 👍 If everyone acted like this, sincerely, web ecology would be much healthier. Capitalism could arguably even work.
Millennial-_-Falcon@reddit
If capitalism could actually work the world's richest man wouldn't be giving himself tax cuts right now.
do-un-to@reddit
Right. So change it up. Be motivated to investigate the truth yourself. Care about how your purchases and actions affect the world. Encourage others to do the same.
openstandards@reddit
Or look towards socialism as capitalism is flawed by the very nature of the beast.
Perhaps socialism isn't the answer but we should not just keep promoting this sick economic model, we moved away from feudalism to capitalism only to be moving back a feudal system this time on an international scale and this is being backed to capitalists.
Us General Smedley butler spoke about how war is a racket and how he was approached by wall street to overthrow the Us government and put in place a fascist government.
Liberalism is bad, thinking that capitalism is going to help is silly because no matter what happens profits are put before workers.
A capitalist will always to put themselves first and foremost if they don't they will just get taken over by another capitalist.
What happens when a factory moves overseas? Jobs are lost, that's the reality of the beast.
Protectionism also doesn't work this can be seen by how bad the US trucking market is compared to what the European trucks.
A Peterbilt costs around the same price as a Scania but yet the Scania is around 30 years ahead in development, not to mention the build quality is better with the European counterparts.
Millennial-_-Falcon@reddit
True. Do what you can, where you can, for as long as you can. Just try not to burn out.
Pay08@reddit
If capitalism didn't work, you'd be eating dirt instead of spices from every corner of the world.
muxman@reddit
Right. He'd be giving even more funding to drag shows in foreign countries.
AdFit8727@reddit
It's not that capitalism is the best, it's that all the other models are so much worse. A lot of blood is spilled to learn that, and it's a shame we have to keep spilling blood to relearn those same lessons.
Ezmiller_2@reddit
We've been running on capitalism for 250 years. Politicians and greedy CEOs muck it up though.
MidnightJoker387@reddit
Real initiative would have been for the OP to do a search to see this question has been asked 100s of times already here and would have had the answer.
mcreddit-nl@reddit
Which would have not sparked this thread/discussion. And speaking for myself, a reminder that this is the actual situation made me considering to Firefox again. So not googling everything for yourself sometimes has some bennefits.
MidnightJoker387@reddit
We already have had the same thread/discussion 100s of times like it's Groundhog Day the movie. The question would have been asked again in a couple of days at most. LOL We really don't need the same questions asked over and over endlessly.
dagbrown@reddit
Well, you’re more than welcome to stop using Reddit and head on over back to Stack Overflow where all questions have already been answered and nobody is allowed to ask any more.
Did you know that complaining about reposts is even more tedious than questions asking about the current state of a topic that is continuously developing?
FastSlow7201@reddit
Head back over to stack overflow.
Yavuz_Selim@reddit
There is Blink (all Chromium-based browsers), Gecko (Firefox) and WebKit (Safari, Apple hardware-only).
Those are the current browser engines.
Microsoft is on its third browser engine (Blink), with the first two (Trident for IE, EdgeHTML for Edge Legacy) developed by them.
And then there is Presto, developed and used by Opera before they also switched to Blink.
Blink and WebKit are forks of KHTML (discontinued in 2023), developed by KDE, an open-source (Linux) software community.
alexklaus80@reddit
And I think Apple smart devices allow only that, meaning every browsers including Firefox and chromium-based browsers uses Webkit on iOS and iPad OS. Correct me if I’m wrong (which I hope I am by now.)
Yavuz_Selim@reddit
With 'Apple hardware-only' I meant that Safari is only available on Apple hardware. Once upon a time, Safari was also available on Windows.
But to answer your question: as far as I know, currently all browsers use WebKit on iOS/iPad OS, as that is mandatory to get an app released on the App Store.
II say currently, because thanks to the EU and DMA, a browser maker can now release apps outside of the App Store, thus in theory, a Gecko-based browser can be released on iOS/iPad OS, but it needs to be developed first - which is not an easy thing.
benhaube@reddit
Safari on Windows was so terrible. I remember using it back in the day. When I bought a Mac I was amazed by how much better Safari ran on Mac OS.
alexklaus80@reddit
Right yeah I didn’t meant to correct you anywhere - rather I just thought to add to it.
And good to hear the news! I’m always amazed by what EU pushes for. Where I’m from (Japan), we just take what the US corps is suggesting.
korewabetsumeidesune@reddit
Didn't your gov't pass something similar fairly recently? I remember hearing about it, and googling 'Japan DMA' gives me articles like this: https://eu-renew.eu/is-the-eus-digital-markets-act-going-global-how-japan-is-crafting-its-own-version-of-digital-regulation-with-the-smartphone-act/
ExPandaa@reddit
In Europe alternate browser engines are now allowed. I don’t think any have released though
korewabetsumeidesune@reddit
You were right for very long, but then the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) forced them to change, now other engines are allowed. See: https://www.apple.com/ie/newsroom/2024/01/apple-announces-changes-to-ios-safari-and-the-app-store-in-the-european-union/
ghostnation66@reddit
SO the KDE community helped make blink??? I did not know that
Xipher@reddit
Mozilla also started Servo but ditched it in 2020 and now it's with the Linux Foundation. Don't know if it's reached what would be considered production ready yet.
ThemesOfMurderBears@reddit
Educational. I didn’t know what any of the engines were called.
PhyloBear@reddit
Absolutely not, WebKit is used on several devices, even ones you might not expect like the Nintendo 3DS, Switch, the PlayStation 4 and more.
ExPandaa@reddit
The gnome web browser is also WebKit
Calico_Shortcake@reddit
Also, there is WebKit-GTK, a fork of WebKit used by GNOME Web.
svxae@reddit
Firefox at this point in time is virtually the last castle standing that is not a Google product (Excluding Safari--as it is Mac only)
Jimbo0451@reddit
Most of the revenue of Mozilla Corporation comes from Google (81% in 2022).
svxae@reddit
still doesn't change the fact.
AnistonStark1410@reddit
Yes, you can change it if Google decides to stop investing in Mozilla. If it does that, it's practically goodbye to Firefox.
AnistonStark1410@reddit
Sí, puedes cambiarlo si Google decide dejar de invertir en Mozilla. Si lo hace, es prácticamente el adiós a Firefox.
MrMrsPotts@reddit
What about opera?
Botahamec@reddit
Opera is Chromium-based too
The_Jack_Burton@reddit
Chromium is the open source portion of Chrome. I've been digging deep into privacy lately and from what I understand (please correct me if I'm wrong) chromium based browsers are not Google browsers and can be just as private as Firefox with addons. I checked out cover your tracks and Vivaldi (mobile) beat Firefox (mobile with unlock and cookie autodelete) though both had great scores.
sonobanana33@reddit
They can but the more you modify, the harder it is. Google won't make the task easy.
