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Difference between revisions of "Firefox"

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{{cleanup|Add-ons section really outdated}}
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{{note|try to keep this page up-to-date by updating the status of the extensions and patches.}}
 
{{note|try to keep this page up-to-date by updating the status of the extensions and patches.}}
 
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{{Browser Infobox
[[File:Firefox.png|thumb|right|A true furry hero]]
+
|name= Mozilla Firefox
 
+
|image= [[file:Firefox.png|64px]]
 +
|type= Free
 +
|layout= Gecko
 +
|website= [https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/]
 +
}}
 
'''Firefox''' is a free and open source [[browsers|web browser]] developed and maintained by the Mozilla Foundation. It is known for its high degree of customisability through add-ons and its adherence to Web standards.
 
'''Firefox''' is a free and open source [[browsers|web browser]] developed and maintained by the Mozilla Foundation. It is known for its high degree of customisability through add-ons and its adherence to Web standards.
  
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''Unfortunately, [https://support.mozilla.org/kb/firefox-36-no-longer-supported the v3.6.x series of Firefox is now unsupported]. It will no longer receive security or stability updates.''
 
''Unfortunately, [https://support.mozilla.org/kb/firefox-36-no-longer-supported the v3.6.x series of Firefox is now unsupported]. It will no longer receive security or stability updates.''
  
Mozilla offers six officially compiled branches or channels of Firefox. These are [[ESR (Software)|ESR]], Stable, Beta, Aurora, Nightly, and UX.
+
Mozilla offers five officially compiled branches or channels of Firefox. These are Release, Beta, Dev Edition, Nightly, and [[ESR (Software)|ESR]].
  
*The [https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/organizations/all/ Extended support release or ESR] branch of Firefox is geared towards large organisations who require long-term support for mass deployments, but it is can also be a good option for the technologically illiterate. It remains static for approximately one year after a major release, receiving new code only in the form of security and stability patches.
+
*The [https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/ Release] branch of Firefox is geared towards the the average home or office Web user. It receives a major update every six weeks if all goes according to plan, but security and stability patches are issued as needed in the meantime.
  
*The [https://www.getfirefox.com/ Stable] branch of Firefox is geared towards the the average home or office Web user. It receives a major update every six weeks if all goes according to plan, but security and stability patches are issued as needed in the meantime.
+
*The [https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/beta/ Beta] branch of Firefox is geared towards home users who want to try new features a few weeks early while contributing to Firefox development. It is generally quite stable with most remaining bugs being specific to certain configurations or drivers. In the course of a typical six week beta run, there are between seven and thirteen builds released.
  
*The [https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/channel/#beta Beta] branch of Firefox is geared towards home users who want to try new features a few weeks early while contributing to Firefox development. It is generally quite stable with most remaining bugs being specific to certain configurations or drivers. In the course of a typical six week beta run, there are between seven and thirteen builds released.
+
*The [https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/developer/ Developer Edition] or alpha branch of Firefox replaced the Aurora branch and is geared towards Web developers and includes extra development tools and a special theme. Some instability and bugs should be expected.
  
*The [https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/channel/#aurora Aurora] or alpha branch is intended for testing and debugging purposes, but it is more suitable for general use than Nightly. Naturally, some instability and a few bugs are to be expected.
+
*The [https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/ Nightly] or pre-alpha branch is intended for testing and debugging purposes. It represents the bleeding edge of Firefox development, so the likelihood of encountering instability, security vulnerabilities, and major bugs is high. As the name implies, Nightly typically receives patches on a day-to-day basis and new features as soon as they become ready. Oddly, it is the only official branch in which native 64-bit builds for Windows are offered.
  
*The [https://nightly.mozilla.org/ Nightly] or pre-alpha branch is intended for testing and debugging purposes. It represents the bleeding edge of Firefox development, so the likelihood of encountering instability, security vulnerabilities, and major bugs is high. As the name implies, Nightly typically receives patches on a day-to-day basis and new features as soon as they become ready. Oddly, it is the only official branch in which native 64-bit builds for Windows are offered.
+
*The [https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/organizations/ Extended support release or ESR] branch of Firefox is geared towards large organizations who require long-term support for mass deployments, but it is can also be a good option for the technologically illiterate. It remains static for approximately one year after a major release, receiving new code only in the form of security and stability patches.
 
