4 ms·

Waterfox: Fast and Private Web Browser

139 points by doener 2y ago

totalperspectiv 2y ago
Well, switching from Firefox to Waterfox was a pretty easy switch.
steeleduncan 2y ago
Is this Firefox rebranded with anything privacy breaking removed? Personally that is what I want. A minimal set of diffs on top of Firefox that turns off anything obnoxious Mozilla might (or might not) add, but is close enough to the original codebase that it can be updated with security fixes right away
- yapyap 2y ago
  Maybe just an updated user.js would be enough for this goal?
  - steeleduncan 2y ago
    Ah, interesting, I was unaware of user.js It seems https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js is a comprehensive set of settings for that
- n4r9 2y ago
  It sounds like LibreWolf and Waterfox both fall into this category. Difficult to distinguish much between the two. There's a 2yo reddit thread [0] in which the Waterfox founder claims that Waterfox balances privacy with usability, and has the advantage of an auto-update feature. This could be outdated as I just installed LibreWolf and there definitely was an auto-update option in the installation dialog. There's also an article on OnionEngine [1] which compares the two. According to this, Waterfox has support for legacy add-ons, but unlike LibreWolf does not necessarily disable trackers by default. Hard to see how up to date the article is. [0] https://www.reddit.com/r/waterfox/comments/14seevh/comment/jqwuan8/ https://www.reddit.com/r/waterfox/comments/14seevh/comment/j... [1] https://onionengine.io/blog/waterfox-vs-librewolf/ https://onionengine.io/blog/waterfox-vs-librewolf/ By the sounds of it, if you have a strong privacy prefence and don't mind compromising usability for the sake of privacy, Libre Wolf may be the better bet.
  - molticrystal 2y ago
    Librewolf portable [0] is available via the PortableApps.com launcher, which is great for keeping it from scattering files everywhere or for carrying it on a USB drive for Win32/Wine users. Waterfox Classic used to be available, but that stopped a long time ago, and the new Waterfox was never available, to my knowledge. Additionally, the portable version of Librewolf, while lagging slightly as most portable editions do, is updated fairly frequently. This is why I ended up choosing Librewolf - I prefer to have more control over where files are stored on the Windows platform. I also took the extra step of creating the TempForPortableApps [1] folder as well. [0] https://portableapps.com/apps/internet/librewolf-portable https://portableapps.com/apps/internet/librewolf-portable [1] https://portableapps.com/support/platform#advanced https://portableapps.com/support/platform#advanced
    - n4r9 2y ago
      That's a great shout. Portable versions of apps are really useful if you want to sync tools e.g. over syncthing/pCloud/Dropbox, or you work for companies with draconian installation policies.
  - antisthenes 2y ago
    The modern version of Waterfox does not support legacy addons. There's a Waterfox Classic, which does, but even that is mostly obsolete these days (add-ons may work, but many websites don't). And I don't think it's getting regular security updates.
bernds74 2y ago
How do we actually know these browser forks don't contain malware of their own? If you can hide something in a tiny package like xz-utils... and a browser would seem to be a very juicy target.
- Rooster61 2y ago
  Possible, but Waterfox has been out there long enough that I'd think someone would have picked up on it by now. Especially with it being marketed as a more secure Firefox. EDIT: I'm not the one that downvoted the op. Not sure why it's getting heat, it's a valid question.
  - amazingamazing 2y ago
    > but Waterfox has been out there long enough that I'd think someone would have picked up on it by now. lol that doesn't mean anything. it's good that it's open source, but time unfortunately is not an indicator since it doesn't necessarily imply anything about the amount of those checking or the quality of said checks.
    - echoangle 2y ago
      Do you audit every software you run? Which linux distro are you running? What do you do before installing a package you want to use? I wouldn't just install everything I find on the internet but at some point you have to be realistic.
      - amazingamazing 2y ago
        I'm not sure what your point is. I was just pointing out that duration of existence is not some sort of guarantee that there's no malware.
        echoangle 2y ago
        The point was that there is never some sort of guarantee, unless you personally audit every single piece of code and build it yourself with a compiler you built yourself on a computer you designed yourself. But having an established project with a long history and many users and external developers can give you some ammount of trust in the safety of it.
meitham 2y ago
I really enjoy seeing new projects, especially now with Mozilla's updated TOS, but this project's page really bothers me! Why include a feature comparison table with browsers like Chrome and Edge, but leave out Firefox? Your project is built on Firefox, and you even borrowed half of its name. Attribution matters. If Mozilla were to shut down Firefox and all its users left, would Waterfox even survive?