The_Jack_Burton@reddit
True enough. I just started using Vivaldi, and there's no option for extensions or addons like ublock. That said I was surprised at how it performs compared to Firefox with addons. Out of the box it seems to be just as, if not more private than Firefox.
sonobanana33@reddit
System.out.Println is much much shorter, lol
Botahamec@reddit
I believe that is true, but the bigger problem is giving Google a monopoly over how to render the web.
The_Jack_Burton@reddit
Agreed. I just dumped as much google as possible finally, it's been a long process haha. But, no more Google (95% anyway), Musk, Zuck, or Bezos. Trying to privatize Windows as much as possible (Linux just can't do what I need unfortunately).
MrMrsPotts@reddit
I didn't know that. Thank you
feedmytv@reddit
wow, that's still around. I paid for Opera version 5, it was a custom commercial engine back then from Norway. I think they were the default/only browser on a Nintendo console too.
The_Jack_Burton@reddit
Check out Vivaldi!
Brorim@reddit
chromium is being abused by google to run their ads and remove adblocking extentions . Firefox is still true to the idea that you are able to dismiss snooping
RedHeadSteve@reddit
All heil Mozilla
nitroburr@reddit
I wasn’t able to find any updates regarding this, but I switched to librewolf because of this news article and the amount of telemetry Firefox collects: https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/24/mozilla_product_chief_sues_over/
gordonmessmer@reddit
You might reconsider that spelling, depending on your intent. "Heil" is saddled with Nazi connotations, and looks like a derogatory comment about Mozilla. "All hail", while more or less literally the same, tends to read the opposite way.
timthetollman@reddit
We really policing words that look like other words now? 🙄
gordonmessmer@reddit
I suspected that their comment contained an unfortunate and unintended typo, and I hoped to help by pointing it out.
That's not "policing language."
Free_Money69420@reddit
no, i didnt police language i just (definition of policing language) lol.
RedHeadSteve@reddit
It's not only a piece of a nazi salute. In this case it's just accidental Dutch.
boomerang707@reddit
My preference is Brave.
From what I’ve seen Brave has better privacy credentials than Firefox. It’s still a little bloated for my liking, crypto wallets, VPN should be things I add after but you can disable them. As is the Linux way I’d rather not install something to then remove parts of it after.
Like it or not, chromium based browsers have the best support, I’d rather not have to run 2 different browsers if my browser of choice doesn’t work with a site.
SolidOshawott@reddit
I don't trust any app that pushes crypto shit
polysemanticity@reddit
I’ve never encountered a site that doesn’t work with Firefox. Not saying it can’t happen, but it’s extremely rare. I used to like Brave on mobile for watching YouTube but they’ve started pushing banner ads which put a bad taste in my mouth.
yukeake@reddit
The "web developers" where I work have several applications that are required for corporate use that they absolutely 100% refuse to make work in Firefox. Chrome only, if you complain, "Thou shalt use Chrome" is the response. ::sigh::
boomerang707@reddit
In business it’s different. Some workplaces require that you use certain software and it’s within your right to say it isn’t for you and either not work there or leave. If I was mandated by a company to use Windows day to day, I wouldn’t take the job.
yukeake@reddit
Yep, totally. We were acquired a few years ago by a larger company, and they've slowly been tightening the screws on what we can and can't use.
I come from a mostly-OSS background, and having been there while the web was in its infancy, I have a very strong belief that the web should be browser-agnostic. If you're developing a webapp, it shouldn't matter what browser you use - the thing should still be functional. They obviously don't share that view ;P
Masterflitzer@reddit
ms teams and snapchat web used to not work, but idk the current status, it's just what came to mind
still firefox is goat and my main forever
sloothor@reddit
I always hear from people that some sites don’t work properly with Firefox, so I’ve been keeping Brave on my machine as a backup. But… it’s never happened to me in all the years I’ve been using Firefox on any sites that aren’t Google-owned.
loozerr@reddit
More stringent privacy options and some addons can cause breakage.
boomerang707@reddit
Perhaps my knowledge is a little out of date, it’s been several years since I used Firefox, maybe I’ll give it another shot sometime, or Librewolf. If I get the kind of ads you mention then I’ll seriously look into switching.
RomeoNoJuliet@reddit
Brave for example is chromium based and it has no google tracking, has built-in Ad and Tracking blocking, it avoids google services utilizing encrypted sync and much more, all this thx to Open Source nature of the Chromium project unlike you mentioned using a chromium based browser doesn't necessarily mean you're gonna get tracked or you're gonna see Ads
jack1ndabox@reddit
Brave pushes their crypto shit on users and once again, uses chromium. If you're gonna use chromium, just install chromium.
G0rd0nFr33m4n@reddit
Well, Mozilla make deals with Google and gets 80% of their revenues from them... The "Google free browser", lol. My ass.
Brorim@reddit
you can choose any search provider you like. Mozilla makes money on your choices not theirs .
Fleaaa@reddit
To put google search in FF. Google is an advert company by large and there is nothing that can stop you not using google search on FF
ilikedeserts90@reddit
And once again, just because it is Chromium doesn't mean the Brave team can't make changes to it, like the ad/tracking blocking that doesn't depend on google or anyone else's permission. "Just use chromium" is absurd.
loozerr@reddit
Love me some referral code hijacking and the option to still see ads but snatching income from the website owner.
ilikedeserts90@reddit
I do indeed love that option. Its off by default, and also, if you're a website owner, fuck your ads.
jyrox@reddit
Redditors typically like to crap on Brave because of the crypto nonsense and hate for the Founder (who also co-founded Mozilla and invented JavaScript, so you might as well stop using the internet and most software in general).
TeutonJon78@reddit
Eich is also anti-LGBT, which is what got him booted from Mozilla.
jyrox@reddit
That falls under “hate of the founder.” I don’t personally agree with his stances/opinions, but I don’t boycott businesses/products based on the values/opinions of an employee/owner/affiliate as long as those values/opinions don’t result in a crappy product. If I took that approach to participating in society/the economy, I could literally buy/use almost 0 products or services. It’s a pretty irrational and immature way to conduct yourself honestly, but people have that right if they choose to do so. Most are just wildly inconsistent in their application of that standard.
StarChildEve@reddit
This is a stupid take.
hitoriboccheese@reddit
While I don't fully agree with what /u/jyrox said, in the case of Brave it's a free and open source piece of software so it's not like you're financially supporting them if you use it.
loozerr@reddit
Unless they, you know, start inserting their referral code again or pull off something similar. Then you'll support him.
hitoriboccheese@reddit
People like to bring this up as some kind of gotcha but really all it does is illustrate that open source works. They made the change out in the open and it was spotted immediately and removed.
