Privacy

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Firefox has become a bloatware. Seriously... (lemmy.ca)

submitted 2 days ago by Crumpled6273@lemmy.ca to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

84 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/68754751

There was a time I chose Firefox over the Chromium browser without a second thought. But nowadays, installing and opening Firefox seems like a time-consuming, very bloated experience.

Too many unnecessary features, promotions, sponsored links, and widgets are filled on the homepage. All the settings are now more complex, and there is a lot to set up after a fresh install.

When I compare modern Firefox with Firefox ESR, I feel like I am using browsers like Vivaldi or Opera instead of Firefox. Seriously, Firefox must consider releasing a browser like Brave Origin (Firefox Origin or something).

Isn't anybody else frustrated with the new Firefox changes? If yes, what practical solutions exist? Debloat using any script or install any forks (no forks seem to be good; some are outdated, some are too much hardened, some are just not for daily browsing, etc.).

I'm just looking for a browser like Ungoogled Chromium but for Firefox (Unmozillaed Firefox).

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[–] hikosan@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Absolutely agree on every point. I felt this for the last few years, not just with the latest updates. I haven't updated Firefox for months (a year?), and when I decided to do it after convincing my friend to switch to it because he said he couldn't find the option in settings I told him about, I was basically ~10 versions behind. So updating it and seeing the redesigned settings that looked less intuitive and completely unnecessary, I felt really frustrated.

There's a new browser in the making called Ladybird, I don't know if it's going to be available on Windows (they say the alpha is for Linux and macOS). Yeah, I am on Windows, sadly, and I don't plan on switching to Linux, yet. Mozilla was praised for being a non-profit "good guys", but they've been really annoying, perhaps trying to appeal to the mainstream. Truth is, the mainstream does NOT care about Firefox. You need to spend all your funds on marketing it, not making it uglier with each update.

[–] Vendetta@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago (2 children)

You are running a browser that's months out of date? 😐

[–] hikosan@lemmy.ml 1 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah. I have automatic updates disabled, I would have to download the new version in order to update it. I am using lots of software that is years "out of date". Because they are better. The newer they are, the more bloated they are. And good things break and get deprecated. I am still on Windows 10 and I can't be bothered switching to 11. If you think that jeopardizes my security, it really isn't. My PC isn't a web server that needs constant updates to keep the service secure; I maintain backups in case things go sideways.

[–] Vendetta@feddit.org 1 points 5 hours ago

But it is not secured. You do you and I won't claim to know your full setup and threat model, but in 99% cases, no. There's no advantage to running out of date software in terms of security or privacy unless it's offline and air-gapped, and even then. For something like a web browser you absolutely want to keep it updated at all times. I would genuinely recommend reviewing the logic and this decision. If you don't trust the browser, use a different one. If you don't want W11, go Linux or Mac but choosing to run end-of-life software because you feel you are getting less bloatware is misinformed.