- frereubu 2y ago
  Yeah, reading this page with no mention of Firefox feels a bit weird - I was asking myself the whole time what the relationship is. All I needed was something saying "a privacy-preserving fork of Firefox" or similar to put that to bed so I could concentrate on the rest of the content.
  - MrAlex94 2y ago
    Mozilla have made legal threats in the past about mentioning ANYTHING to do with Firefox. So I steer well clear. The irony(?) being we used to be listed on the Mozilla website :) https://web.archive.org/web/20121229210505/http://www.mozilla.org/projects/powered-by.html https://web.archive.org/web/20121229210505/http://www.mozill...
    - jisnsm 2y ago
      I’m pretty sure it’s completely legal to mention trademarks when comparing your product to others.
      - aaomidi 2y ago
        Are you backing that up with financial support if they get sued by overzealous lawyers?
      - MrAlex94 2y ago
        I had solicitors involved, they basically said you are in the right, but they have more money. Not a hill worth dying on.
enumer8 2y ago
been using waterfox for a long time now and have very little to complain about. it's lean, snappy, and generally very easy to get along with as a browser. trouble is that pesky memory leak issue that seems to plague gecko-based browsers.
MrAlex94 2y ago
For anyone interested in what features there are (I should really have this on an article on the website, but also... how do you market all this? I went for a 'generic' landing page as I assume the average person cares little) Please note some features became available in Firefox after we added them, not related I believe it was just coincidental. A high level overview of what Waterfox offers vs Firefox: * DNS over Oblivious HTTP to encrypt and anonymise DNS requests. Currently the only browser on the market to do so by default I believe? Just a note that we've partnered with Fastly for this and they control the "relay" node in the middle, for proper privacy sanitisation. More info: https://blog.cloudflare.com/oblivious-dns/ https://blog.cloudflare.com/oblivious-dns/ * In-depth configuration of numerous preferences within the Firefox codebase, striking a balance between privacy and web usability. * Full support for JPEG-XL (including for animation, alpha, progressive decode, and colour profiles). * Vertical tabs and sidebar support: https://www.waterfox.net/blog/waterfox-x-treestyletab/ https://www.waterfox.net/blog/waterfox-x-treestyletab/ * In-depth UI customisations. Currently working with black7375, on Lepton for customisations specific to Waterfox. You can view all the UI changes not available in Firefox but available in Waterfox at https://github.com/black7375/Firefox-UI-Fix/wiki/Options https://github.com/black7375/Firefox-UI-Fix/wiki/Options. * "Classic" about:config available at about:cfg and "classic" password list at about:passwords * Removal of all telemetry within the browser. * Removal of all A/B testing within the browser. * Removal of all unnecessary external connections (Google, Mozilla, Meta, etc.) where feasible. Quality of life changes: * Ability to disable auto-updates (not available in other forks) * Integration with Ubuntu's Unity menu on Linux * Ability to "restart" the browser in one click * Ability to right-click "unload" tabs not in use * Ability to "copy" tab URLs * Ability to enable an old-school status bar—allows you to pin functions and addons to the bottom of the browser UI. * Ability to disable Ctrl+W (or cmd+W) with a preference. * Ability to play DRM content such as Netflix, Disney+, etc., not available in any other open source forks. * Private Tabs (you don't need to open a new private window if you don't want; you can instead open a private tab). * Ability to have tabs above address bar, below address bar, or at the bottom of the browser UI. * Extensive changes to the about:preferences page, allowing changing of browser settings usually hidden. * Technical support for Chrome and Opera extensions (this needs work!) * Usage of a more privacy-centric search engine when in Private Window mode. There's a bunch more, but still need to collate them more. Oh and also no AI bullshit that siphons your data off to 3rd party providers. Doesn't mean I'm completely against it, but it has to be local only and performant IF it were to ever make its way to Waterfox.
ss64 2y ago
Can Waterfox load all the up-to-date Firefox extensions or it is stuck with the old plug-in system?
- MrAlex94 2y ago
  Support MV2, MV3 like Firefox, and also supports "classic" bootstrapped extensions, if they've been updated, which you can randomly find on Github.
- KingOfCoders 2y ago
  1Password does not work as well as in Firefox (switched with the ToS change)
  - KingOfCoders 2y ago
    More worrying, ublock does not block as much as on Firefox.
linwangg 2y ago
[dead]
Semaphor 2y ago