And for the record I don't even use Brave, I've used librewolf for years.
loozerr@reddit
I don't understand how people can still trust the most important program on their computer be supplied by people who think that was okay.
And no, being open source doesn't mean malicious code is caught before it becomes widely spread. It's matter of time there's another XZ utils case but more serious. Vast majority of widespread open source libraries are unaudited - and ones which have been, still of course receive new code all the time.
hitoriboccheese@reddit
Because I don't believe that one mistakes defines an entire project. Do you think Mozilla has a spotless record or something? They've made dozens of braindead decisions over the years. There is not a single browser in existence without some kind of baggage attached to it.
Masterflitzer@reddit
wanna see you boycotting big tech then, they all have dirt on them
just saying, i don't actually Iike or use brave, but it's not for that stupid reason
StarChildEve@reddit
I pick the lesser evils when I can, don’t you worry.
jyrox@reddit
loozerr@reddit
He called your take stupid. How is that personal?
jyrox@reddit
“Stupid” is a pejorative that insults the intelligence of the person with the opinion. “Misinformed”, “inaccurate”, or “badly reasoned” would be a more appropriate criticism of an opinion, usually followed by reasoning that explains why the opinion needs to be re-evaluated. However, the commenter chose not to explain their view/opinion at all and to simply hurl an insult. That’s considered a personal attack, not a criticism of an opinion.
loozerr@reddit
That's a stupid take, again.
StarChildEve@reddit
She 🙃 but yeah; takes can be stupid even if the person isn’t
loozerr@reddit
Fixed, sorry
StarChildEve@reddit
Is ok!!
TeutonJon78@reddit
Not entirely sure why you're being downvoted so hard, but it is a very privileged opinion that you can just ignore things like that all the time (and maybe for you, you can, but that is in no way a universal experience).
And you're right that sometime that leaves no choices and then we have to either just do without or pick the least bad option.
And in this case, nothing about Brave is better than Firefox.
jyrox@reddit
Except out-of-the-box compatibility, performance, security, and privacy.
https://itsfoss.com/brave-vs-firefox/ https://www.privacyguides.org/en/mobile-browsers/
djfdhigkgfIaruflg@reddit
He didn't co-found mozilla you maggot-infected pear
northrupthebandgeek@reddit
He literally did:
djfdhigkgfIaruflg@reddit
Oh nice, people vandalizing wikipedia. Get a grip
BurningPenguin@reddit
Congrats, you just gave us more reason to hate him.
jyrox@reddit
Agreed 😂
Salatwurzel@reddit
I didnt knew who the founder of Brave was, but now i hate him.
djfdhigkgfIaruflg@reddit
Brave spreads their shitcoins....
IMacGirl@reddit
And let's not forget it comes with Tor for private browsing.
behindmyscreen_again@reddit
They abuse their users for personal gains
wodes@reddit
Are you able to completely turn off telemetry and tracking using Firefox? Probably not, so Firefox still calls home.
DevDork2319@reddit
Actually you can, and it's not even very hard. It is not the default state though, which is a fair criticism.
turtle_mekb@reddit
Yes, using ffprofile or LibreWolf
wodes@reddit
So using chromium fork bad, but using firefox fork good.
Firewolf06@reddit
forks were never the problem, you seem to have a fundamental misunderstanding of the issue. using a chromium derivative is contributing to google web monopoly, while using a gecko (firefox) derivative is not
Delicious_Ease2595@reddit
Correct
err0r2k@reddit
Use this guide.
ThemesOfMurderBears@reddit
When this was announced, I went back to Firefox. I keep a Chromium browser if I need it, but otherwise I’ll go with FF or one of its derivatives.
zardvark@reddit
I don't much care for Google's near monopolistic control of the Internet, nor many of Mozilla's overt political shenanigans and their neglect of Firefox. They seem to be too busy with AI and political advocacy, to pay any attention to Firefox. If they haven't the time, money, nor love to spare for Firefox, they should divest themselves of the project.
Thankfully, Zen and Ladybird are on the way and, of course, there are a few smaller projects, such as Falkon and Midori, which do not seem to have captured much in the way of mind share. Zen seems to be in beta now, but when last I looked, Ladybird was still in alpha. For the time being, therefore, we have only Chrome-based, or Firefox-based browsers from which to choose ... and for the brave of heart, we now have Zen.
typhon88@reddit
zen = firefox
libraryweaver@reddit
I think most of those other Mozilla projects are intended to generate revenue so that they won't be as beholden to Google as their main source of income. Firefox isn't a moneymaker so it's generally good that they use these other projects to support it.
dst1980@reddit
I have enjoyed having Falkon available. It is one of the few current-compatible browsers in the Ubuntu repos as a *.deb instead of a Snap.
Ok_Construction_8136@reddit
What about Nyxt
20dogs@reddit
Chromium is now controlled by the Linux Foundation, so I do wonder if this will change.
TimurHu@reddit
The Linux Foundation seems to be just an "open source laundering" organization at this point. Companies put various projects under the umbrella of the Linux foundation so that they can pretend to be nice guys and can pretend that they no longer control the project, when in fact they do.
jr735@reddit
In the end, it's up to you to pay attention to licensing. Or, pay attention to what others have to say.
mwyvr@reddit
Agree at some level. While some useful projects might spin out of this, the major value to Google, facing the same sort of scrutiny over its monopoly as Microsoft and ATT once did, will be in appearances.
TimurHu@reddit
I honestly don't believe anything has changed in the day to day operations of Chromium.
In my opinion, this is just Google virtue signalling to us and distracting the courts that examine whether it's a monopoly or not.
Flaky_Comfortable425@reddit (OP)
Yeah, that's why I asked actually, Chromium is no longer under google's supervision
snowthearcticfox1@reddit
Stop spreading misinformation on the internet
mwyvr@reddit
NO, it isn't. See [2]/[3].
It's an effort to encourage even more use of Chromium by others, not to change ownership or management of the Chromium project.
[1] https://blog.chromium.org/2025/01/announcing-supporters-of-chromium-based.html [2] https://www.linuxfoundation.org/supporters-of-chromium-based-browsers [3] https://www.linuxfoundation.org/press/linux-foundation-announces-the-launch-of-supporters-of-chromium-based-browsers
Leandro_Marques_Tec@reddit
Vivaldi And based on another one too?
gwenn_deb@reddit
because it is great and it is not chromium based and does not feature any web3 shit like Brave for example.
behindmyscreen_again@reddit
Calling crypto scams “web 3” always pissed me off.
gwenn_deb@reddit
well that’s fair. As for me, I never wanted any "web3". There was never any ambiguity about "web3" being anything else than a scam and a shit product nobody wants. There is no good idea of "web3" anywhere. If that’s how they named their scams, I will use the word to say what it is.