 
*The [https://people.mozilla.org/~jwein/ux-nightly/ UX (Nightly)] branch is a clone of the Nightly branch used to début and test user interface changes like the Australis project before they are added to Nightly. At the time of this writing, UX builds appear to be identical to standard Nightly builds.
 
  
 
Regarding experimental features, Mozilla gives you the option to install an extension that allows you to enable them before they come enabled out of the box, if they ever make it to the stable branch. For more information, go to [https://testpilot.firefox.com/ testpilot.com].
 
Regarding experimental features, Mozilla gives you the option to install an extension that allows you to enable them before they come enabled out of the box, if they ever make it to the stable branch. For more information, go to [https://testpilot.firefox.com/ testpilot.com].
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*[http://packages.debian.org/wheezy/iceweasel Iceweasel] is a fork maintained by the Debian Project. It is designed to allow the project to back-port as it pleased without running afoul of Mozilla's trademarks.
 
*[http://packages.debian.org/wheezy/iceweasel Iceweasel] is a fork maintained by the Debian Project. It is designed to allow the project to back-port as it pleased without running afoul of Mozilla's trademarks.
  
*[http://www.palemoon.org/ Pale Moon] is a fork of Firefox [[Extended Support Release|ESR]] dedicated to providing an optimised Firefox with the classic user interface layout of the v3.6.x series. Pale Moon is offered in both [http://www.palemoon.org/download-ng.shtml 32-bit] and [http://www.palemoon.org/palemoon-x64.shtml 64-bit] builds, and uses a fork of the Gecko rendering engine called Goanna. For a complete list of the differences between Pale Moon and Firefox, see [http://www.palemoon.org/technical.shtml#Firefox_Differences this page]. (Note: it's made by a [[furry]] who has a Fursona named Moonchild. He has art and has written Furry stories. His Furry website is [http://www.moonchildproductions.info/ here].)
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*[http://www.palemoon.org/ Pale Moon] is a fork of Firefox [[Extended Support Release|ESR]] dedicated to providing an optimised Firefox with the classic user interface layout of the v3.6.x series. Pale Moon is offered in both [http://www.palemoon.org/download-ng.shtml 32-bit] and [http://www.palemoon.org/palemoon-x64.shtml 64-bit] builds, and uses a fork of the Gecko rendering engine called Goanna. For a complete list of the differences between Pale Moon and Firefox, see [http://www.palemoon.org/technical.shtml#Firefox_Differences this page]. Note: it's made by a [[furry]] who has a fursona named Moonchild. He has art and has written furry stories. His furry website is [http://www.moonchildproductions.info/ here].
  
*The [https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en Tor Browser Bundle] is a package designed specifically for the purposes of visiting Onion sites and browsing the Internet through the Tor network.
+
*The [https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en Tor Browser Bundle] is a package designed specifically to visit Onion sites and to browse the Internet through the Tor network.
  
*[https://www.waterfoxproject.org/ Waterfox] is a highly optimised build of Firefox for 64-bit systems running Windows. Unfortunately, it is rarely updated.
+
*[https://github.com/intika/Librefox Librefox] Modern FF fork enhanced for privacy.
 +
 
 +
*[https://www.waterfoxproject.org/en-US/ Waterfox] Maintains support for legacy addons and aims to be fast.
  
 
== Tags ==
 
== Tags ==
[[File:Active.png|x14px]] — Development process is active.
+
[[File:Active.png|x14px]] — Development process is very active.
  
 
[[File:Slow.png|x14px]] — Development process is slow. Software is mature enough to warrant less frequent updates, unless it comes with a "buggy" tag.
 