2019, 109 comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20047170 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20047170 2021, 101 comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28815747 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28815747
jqpabc123 2y ago
Ad blocking? The browser many not track you but the ad networks do. Without ad blocking, your browsing really isn't all that private.
- 34679 2y ago
  It takes less than a minute to add ublock
  - jqpabc123 2y ago
    Ok, so perhaps the fact that an addon is needed to achieve real privacy should be pointed out somewhere on the web site amongst all the discussion about privacy. If they're just copying Mozilla's half hearted approach to privacy, it should be pointed out that browser updates have been known to disable add-ons so this becomes an ongoing issue. It takes no time/effort to add real privacy to LibreWolf and keep it active because it is built-in. The same applies to other browsers which claim to offer real privacy by default.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
mikae1 2y ago
The really cool thing about Waterfox is that REAL vim keyboard navigation via VimFX[1] has been supported. The integration is much deeper than what Vimium and the other WebExtensions allow. https://github.com/akhodakivskiy/VimFx https://github.com/akhodakivskiy/VimFx
- cholantesh 2y ago
  >The integration is much deeper than what Vimium and the other WebExtensions allow. Rather a dubious claim. Vimium is what VimFx is modelled on, and Vimium was always intended to be pretty minimalist compared to, eg, Vimperator, whose only real successor, Tridactyl, is a WebExtension.
  - mikae1 2y ago
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41911352 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41911352 I'm sorry but this is near unusable since the death of XUL and introduction of WebExtensions. I was a truly avid user of VimFX which did the same thing. Vimium these days does not work when a page hasn't finished loading and it doesn't work on blank pages (about:blank) or any other "system page" (like the preferences or addons). The "o" key can no longer highlight the address bar but brings up a non-native address bar that does not find my bookmarks as it should. Imagine you couldn't click on another tab with your mouse pointer while the current active one is loading. Yes, it's as terribly frustrating as it sounds. In the XUL days I could even use vim shortcuts to access every button in the Firefox UI! Luckily there is a solution for now. VimFx[1] is still being updated and works with the LegacyFox shim!
hypeatei 2y ago
I understand that people need alternatives that work now but please consider contributing your developer expertise and/or donating to Ladybird[0] / Servo[1]. We need to get away from our current engine duopoly of Chromium/Gecko (yes I know webkit exists) [0]: https://ladybird.org https://ladybird.org [1]: https://servo.org https://servo.org
- jaggs 2y ago
  No Windows version? Really? Wow!
  - foolishgurnt 2y ago
    Not initially. Once they have a codebase capable of reliably rendering the web, I'm sure they will explore porting it to Windows.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
Throwthrowbob 2y ago
I had stopped using Waterfox in 2020 because of their association with System1, an advertising company. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22338321 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22338321 I learned today that Waterfox cut ties with System1 in July of 2023, so I'm glad to have an alternative to switch to. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36590056 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36590056 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36606210 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36606210
34679 2y ago
I wonder why this was pushed off the front page? This is my first comment while using Waterfox. Installing and adding ublock was nearly identical to the countless Firefox installs I've done. Painless. So long, Mozilla, it's been a nice couple decades.
- instagib 2y ago
  Comments > x, de-weight upvotes, kick to page 12 of sort by votes and only see if sort by new. x = number, algorithm, and/or moderator manual usage. Annoying for when you want to see discussion about a topic.
butterlettuce 2y ago
Anyone looking to get temporary containers working properly: 1. about:debugging 2. This Waterfox 3. Find the Temporary Containers "extension" 4. Inspect (which opens Dev tools) 5. Go to Storage > Extension Storage 6. Change containerPrefix value from "waterfox" to "firefox"
KingOfCoders 2y ago
Switched to Waterfox, have some problems with addons, but without an alternative, this is it.
KingOfCoders 2y ago
Firefox -> Waterfox: I've used OneTab to migrate 200+ open tabs.
pabs3 2y ago
WaterFox really seems to want to cater to the non-technical crowd with their "trust us" front page with zero details about how their alleged privacy features work, nor even links to the details. The use of JavaScript on the site makes me trust them even less.
hulitu 2y ago
> Waterfox: Fast and Private Web Browser Does it connects to e100.net as librefox and firefox do ?