Wolffire_88@reddit
What is web 3?
gwenn_deb@reddit
I believe “web3” is a marketing catch-all word that for a while was used by people and entrepreneurs wishing to generalize and develop the presence and use of certain practices and technologies such as cryptocurrencies, blockchain, the metaverse, NFTs and such.
the-luga@reddit
I thought those web 3 blabbing was dead and forgotten already. I guess not.
machacker89@reddit
For my FF. I use "No Script", SAASPass (Password Manager),
MogaPurple@reddit
This is the first time I read someone besides me that mantions SAASPASS, let alone use it. I don't know how I found that tool back in the day, but have never heard since then from anyone. 😄
I am still using it (mostly for TOTP only), although their browser integration (on MacOS at least) never seemed to work to me.
machacker89@reddit
Meh it was a hit or miss.l
MogaPurple@reddit
I like the TOTP functionality and the secure notes, although I am not sure how the data is stored in the cloud, so not sure about it’s security. Started migrating to Bitwarden, like 3 days ago…
machacker89@reddit
Me to. They have some great functionality that's almost cross-platform. Why you moving to Bitwarden.
MogaPurple@reddit
Mostly due to more transparent security, privacy, and cross-platform availability (I use iOS, Android, MacOS, Linux), and UX-wise it is also looks more polished.
SaasPass seems okay, my main reason choosing it several years ago was just to have a better TOTP authenticator than Google's and to have multi-device sync support. It have delivered that, although you need subscription for multi-device support since then.
While even though I am using relatively complex and gibberish generated passowords for quite a while now, I can only remember so much of them, so I am sort of guilty of either reusing (part of) them and keep using them maybe for a bit too long, or I keep forgetting the less frequently used ones and I always log in with the recovery options. 😄
I wanted to up my security AND privacy game significantly, which includes using more separate accounts and thus, more passwords up to par to higher standards, and also phasing out as many as possible "not sure who can actually see this data" kind of software.
So in short, SaasPass has worked so far, but: - how secure is it privacy-wise? - how well their system is designed and maintained to prevent data leaks in case of some disaster? - useless as password manager (to me)
Since they do not have an up-to-date, functioning, cross-browser password manager, and some functionality is not possible with the app either, (eg. deleting/renaming authenticators, or retriving their key), also the UX is not well polished, I somehow feel that their development team is a bit lacking in resources.
benhaube@reddit
I'd like to know this too. Firefox sucks compared to Chromium. No PWA, no tab groups, slower performance, some websites won't render properly, the UI is unnecessarily large. I use Ungoogled Chromium. Oh, and Firefox Containers are NOT tab groups.
mwyvr@reddit
Firefox, not beholding to major companies like Google and Microsoft (Edge), will always appeal to many Free Open Source Software fans.
Once upon a time Firefox was the leading browser for such folks and also for many Windows users who were not even aware of the FOSS movement.
At the time, Internet Explorer was an abomination that actively thumbed its nose at web standards, a good proof case of what happens when one mega corp uses their install base to drive what they think the internet/web should look like. Chrome didn't exist. Opera did; a small few used it.
When Chrome came out people flocked to it. Google was riding high on their reputation as a search provider and people trusted them more than Microsoft... and Chrome simply worked better.
https://cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/1438.jpeg
It would be a tragedy to see Firefox disappear. More choice is better, especially for a foundational technologies like the web.
DogAteMyCPU@reddit
Isnt firefox beholden to taking google money?
mwyvr@reddit
Mozilla has been critical of Google despite the money they generate from the search engine preference deal.
Are they able to balance the income received without giving Google influence on product direction? It seems so.
KlePu@reddit
Edge is also Chrome-based nowadays btw
dudeness_boy@reddit
I saw one distro with Chromium, I don't remember which one though.
mwyvr@reddit
MANY distributions provide Chromium AND Firefox in their repos. Possibly every single distro that matters.
dudeness_boy@reddit
I'm not talking about in the repos, but as the default preinstalled browser
imbev@reddit
OpenMandriva
mwyvr@reddit
Many distros will default to promoting projects they perceive as being more aligned to the FOSS movement, or they'll make the choice based on features.
For example, Chromium no longer supports sync, which may make it a less attractive choice for less experienced users.
Some distros will ship GNOME with only Epiphany installed; I'm good with that, let me choose which browser I will install as main.
FamousReview8907@reddit
Bodhi
Dennis_DZ@reddit
I think Raspberry Pi OS comes with Chromium
braintarded@reddit
yeah it comes with both firefox and chromium
MegamanEXE2013@reddit
I am a Chrome user, but to be fair, Mozilla Firefox is truly the only free open source browser there is, so that is why it is bundled in almost every Linux distro.
The others send telemetry to big corporations, like Google or Microsoft, Mozilla has a lot of other stuff that is allowed, unlike Chromium and its Manifest V3.
That is the attachment they have to it
Plan_9_fromouter_@reddit
Brave is based on Chromium, so many prefer Firefox. I really like the latest versions of Firefox.
bryophyta8@reddit
There really isn’t. There’s basically just Firefox, chrome and safari and all else is pretty much just a skin of chrome. There’s a few open source efforts to build new browsers from scratch but none of them are really usable yet. Just use Firefox or one of its derivatives - they’re the best (and the only ones with good ad blockers too).
CaptainObvious110@reddit
Exactly
DriNeo@reddit
Personally I'm afraid of Google monopoly on web engines.
CaptainObvious110@reddit
Agreed
scannerthegreat@reddit
its been around since linux and has grew with it its also the only browser with a really good apt package
Shished@reddit
Firefox is much older than Chrome, and it was like the only FOSS Linux compatible browser back then.
Chrome is proprietary and Chromium is not really production ready.
Chromium takes much more time to compile which makes it harder for packagers to test and debug.
smirkybg@reddit
Chromium is not production ready? WTH? I've been using it since 2 decades, during which I've switched to Firefox multiple times, including currently my preference. Chromium is just a semi-de-googled Chrome. What does production ready mean to you? It's a browser, not a car.
Apostle_B@reddit
Because it's about the only browser out there that isn't simply a re-skinned chromium. It's also about the only browser that still adheres to fully open standards, in stark contrast with the google-powered enshittification of the entire internet with incessant ads, echo-chamber producing algorithms and so on.
In the context of Open Source, Firefox is the one browser that remains somewhat true to the core principles.
