4 ms·

Can anyone comment on the difference between Waterfox and Librewolf?

weikju 2y ago
I was going to comment that one of them (WaterFox) has a shady sponsor (System1, an advertising company) but it seems WaterFox has been an independent project again since 2023 [0] [0] https://avoidthehack.com/review-waterfox-browser https://avoidthehack.com/review-waterfox-browser
- MrAlex94 2y ago
  While branding System1 an adtech company is correct, its bread and butter [at the time] was search aggregation and in effect contextual advertising (System1 didn't want to deal with PII). The ownership made a lot of sense, and of course having a view inside the company, I could see how everything worked. It was impossible to get that point across, especially as S1 wanted to have the final say on what was said. A lot of heartache all across the board could've been saved by just being able to say things as a matter of fact. But unfortunately people jump to conclusions, don't have good faith discussions and loved just get involved in internet drama.
JTyQZSnP3cQGa8B 2y ago
I never used Waterfox but Librewolf seems to have more stricts settings, whereas people describe Waterfox as being closer to Firefox. Librewolf has sensible but annoying default settings that you have to change. For example, cookies are deleted when quitting, or you can't have night mode out of the box since it could be a privacy issue. IMHO it's a cleaner Firefox and I enjoy it so far.
- replete 2y ago
  I contributed UX for a 'save cookies for this site' dropdown feature in the navbar, a poc was made which looked good, but it got lost in other work and eventually didn't land in a release that I'm aware of. Shame because that one feature would make it practical to use the recommended clear cookies behavior by default except for particular sites and overall boost everyone's privacy and security because I'm pretty sure most people turn it off after getting sick of logging in. After a couple of months I went back to Firefox and hardened it making it basically the same as LF but not being a month behind in updates. I guess I'll revisit the project now
  - QuinnyPig 2y ago
    Are you aware of any browser / extension that enables this behavior? It sounds like the privacy grail for some of us.
    - anotherevan 2y ago
      Cookie Autodelete is probably close to what you want. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/cookie-autodelete/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/cookie-autode...
    - replete 2y ago
      Oh, I just checked Librewolf and the feature actually is there now when you click the padlock. `LibreWolf: Always store cookies/data for this site` That's great, and I think I will now switch over
- spudlyo 2y ago
  I created a post[0] on /r/LibreWolf to discuss usability tweaks for new LibreWolf users who might not know all the ins and outs of the more strict settings. [0]: https://old.reddit.com/r/LibreWolf/comments/1j0ckr9/recent_firefox_refugees/ https://old.reddit.com/r/LibreWolf/comments/1j0ckr9/recent_f...

I was going to comment that one of them (WaterFox) has a shady sponsor (System1, an advertising company) but it seems WaterFox has been an independent project again since 2023 [0] [0] https://avoidthehack.com/review-waterfox-browser https://avoidthehack.com/review-waterfox-browser

MrAlex94 2y ago
While branding System1 an adtech company is correct, its bread and butter [at the time] was search aggregation and in effect contextual advertising (System1 didn't want to deal with PII). The ownership made a lot of sense, and of course having a view inside the company, I could see how everything worked. It was impossible to get that point across, especially as S1 wanted to have the final say on what was said. A lot of heartache all across the board could've been saved by just being able to say things as a matter of fact. But unfortunately people jump to conclusions, don't have good faith discussions and loved just get involved in internet drama.

JTyQZSnP3cQGa8B 2y ago

I never used Waterfox but Librewolf seems to have more stricts settings, whereas people describe Waterfox as being closer to Firefox. Librewolf has sensible but annoying default settings that you have to change. For example, cookies are deleted when quitting, or you can't have night mode out of the box since it could be a privacy issue. IMHO it's a cleaner Firefox and I enjoy it so far.

replete 2y ago
I contributed UX for a 'save cookies for this site' dropdown feature in the navbar, a poc was made which looked good, but it got lost in other work and eventually didn't land in a release that I'm aware of. Shame because that one feature would make it practical to use the recommended clear cookies behavior by default except for particular sites and overall boost everyone's privacy and security because I'm pretty sure most people turn it off after getting sick of logging in. After a couple of months I went back to Firefox and hardened it making it basically the same as LF but not being a month behind in updates. I guess I'll revisit the project now
- QuinnyPig 2y ago
  Are you aware of any browser / extension that enables this behavior? It sounds like the privacy grail for some of us.
  - anotherevan 2y ago
    Cookie Autodelete is probably close to what you want. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/cookie-autodelete/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/cookie-autode...
  - replete 2y ago
    Oh, I just checked Librewolf and the feature actually is there now when you click the padlock. `LibreWolf: Always store cookies/data for this site` That's great, and I think I will now switch over
spudlyo 2y ago
I created a post[0] on /r/LibreWolf to discuss usability tweaks for new LibreWolf users who might not know all the ins and outs of the more strict settings. [0]: https://old.reddit.com/r/LibreWolf/comments/1j0ckr9/recent_firefox_refugees/ https://old.reddit.com/r/LibreWolf/comments/1j0ckr9/recent_f...