139 points by doener 2y ago

Well, switching from Firefox to Waterfox was a pretty easy switch.

Is this Firefox rebranded with anything privacy breaking removed? Personally that is what I want. A minimal set of diffs on top of Firefox that turns off anything obnoxious Mozilla might (or might not) add, but is close enough to the original codebase that it can be updated with security fixes right away

yapyap 2y ago
Maybe just an updated user.js would be enough for this goal?
- steeleduncan 2y ago
  Ah, interesting, I was unaware of user.js It seems https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js is a comprehensive set of settings for that
n4r9 2y ago
It sounds like LibreWolf and Waterfox both fall into this category. Difficult to distinguish much between the two. There's a 2yo reddit thread [0] in which the Waterfox founder claims that Waterfox balances privacy with usability, and has the advantage of an auto-update feature. This could be outdated as I just installed LibreWolf and there definitely was an auto-update option in the installation dialog. There's also an article on OnionEngine [1] which compares the two. According to this, Waterfox has support for legacy add-ons, but unlike LibreWolf does not necessarily disable trackers by default. Hard to see how up to date the article is. [0] https://www.reddit.com/r/waterfox/comments/14seevh/comment/jqwuan8/ https://www.reddit.com/r/waterfox/comments/14seevh/comment/j... [1] https://onionengine.io/blog/waterfox-vs-librewolf/ https://onionengine.io/blog/waterfox-vs-librewolf/ By the sounds of it, if you have a strong privacy prefence and don't mind compromising usability for the sake of privacy, Libre Wolf may be the better bet.
- molticrystal 2y ago
  Librewolf portable [0] is available via the PortableApps.com launcher, which is great for keeping it from scattering files everywhere or for carrying it on a USB drive for Win32/Wine users. Waterfox Classic used to be available, but that stopped a long time ago, and the new Waterfox was never available, to my knowledge. Additionally, the portable version of Librewolf, while lagging slightly as most portable editions do, is updated fairly frequently. This is why I ended up choosing Librewolf - I prefer to have more control over where files are stored on the Windows platform. I also took the extra step of creating the TempForPortableApps [1] folder as well. [0] https://portableapps.com/apps/internet/librewolf-portable https://portableapps.com/apps/internet/librewolf-portable [1] https://portableapps.com/support/platform#advanced https://portableapps.com/support/platform#advanced
  - n4r9 2y ago
    That's a great shout. Portable versions of apps are really useful if you want to sync tools e.g. over syncthing/pCloud/Dropbox, or you work for companies with draconian installation policies.
- antisthenes 2y ago
  The modern version of Waterfox does not support legacy addons. There's a Waterfox Classic, which does, but even that is mostly obsolete these days (add-ons may work, but many websites don't). And I don't think it's getting regular security updates.

bernds74 2y ago

How do we actually know these browser forks don't contain malware of their own? If you can hide something in a tiny package like xz-utils... and a browser would seem to be a very juicy target.

Rooster61 2y ago
Possible, but Waterfox has been out there long enough that I'd think someone would have picked up on it by now. Especially with it being marketed as a more secure Firefox. EDIT: I'm not the one that downvoted the op. Not sure why it's getting heat, it's a valid question.
- amazingamazing 2y ago
  > but Waterfox has been out there long enough that I'd think someone would have picked up on it by now. lol that doesn't mean anything. it's good that it's open source, but time unfortunately is not an indicator since it doesn't necessarily imply anything about the amount of those checking or the quality of said checks.
  - echoangle 2y ago
    Do you audit every software you run? Which linux distro are you running? What do you do before installing a package you want to use? I wouldn't just install everything I find on the internet but at some point you have to be realistic.
    - amazingamazing 2y ago
      I'm not sure what your point is. I was just pointing out that duration of existence is not some sort of guarantee that there's no malware.
      - echoangle 2y ago
        The point was that there is never some sort of guarantee, unless you personally audit every single piece of code and build it yourself with a compiler you built yourself on a computer you designed yourself. But having an established project with a long history and many users and external developers can give you some ammount of trust in the safety of it.

meitham 2y ago

I really enjoy seeing new projects, especially now with Mozilla's updated TOS, but this project's page really bothers me! Why include a feature comparison table with browsers like Chrome and Edge, but leave out Firefox? Your project is built on Firefox, and you even borrowed half of its name. Attribution matters. If Mozilla were to shut down Firefox and all its users left, would Waterfox even survive?