If it dies, google will officially control how the entire internet functions.
Zestyclose-Week6042@reddit
u/Apostle_B how would you suggest to get out off "echo-chamber producing algorithms"? there are so many ways to profile you as a user and then feed you the same feed than just by a browser you are using. if you care, please provide a long answer. would be happy to read it
sunjay140@reddit
Webkit
Ksielvin@reddit
Have you used Konqueror a lot lately?
insert_topical_pun@reddit
There's GNOME Web.
Firefox is the more sensible default browser, in my view.
iheartrms@reddit
This. All of this. This is why I went from NCSA Mosaic->Netscape Navigator->Firefox and have never used any other browser on any kind of regular basis. Freedom, privacy, and adherence to open standards are very important. The other browsers are the antithesis of these principles.
SuAlfons@reddit
Oh Gee, that how old I am... NCSA Mosaic...my first browser. On a DEC MicroVAX.
gesis@reddit
You forgot Phoenix in there.
I followed the same progression, switching to Navigator then the original Mozilla browser (with the funky blue skin), then Phoenix (before the BIOS company forced a name change), then finally Firefox.
I keep using firefox because mozilla isn't actively trying to make the web shittier for its users, unlike Alphabet/Google. Until there is a hard fork of chromium, that is divorced from Google decisions [like dropping manifest v2], using it is voting for the enshittification of the web.
No thanks.
MyOtherCarIsACdr@reddit
You forgot Firebird in there.
It was Firebird for a time after Phoenix and before Firefox.
gesis@reddit
You are 100% correct. What a weird time for browsers.
Xipher@reddit
If ya want weird you need to get yourself SeaMonkey.
gesis@reddit
SeaMonkey was always a mess. Remember the weird mp3 player fork of Firefox, Songbird?
Monsieur_Moneybags@reddit
Same here. I loved Mosaic. Good times. There's a version that still runs on modern Linux systems, but it has trouble rendering a lot of sites.
mwyvr@reddit
You can support standards and still en-shittify the internet with ads that use tech which follow those standards.
Apostle_B@reddit
And why would a non-profit do that, exactly?
mwyvr@reddit
My point is that standards do not prevent ads; in your sentence you seemed to be linking better standards compliance with avoiding ads.
Google has been a better player in promoting and adhering to web standards than Microsoft, yet has been the major player in web ads.
Agree with your post in spirit though, and want to see Firefox survive without becoming yet-another-chromium.
Apostle_B@reddit
Well, isn't manifest v3 a "standard" enforced by Google? It's about "open" standards. Not standards per se.
mwyvr@reddit
Manifest V3 isn't a web standard, it is a Chromium platform API.
Apostle_B@reddit
...which Google intends to enforce as a standard or, at the very least, only platform API, rendering ad blockers useless.
loozerr@reddit
It doesn't render blockers useless. Manifest V3 version of ublock is plenty capable.
mwyvr@reddit
Every project that defines APIs is declaring their internal standards. The Chromium case is no different than Apache or Firefox, just that we disagree with it.
But that's very different from web standards.
Thankfully, choice is available, Firefox, the reason for this thread.
akiakiak@reddit
100%. And it's a good browser, too.
mewt6@reddit
"there are plenty..". - not really, there's Firefox and chromium and it's derivatives
PureTryOut@reddit
(and Safari, which is Webkit)
MoussaAdam@reddit
which chromuim is a fork of
PureTryOut@reddit
Sure, but pretty far off and I wouldn't compare them as such anymore. It's really it's own browser engine.
MoussaAdam@reddit
true
jjoorrxx@reddit
Firefox comes from Mozilla, open sourced Netscape, which derived from Mosaic, first graphical Internet browser to be a thing back in 1994. Using it since then. That't it. Yes I'm old.
MogaPurple@reddit
Tell me about that "old" thing... I am using it since the Netscape era. When Chrome came out 15 or so years ago, everyone started to praise it like the best thing in the world, even I fell for it, then after a few months, when I came to a facepalm realization that "Wait a sec, so Google now sees all the pages I visit?", then I quickly switched back and have suggested everyone since then to do so. (but nobody cares...)
jjoorrxx@reddit
Try to type about:mozilla in the URL bar. Yes also works since then.
Timely-Helicopter173@reddit
List the browsers that aren't based on Chrome, it's too short a list, and that's why Firefox. Also it's good.
Then once you swap Google out for DuckDuckGo and add uBlock Origin...
Chef's kiss.
MogaPurple@reddit
Startpage feels better to me than DDG.
asterisk_14@reddit
Also multi-account containers.
Outside-Memory3326@reddit
I love these container thingys!
Illustrious-Knee8116@reddit
Ecosia/OceanHero are other good Google substitutes!
Timely-Helicopter173@reddit
Yes! Though I hadn't heard of OceanHero, that looks cool.
Brorim@reddit
duckduckgo is microsoft now .. look it up ,😉😆
LukiLinux@reddit
Looked it up and it's false.
Brorim@reddit
look harder
LukiLinux@reddit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuckDuckGo
Brorim@reddit
"Of course, we have more traditional links and images in our search results too, which we largely source from Bing"
this is from their sources homepage.
Hot-Hat-4913@reddit
That's true, but DuckDuckGo is not owned by Microsoft in any way and the searches are still privacy-preserving.
vancha113@reddit
Eh, yes, please do. DuckDuckGo isn't Microsoft, nor is it owned by them.
RogueDotSly@reddit
too lazy to change default browser
OldSkoolVFX@reddit
As far as I know security. They stay away from Chrome.
sonofchocula@reddit
I used Firefox for a very long time but recently made the decision to move on. Things don’t look great for them moving forward.
https://www.osnews.com/story/141100/mozilla-foundation-lays-off-30-of-its-employees-ends-advocacy-for-open-web-privacy-and-more/
Qigong1019@reddit
I can only speak for myself : 1) I think they have the best built-in bookmark manager 2) It's not fast, so a choice is political and historical.
Speed : Spidermonkey does some extra checking and a different algorithm. Quic has been designed to run the fastest with V8 and GA(Google Analytics). Otherwise, Apple's VSC has the best natural algorithm. This situation is highly debated. People still want to stay away from Google.
Some people's love of Firefox was concurrent with Linux Mint, post systemd transition, for a really user friendly distro. Within that time, the govt accepted open document standard, and Libre Office was part of this.
Many now prefer Brave for standing up for privacy. I love Zen Browser too. I really like Firefox Pocket on my phone for all my tagged dev learning sites. It really was the bookmark manager. I have Vivaldi, I like Opera's built-in vpn, but it came down to bookmark mgmt.