[[File:Slow.png|x14px]] — Development process is slow. Software is mature enough to warrant less frequent updates, unless it comes with a "buggy" tag.
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== Notable add-ons ==
 
== Notable add-ons ==
{{tip|some of these listed add-ons may overlap slightly. They are both listed for modularity. Some people like one thing, and some like the other or a third. Pick your poison.}}
+
{{note|some of these listed add-ons may overlap slightly. They are both listed for modularity. Some people like one thing, and some like the other or a third. Pick your poison.}}
 +
{{warning|With Firefox having a new addon engine with Version 55 and above, many of these addons no longer work!}}
 
=== Adblocking, privacy, and security ===
 
=== Adblocking, privacy, and security ===
  
[[File:Betterprivacy.png|48px]] '''BetterPrivacy''' [[File:Stalled.png|x14px]]
+
[[File:Certificatepatrol.png|48px]] '''Certificate Patrol''' [[File:Slow.png|x14px]] [[File:Buggy.png|50px]]
 
 
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/betterprivacy/ BetterPrivacy] manages and auto-destroys flash cookies, aka super cookies.
 
 
 
[[File:Blender.png|48px]] '''Blender''' [[File:Stalled.png|x14px]]
 
 
 
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/blender-1/ Blender] automatically spoofs your user agent string to another popular one.
 
 
 
[[File:Certificatepatrol.png|48px]] '''Certificate Patrol''' [[File:Stalled.png|x14px]] [[File:Buggy.png|50px]]
 
 
 
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/certificate-patrol/ Certificate Patrol] discovers when certificates have changed.
 
  
[[File:Cookiemonster.png|48px]] '''Cookie Monster''' [[File:Slow.png|x14px]] [[File:E10s.png|x14px]]
+
Certificate Patrol discovers when certificates have changed. Currently no working download link. However they do have a [http://patrol.psyced.org/ site].
  
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/cookie-monster/ Cookie Monster] manages cookies permissions.
+
[[File:Decentraleyes.png|48px]] '''Decentraleyes''' [[File:Slow.png|x14px]] [[File:E10s.png|x14px]]
 
 
[[File:Decentraleyes.png|48px]] '''Decentraleyes''' [[File:Active.png|x14px]] [[File:E10s.png|x14px]]
 
  
 
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/decentraleyes/ Decentraleyes] loads common CDN resources locally, minimizing your exposure to third-party servers and slightly decreasing page load times, as well as the amount of data transferred.
 
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/decentraleyes/ Decentraleyes] loads common CDN resources locally, minimizing your exposure to third-party servers and slightly decreasing page load times, as well as the amount of data transferred.
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[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/noscript/ NoScript] allows JavaScript, Java and other executable content to run only from trusted domains of your choice.
 
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/noscript/ NoScript] allows JavaScript, Java and other executable content to run only from trusted domains of your choice.
  
[[File:RAS.png|48px]] '''Random Agent Spoofer''' [[File:Slow.png|x14px]]
+
[[File:RAS.png|48px]] '''Random Agent Spoofer''' [[File:Stalled.png|x14px]]
  
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/random-agent-spoofer/ Random Agent Spoofer] spoofs your user-agent string to any value of your choice, with the option to change to popular agent strings randomly. It also includes the ability to spoof various HTTP Referer request values, as well as multiple about:config tweaks.
+
[https://github.com/dillbyrne/random-agent-spoofer Random Agent Spoofer] spoofs your user-agent string to any value of your choice, with the option to change to popular agent strings randomly. It also includes the ability to spoof various HTTP Referer request values, as well as multiple about:config tweaks.
  
[[File:Refcontrol.png|48px]] '''RefControl''' [[File:Stalled.png|x14px]]
+
'''Referer Controler''' [[File:Stalled.png|x14px]]
  
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/refcontrol/ RefControl] controls what gets sent as the HTTP Referer on a per-site basis.
+
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/referercontrol/ Referer Controler] controls what gets sent as the HTTP Referer on a per-site basis.
  