frereubu 2y ago
Yeah, reading this page with no mention of Firefox feels a bit weird - I was asking myself the whole time what the relationship is. All I needed was something saying "a privacy-preserving fork of Firefox" or similar to put that to bed so I could concentrate on the rest of the content.
- MrAlex94 2y ago
  Mozilla have made legal threats in the past about mentioning ANYTHING to do with Firefox. So I steer well clear. The irony(?) being we used to be listed on the Mozilla website :) https://web.archive.org/web/20121229210505/http://www.mozilla.org/projects/powered-by.html https://web.archive.org/web/20121229210505/http://www.mozill...
  - jisnsm 2y ago
    I’m pretty sure it’s completely legal to mention trademarks when comparing your product to others.
    - aaomidi 2y ago
      Are you backing that up with financial support if they get sued by overzealous lawyers?
    - MrAlex94 2y ago
      I had solicitors involved, they basically said you are in the right, but they have more money. Not a hill worth dying on.

enumer8 2y ago

been using waterfox for a long time now and have very little to complain about. it's lean, snappy, and generally very easy to get along with as a browser. trouble is that pesky memory leak issue that seems to plague gecko-based browsers.

MrAlex94 2y ago

For anyone interested in what features there are (I should really have this on an article on the website, but also... how do you market all this? I went for a 'generic' landing page as I assume the average person cares little) Please note some features became available in Firefox after we added them, not related I believe it was just coincidental. A high level overview of what Waterfox offers vs Firefox: * DNS over Oblivious HTTP to encrypt and anonymise DNS requests. Currently the only browser on the market to do so by default I believe? Just a note that we've partnered with Fastly for this and they control the "relay" node in the middle, for proper privacy sanitisation. More info: https://blog.cloudflare.com/oblivious-dns/ https://blog.cloudflare.com/oblivious-dns/ * In-depth configuration of numerous preferences within the Firefox codebase, striking a balance between privacy and web usability. * Full support for JPEG-XL (including for animation, alpha, progressive decode, and colour profiles). * Vertical tabs and sidebar support: https://www.waterfox.net/blog/waterfox-x-treestyletab/ https://www.waterfox.net/blog/waterfox-x-treestyletab/ * In-depth UI customisations. Currently working with black7375, on Lepton for customisations specific to Waterfox. You can view all the UI changes not available in Firefox but available in Waterfox at https://github.com/black7375/Firefox-UI-Fix/wiki/Options https://github.com/black7375/Firefox-UI-Fix/wiki/Options. * "Classic" about:config available at about:cfg and "classic" password list at about:passwords * Removal of all telemetry within the browser. * Removal of all A/B testing within the browser. * Removal of all unnecessary external connections (Google, Mozilla, Meta, etc.) where feasible. Quality of life changes: * Ability to disable auto-updates (not available in other forks) * Integration with Ubuntu's Unity menu on Linux * Ability to "restart" the browser in one click * Ability to right-click "unload" tabs not in use * Ability to "copy" tab URLs * Ability to enable an old-school status bar—allows you to pin functions and addons to the bottom of the browser UI. * Ability to disable Ctrl+W (or cmd+W) with a preference. * Ability to play DRM content such as Netflix, Disney+, etc., not available in any other open source forks. * Private Tabs (you don't need to open a new private window if you don't want; you can instead open a private tab). * Ability to have tabs above address bar, below address bar, or at the bottom of the browser UI. * Extensive changes to the about:preferences page, allowing changing of browser settings usually hidden. * Technical support for Chrome and Opera extensions (this needs work!) * Usage of a more privacy-centric search engine when in Private Window mode. There's a bunch more, but still need to collate them more. Oh and also no AI bullshit that siphons your data off to 3rd party providers. Doesn't mean I'm completely against it, but it has to be local only and performant IF it were to ever make its way to Waterfox.

ss64 2y ago

Can Waterfox load all the up-to-date Firefox extensions or it is stuck with the old plug-in system?