Safe-Finance8333@reddit
Brave is garbage for people cosplaying data security.
AsiaHeartman@reddit
Brave is chromium, which is still in the clutches of Google.
arnaclez@reddit
other people have nobler reasons but for me, chrome has this one issue in hyprland where if you try to move a tab to a different spot, it’ll break out into its own window and from there it becomes ever harder to move and it was so frustrating that i just installed firefox immediately. i still have to use chrome for school though.
BunnyTiger23@reddit
I love the convenience of Chrome since I use Google drive/suite for many different things. Is there a way to integrate that within Firefox?
OptimalAnywhere6282@reddit
I used to he a Firefox hater + Chrome fanboy. Now I know that I was really wrong. Firefox is the best browser I've seen (for practical/daily use); I'm sure you know what are the reasons, and if you don't, you'll find them a couple comments below or above.
GulfOfAmericaFirst@reddit
It's not google or microsoft. Only reason.
Future17@reddit
I can't stand Firefox, but they are really the only alternative to the Chrome infestation we are currently suffering.
m1k3e@reddit
Simple. Because it’s not Chrome or Chrome-derived.
WhiteShariah@reddit
>thinly veiled malware advertisement
get fucked OP.
WhiteShariah@reddit
Freedom.
Dave_Odd@reddit
Open-source
ArbitratorMiss@reddit
Only two reasons in my book, best uBlock Origin support (and some best privacy extensions support, privacy choices) and the Firefox Multi-Account Containers.
mitch_feaster@reddit
Tree style tabs
Far-9947@reddit
It was such a great decision when I finally switched from brave to Firefox on my PC.
Brave gave me too such problems and is chromium. The brave devs said they would keep manifest v2, but how likely is that, given it runs on chromium?
I think eventually brave just won't be able to keep it as time goes on.
TetanAnoki@reddit
Years ago while trying out different browsers i ran across Maxthon Browser. If i remember correctly it ran on 2 engines you could switch back and forth on. I think they have a pc version and mobile. You could check it out.
Clutchreal1356@reddit
Because chromium doesn't have video decoding support on nvidia drivers in Linux
Vogete@reddit
Unpopular opinion: I don't like Firefox all that much. I used it back in the 3.x.x days, then switched to chrome, and now on brave (after purging the crypto shit from it), and I just really really prefer chromium based ones. The dev tools for me are quite essential and I really dislike Firefox dev tools compared to chromium. Other than that, I run into many small sites they have issues on Firefox but work in chromium. My parents are hardcore Firefox users (for the wrong reasons though), but they complain so much how it never works in their bank site and a lot of old legacy sites that they must use. I don't need that to he honest.
I really want to like Firefox, but every time I decide to try it, I just want my trusty chromium back. I really miss Firefox 3.6 though, I really loved it back then. I don't even know why, I just want those days back.
TCB13sQuotes@reddit
Because people like improperly rendered webpages and installing ungoogled chromium is too much work.
Baka_Jaba@reddit
Iceweasel had a nice flavor to it
ARandomWalkInSpace@reddit
That's just Firefox but without the trademarks. :)
FrazzledHack@reddit
Not quite. Debian made a number of modifications to upstream Firefox, which is why Mozilla objected to the use of their trademark in the Debian package.
Baka_Jaba@reddit
Indeed, just nostalgic of that name&logo :p
ARandomWalkInSpace@reddit
I don't blame you!
xplosm@reddit
Partial to zen browser for me
Baka_Jaba@reddit
Haven't heard of it before but I don't know why, it looks neat, will definitely give that a try sometime
xplosm@reddit
Glad to hear it. It’s still in beta but a side from one or two issues with keyboard shortcuts I wouldn’t feel it isn’t production ready.
G0rd0nFr33m4n@reddit
It won't last too much. If we're lucky enough Mozilla is going to die soon.
Future_Kitsunekid16@reddit
Is it just your hobby to shit on firefox because you seem to have the biggest hate boner for it
Aphrodites1995@reddit
Chromium uses electron which in my experience doesn't mesh well with wayland and nvidia
Danny_el_619@reddit
It's the opposite. Electron uses chomium.
Plenty-Light755@reddit
Chromium still doesn't support hardware video acceleration on AMD properly without tons of experimental flags.
Danny_el_619@reddit
It doesn't? To be fair I haven't used AMD in more than a decade so I am not aware of the state of it.
Keely369@reddit
Video acceleration tends to work out of the box on Firefox. Doesn't on Vivaldi and I've spent too much time trying to get it to. I don't know if the same goes for all Chrome based browsers but TBH Vivaldi was the only one I liked.
thestenz@reddit
Because Firefox is completely open-source. Like Linux.
marshalleq@reddit
One of the changes is if everyone used browsers based on a single engine such as chrome the open web standards are likely to become monopolised and proprietary again. I’m sure there are still in use applications out there that must run on old internet explorer because of this. I think my company only got rid of them last year. When you think how old ie is that truly isn’t good to be stuck in the walled garden set by those proprietary standards. We NEED Firefox and WebKit to keep chrome from becoming this problem all over again. Also I notice a lot of people (especially young people) not asking this question and thinking Firefox is an old man’s browser (their words not mine). Now you know enough to explain to others also.
ballackshoden@reddit
Simple reasons
uBO (on Chrome just the lite Version)
Extensions on Mobile: uBO and, since im in the eu, i still dont care about cookies.
Common_Sea_8959@reddit
I run it on windows too it's great
Danny_el_619@reddit
Because most people in linux communities are allergic to chrome and can't distinguish between chrome and a fork of chromium.
dualboot@reddit
I've been using Firefox since it was previewed as Phoenix 0.2.
It's had some hiccups over the last 23 years but it has never stopped being my daily driver since.
northrupthebandgeek@reddit
Tree Style Tabs
kudlitan@reddit
Very simple for me:
Firefox has a setting that when you exit the browser all traces of what you did disappear. I love that so much and it's not on any other browser.
As for the distros, Firefox is truly open unlike any chromium based browser, which is still controlled by Google.
Soon Google will block extensions that block ads, things like this will never happen on Firefox.
touchpost@reddit
It's better to have more competition; otherwise, we end up with only one tool. I've been using Firefox for 12 years, but it's losing a lot of ground compared to Chromium. I've noticed bugs when loading pages—it kind of reminds me of Internet Explorer when it started to die. I hope so they'll make a big release to improve Firefox
dayeye2006@reddit
True adblocker
MadhubanManta@reddit
It's hard to answer honwstly. I personally think it's a combination of their being around for so long and maintaining this image as a truly open source and free web browser that has made them the default. Some distros, for example, OpenSUSE, ships their version of Firefox with custom patches to make it integrate better with KDE.
I have been using it for years, and as a kid, when I downloaded Firefox for the first time, it was not because it's free and open source but rather Firefox sounded way cooler to my ears all those years ago compared to Internet Explorer 😅
mdRamone@reddit
Oh yeah! They are a lot of them like the blue chrome, orange lion chrome, red 'v' chrome, microsoft chrome, red O chrome, chrome and Firefox.
braintarded@reddit
cant forget about green chrome, letter A chrome, padlock chrome, russian Y chrome, blue letter C chrome, iron chrome, giant lizard chrome, red O gamer chrome, thor chrome, self proclaimed epic chrome, sun chrome, hexagon chrome, blue/green gradient chrome, bird chrome, shield chrome, and M chrome, and probably more lol
mdRamone@reddit
Oh damn, I didn't know we had that many choices!
Worldly_Midnight_838@reddit
I actually recently tried switching to librewolf (which is basically just firefox without the account and with more strict privacy setting), and and I like it. But I also have chromium installed for when a website is not working with librewolf or firefox, which has happened to me once in a while
FormationHeaven@reddit
Most of these things especially number 1. do not exist in other browsers and are something thats valued by a lot of people myself included.
do-un-to@reddit
Lots of folks are saying how Firefox is a really great browser from a viewpoint of features and performance, and that's all true and alone good reason on its own for choosing it. I love how Firefox works.
The folks who are saying that it's not Chromium are trying to make the point that a browser monopoly is bad for everyone, which is a difficult argument to make. Not because it's not true, but because it's really abstract. It's much more concrete for those of us who used and worked on the web in the late '90s, but even being in the middle of it, it could be challenging to wrap your head around exactly how all the shittiness and pain were a result of a browser gaining monopoly. So, a difficult case to make.
But it's important. The dystopian nightmare of vast and soulless megacorporations grinding humanity down in a bleak and poisonous hellscape is built atop our choices. When thousands, millions, billions of individuals make choices, those choices collectively add up to planetary-scale influence. And when those choices aren't informed by how they help or hurt the ecosystems we live in — web or economy or global temperature — they almost always hurt. They almost always by default empower rapacious, for-profit corporations.
So, good you're asking. And hopefully the argument from ecology will make sense to you. As a simple rule of thumb, I would never choose the most common browser engine.
The Mozilla Foundation was built to "fight for the users." I'm a fan and supporter because they support us. There are other such organizations out there, in computing and elsewhere. I recommend seeking them out and aligning with and empowering them, too.
MeanEYE@reddit
I was a web developer during IE6 dominance era and that's reason enough for me to keep using Firefox even if it were inferior just to keep pushing the scales away from Chrome's dominance. Mess that is state of JavaScript today is thanks to Microsoft's eagerness to keep the monopoly and thus breaking compatibility slightly.
There are of course more victims from that era, but I know enough not to allow it happen again. Microsoft back then only had OS dominance to rely on. Google hold far more power and cunning and would be a far harder enemy to fight.
Now you say there are plenty of browsers, but in fact there are only two engines competing. Google's Blink and Firefox's Gecko. Even Safari is using WebKit, which use to be Google's main engine until they forked it.
Nereithp@reddit
Good lord I hate browser wars so much. There are a couple of reasons for why Firefox is the go-to:
Mozilla is relatively non-controversial as far as browsers go and Firefox is an unopinionated blank slate. And if you want to give your users everything they expect out of a web browser (proper full fat ad blocking, functional tab sync between multiple devices, full-fat mobile browser with ad blocking) your options are essentially down to:
... Yeah I wonder which one I'd choose for a distro's default browser.
That being said, I use like 5 browsers, including both Brave and Firefox, because it's the year 2025 and there is still no one single browser that offers complete and coherent identity/profile separation that works on both mobile and desktop, so if you want that you kinda have to run a few browsers.
GreyXor@reddit
For me, It's about maintaining diversity in the web ecosystem. Supporting Firefox ensures that Chrome doesn’t become the sole dominant browser. If Chrome monopolizes the market, Google gains unchecked control over web standards and practices. Relying on alternatives like Brave alone won't be enough to challenge that dominance.
AntiGrieferGames@reddit
meanwhile on Firefox you can still install ublock origin
ChocolateDonut36@reddit
because is free, open source, secure, doesn't have empresarial interest, it doesn't add useless features that no one asked for, it's not a spyware with a web browser included and it's not just a chromium reskin.
gnikyt@reddit
You're over generallizing reskin. They're based off those browsers, but Edge for instance, has quite a slew of a features which I wouldn't say is simply Chrome with a theme.
AntiGrieferGames@reddit
Zen is instance has unique features that firefox dont have right now.
AntiGrieferGames@reddit
Firefox is a good browser, espcially it has useful extension like ublock origin etc.
Plus point it is not Chromium based, it uses Gecko Engine!
Jamarlie@reddit
Out of all the browsers, Firefox is the least shitty one. It still violates your privacy by default, but it at least ensures you can set it up in a way that makes it good and privacy-friendly to use.
fellipec@reddit
Firefox is THE browser.
Everyone else is Chromium with eyeliner and lipstick.
1EdFMMET3cfL@reddit
Okay OP now that you've heard from the hippies sticking flowers into rifles, going on about monopolies free love, I thought I would give you something practical to consider: firefox is generally better software than chromium/chrome. Easier to configure, saner defaults, etc. You get the impression that Firefox devs want people to enjoy their browser, rather than being needlessly hostile like google is.
In particular, I found that getting hardware video acceleration working in FF was easier than Chrome. Tweaking a few options in-browser rather than futzing around with flags and config files.
Okay back to you Mr. Stallman, John Lennon, and Yoko Ono.
do-un-to@reddit
Those of us who lived through the late '90s and understood what was happening with the collapse of the web into a browser monopoly and all the hell that that brought with it would rather you not lump us in with feckless, muzzy-headed hippies let alone Yoko.
Sure, it's kind of fun to wave your hands dismissively at "lol open standards" — I'm all for poking fun at sacred cows. But while we're in an atmosphere of general ignorance about how important standards are, I'm going to have to put this footnote on lolposts.
I mean, the current ignorance about the critical importance of open protocol standards these days is similar to how people are forgetting that nazis were in fact horrifically bad. (And for those of you daft enough to think these two things are being fully equated...) "There are very fine people on both sides"-kind of thinking, blithely walking into white supremacy and ultra-nationalism, clearly leads more directly to agony and bloodshed, right. But the same phenomenon of forgetting the past is at play.
Who knew noobs were so dangerous?
ahferroin7@reddit
History has a lot to do with it.