MrAlex94 2y ago
Support MV2, MV3 like Firefox, and also supports "classic" bootstrapped extensions, if they've been updated, which you can randomly find on Github.
KingOfCoders 2y ago
1Password does not work as well as in Firefox (switched with the ToS change)
- KingOfCoders 2y ago
  More worrying, ublock does not block as much as on Firefox.

linwangg 2y ago

[dead]

Semaphor 2y ago

2019, 109 comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20047170 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20047170 2021, 101 comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28815747 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28815747

jqpabc123 2y ago

Ad blocking? The browser many not track you but the ad networks do. Without ad blocking, your browsing really isn't all that private.

34679 2y ago
It takes less than a minute to add ublock
- jqpabc123 2y ago
  Ok, so perhaps the fact that an addon is needed to achieve real privacy should be pointed out somewhere on the web site amongst all the discussion about privacy. If they're just copying Mozilla's half hearted approach to privacy, it should be pointed out that browser updates have been known to disable add-ons so this becomes an ongoing issue. It takes no time/effort to add real privacy to LibreWolf and keep it active because it is built-in. The same applies to other browsers which claim to offer real privacy by default.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

mikae1 2y ago

The really cool thing about Waterfox is that REAL vim keyboard navigation via VimFX[1] has been supported. The integration is much deeper than what Vimium and the other WebExtensions allow. https://github.com/akhodakivskiy/VimFx https://github.com/akhodakivskiy/VimFx

cholantesh 2y ago
>The integration is much deeper than what Vimium and the other WebExtensions allow. Rather a dubious claim. Vimium is what VimFx is modelled on, and Vimium was always intended to be pretty minimalist compared to, eg, Vimperator, whose only real successor, Tridactyl, is a WebExtension.
- mikae1 2y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41911352 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41911352 I'm sorry but this is near unusable since the death of XUL and introduction of WebExtensions. I was a truly avid user of VimFX which did the same thing. Vimium these days does not work when a page hasn't finished loading and it doesn't work on blank pages (about:blank) or any other "system page" (like the preferences or addons). The "o" key can no longer highlight the address bar but brings up a non-native address bar that does not find my bookmarks as it should. Imagine you couldn't click on another tab with your mouse pointer while the current active one is loading. Yes, it's as terribly frustrating as it sounds. In the XUL days I could even use vim shortcuts to access every button in the Firefox UI! Luckily there is a solution for now. VimFx[1] is still being updated and works with the LegacyFox shim!

hypeatei 2y ago

I understand that people need alternatives that work now but please consider contributing your developer expertise and/or donating to Ladybird[0] / Servo[1]. We need to get away from our current engine duopoly of Chromium/Gecko (yes I know webkit exists) [0]: https://ladybird.org https://ladybird.org [1]: https://servo.org https://servo.org

jaggs 2y ago
No Windows version? Really? Wow!
- foolishgurnt 2y ago
  Not initially. Once they have a codebase capable of reliably rendering the web, I'm sure they will explore porting it to Windows.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

Throwthrowbob 2y ago

I had stopped using Waterfox in 2020 because of their association with System1, an advertising company. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22338321 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22338321 I learned today that Waterfox cut ties with System1 in July of 2023, so I'm glad to have an alternative to switch to. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36590056 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36590056 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36606210 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36606210

34679 2y ago

I wonder why this was pushed off the front page? This is my first comment while using Waterfox. Installing and adding ublock was nearly identical to the countless Firefox installs I've done. Painless. So long, Mozilla, it's been a nice couple decades.

instagib 2y ago
Comments > x, de-weight upvotes, kick to page 12 of sort by votes and only see if sort by new. x = number, algorithm, and/or moderator manual usage. Annoying for when you want to see discussion about a topic.

butterlettuce 2y ago

Anyone looking to get temporary containers working properly: 1. about:debugging 2. This Waterfox 3. Find the Temporary Containers "extension" 4. Inspect (which opens Dev tools) 5. Go to Storage > Extension Storage 6. Change containerPrefix value from "waterfox" to "firefox"

KingOfCoders 2y ago

Switched to Waterfox, have some problems with addons, but without an alternative, this is it.

KingOfCoders 2y ago

Firefox -> Waterfox: I've used OneTab to migrate 200+ open tabs.

pabs3 2y ago

WaterFox really seems to want to cater to the non-technical crowd with their "trust us" front page with zero details about how their alleged privacy features work, nor even links to the details. The use of JavaScript on the site makes me trust them even less.

hulitu 2y ago

> Waterfox: Fast and Private Web Browser Does it connects to e100.net as librefox and firefox do ?