At the time that Firefox 1.0 came out in 2004, FOSS web browsers were not a comon thing, and even less so ones for Linux, and essentially none of the options had dominant market share. For reference, the other big FOSS options at the time were Epiphany, Konqueror, Galeon, Amaya, and the Mozilla Application Suite. Galeon and Amaya are dead at this point, and Epiphany and Konqueror are holding on but have marginal market share, and the Mozilla Application Suite is what Firefox was intended to replace.
And on day one, Firefox was better than the alternatives in most ways that most users cared about. It was so good in fact that the betas got rave reviews from major news outlets both inside and outside of the tech industry.
Over the next four years, there really weren’t any major new players in the browser market on Linux (the super-minimalist NetSurf is really it other than a few Firefox knock-offs), and Firefox also largely kept it’s lead over the competition on top of improving further by leaps and bounds. Because of that, by the time that Google Chrome and Chromium came out in 2008, Firefox was the de-facto Linux web browser, used by most of the big distributions by default.
Chromium has never really managed to unseat Firefox from that position, largely because there is not really a compelling reason to replace Firefox with Chromium, and there are plenty reasons not to do so (top of the list being that changing what is functionally one of the core components of a system from a user perspective to something that is drastically different is a very good way to lose users).
And if Chromium hasn’t managed that, why should we assume that any of the plethora of Chromium knock-offs will do so either?
webguynd@reddit
Technically Konqeror lives on in both Safari(WebKit) and Chromium (Blink). Apple took KHTML as the basis for Safari and made WebIt out if it, then Google took WebKit and forked it into Blink.
It's been KDE all the way down this whole time. Check your user agent string in Chromium it still says KHTML.
bassbeater@reddit
And in all irony it's back to the GNOME vs KDE battle.
usctzn069@reddit
It's not Chrome, meaning not Google...and Linux is the opposite of Google.
G0rd0nFr33m4n@reddit
Mozilla is alive THANKS to Google, not despite them.
daemonpenguin@reddit
No, Mozilla is rich and top heavy thanks to Google. It's alive because of all sorts of reasons, most of them despite Google's efforts.
isbtegsm@reddit
Isn't the Linux foundation now funding Chromium?
usctzn069@reddit
no, it's still Google
isbtegsm@reddit
Ah, OK. But they have Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers, so some kind of support, but not financial.
Effective_Sundae_839@reddit
It isn't chromium-based
BinkReddit@reddit
It's really great for power users and tries to put its users first, unlike Chrome. While I could provide a list, it's the little awesomeness like Ctrl+Tab for recently used tabs and Reader view, which Chrome killed largely killed off because it prevents you from seeing ads. That said, Firefox is missing a lot of functionality that's on Chrome and related browsers, but I'm hoping Firefox will get back to building a great browser and stop being a social justice warrior.
Faranta@reddit
It's the only browser that stores passwords encrypted instead of in plaintext.
Sacharon123@reddit
Because it is the only browser that not yet uses about .5GB RAM on average per tab.
PotentialSimple4702@reddit
abotelho-cbn@reddit
Every other browser has generally been doing open washing.
PcChip@reddit
I use firefox because I think the audio sounds better than Chrome.
AtlanticPortal@reddit
The question should be why not. Remove any rebranding of Chrome and you don’t get many alternatives on a generic Linux distribution.
blakespot@reddit
It is one of the three mainstream browsers, and the only one of which that's available for Linux. It is the most well supported browser on the platform. Why would anyone use anything else?
844984498449@reddit
Why not Firefox?
xplosm@reddit
Why is Gamora?
2eedling@reddit
Ur just using chrome with a different skin
sekh60@reddit
Not chromium based, and doesn't support homophobe Brendan Eich like Brave.
mwyvr@reddit
Mozilla turfed Eich over his anti-gay marriage equality action, but Eich's fingerprints are all over Mozilla/Firefox and Javascript over his many years working on those projects.
I'm happy to support Firefox but still hate Javascript, btw.
For those unaware of his history:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendan_Eich
[2] https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-26868536
Brorim@reddit
firefox is maintained by what seems to be trustworthy people and is opensource they also run a nice ftp site with all former versions of all their software which makes it much easier to get online when you mess around wit old OSs 😉👍
Ivan_Kulagin@reddit
Fun fact: Firefox happened not least due to people at Netscape reading Eric Raymond’s The Cathedral and the Bazaar
Littux@reddit
Firefox is the only browser supporting hardware video decoding officially on Linux
Asleep-Marsupial4031@reddit
It just works.
KarolProgramista@reddit
It's the only one that ain't that damn chrome
thebadslime@reddit
Edge is the main thing keeping me on ubuntu( wait thats a lie, it's amdgpu-pro)
Sarithis@reddit
The only reason for me is Zen. Other than that, I'd prefer a chromium-based browser, mostly due to performance and devtools.
g0dSamnit@reddit
Firefox is a bit janky and slower than Chromium-derived browsers, but it's also not beholden to a shitbag corp trying to turn it into the next Internet Explorer. One could argue they probably could've maintained a fork of Chromium's rendering and V8 instead (for better performance and security), but I guess that's not how it worked out.
I am curious how other browsers (i.e. Chromium-derived browsers) will make do with the current changes in order to maintain proper extension support.
Mister_Magister@reddit
cause its the only one that's not chrome
syzygee_alt@reddit
TIL Brave was 'open-source'. I thought it was bloated?
dankobg@reddit
Ublock on phone
aa_conchobar@reddit
Firefox is quite good on Linux specifically. Iirc, it has the best performance and lowest resource usage out of the main alternatives
NowThatHappened@reddit
I pretty much agree with everyone, which is nice. FF also has a great developer edition, really nice dev tools and allows me to sync my bookmarks between phone, mac and Linux.
Oh and it’s not evil (yet)
ReallyEvilRob@reddit
Because it's not Chromium.
mina86ng@reddit
In addition to what others have said: - Tree Style Tabs - Tridactyl
capfredf@reddit
It's good, open-source, and it runs perfectly on Wayland. Since I use Aeon as my daily driver, another bonus point for me is that its flatpak versions are maintained and released by Mozilla.
Maleficent-Salad3197@reddit
Chromium doesn't work with extensions without tweaks.
UNF0RM4TT3D@reddit
I think it's because it always has been. It was the first one to get widely shipped across distros and even Unixes, Chromium didn't exist and the main competitor was IE. Nowadays it could be of a dislike of a browser monopoly, Brave, vivaldi, Opera, chrome, edge are all the same browser underneath. Firefox is the only remotely popular browser not based on Chromium.
Excellent_Weather496@reddit
Love 💛
NoYogurt8022@reddit
its good, commonly used, open source, if its the standart to use that browser everywhere why break that?