 
[[File:Selfdestructingcookies.png|48px]] '''Self-Destructing Cookies''' [[File:Slow.png|x14px]]
 
[[File:Selfdestructingcookies.png|48px]] '''Self-Destructing Cookies''' [[File:Slow.png|x14px]]
  
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/self-destructing-cookies/ Self-Destructing Cookies] auto-deletes cookies on tab close.
+
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/self-destructing-cookies-webex/ Self-Destructing Cookies] auto-deletes cookies on tab close.
  
[[File:Priv8.png|48px]] '''Priv8''' [[File:Slow.png|x14px]]
+
'''Multi Account Containers''' [[File:Slow.png|x14px]] [[File:E10s.png|x14px]]
  
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/priv8/ Priv8] is a Firefox addon that uses part of the security model of Firefox OS to create sandboxed tabs and manage them. Updated infrequently and might be incompatible with certain addons.
+
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers/ Multi Account Containers] is a Firefox addon that uses part of the security model of Firefox OS to create sandboxed tabs and manage them. Updated infrequently and might be incompatible with certain addons.
 
 
[[File:Sessionmanager.png|48px]] '''Session Manager''' [[File:Active.png|x14px]]
 
 
 
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/session-manager/ SessionManager], along with many other features allows you to encrypt your Firefox session.
 
  
 
[[File:uBlock.png|48px]] '''uBlock Origin''' [[File:Active.png|x14px]] [[File:E10s.png|x14px]]
 
[[File:uBlock.png|48px]] '''uBlock Origin''' [[File:Active.png|x14px]] [[File:E10s.png|x14px]]
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*Not to be confused with 'uBlock', an EXTREMELY outdated fork with some very slight changes to the UI.
 
*Not to be confused with 'uBlock', an EXTREMELY outdated fork with some very slight changes to the UI.
 
*If you feel bad about blocking advertisements, make a deal with yourself: you'll stop blocking ads when major international internet companies stop [http://uk.businessinsider.com/yahoos-advertising-network-is-being-targeted-by-hackers-malwarebytes-says-2015-8?r=US&IR=T serving]  [https://blog.malwarebytes.org/malvertising-2/2015/08/large-malvertising-campaign-takes-on-yahoo/ malware].
 
*If you feel bad about blocking advertisements, make a deal with yourself: you'll stop blocking ads when major international internet companies stop [http://uk.businessinsider.com/yahoos-advertising-network-is-being-targeted-by-hackers-malwarebytes-says-2015-8?r=US&IR=T serving]  [https://blog.malwarebytes.org/malvertising-2/2015/08/large-malvertising-campaign-takes-on-yahoo/ malware].
 +
*Supports the WebExtensions API.
  
 
[[File:uMatrix.png|48px]] '''uMatrix''' [[File:Slow.png|x14px]] [[File:E10s.png|x14px]]
 
[[File:uMatrix.png|48px]] '''uMatrix''' [[File:Slow.png|x14px]] [[File:E10s.png|x14px]]
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[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tab-groups-panorama/ Tab Groups] allows you to create tab groups, a feature that was once part of Firefox.
 
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tab-groups-panorama/ Tab Groups] allows you to create tab groups, a feature that was once part of Firefox.
  
[[File:Treestyletabs.png|48px]] '''Tree Style Tabs''' [[File:Active.png|x14px]]
+
[[File:Treestyletabs.png|48px]] '''Tree Style Tabs''' [[File:Slow.png|x14px]]
  
 
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tree-style-tab/ Tree Style Tabs] shows tabs like a tree.
 
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tree-style-tab/ Tree Style Tabs] shows tabs like a tree.
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[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/fxif/ FxIF] is a tool to view EXIF data in image properties.
 
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/fxif/ FxIF] is a tool to view EXIF data in image properties.
  
[[File:Greasemonkey.png|48px]] '''Greasemonkey''' [[File:Slow.png|x14px]]
+
[[File:Greasemonkey.png|48px]] '''Greasemonkey''' [[File:Slow.png|x14px]] [[File:E10s.png|x14px]]
  
 
[https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/greasemonkey/ Greasemonkey] manages [[Browsers#Recommended_User_Scripts | Userscripts]].
 
[https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/greasemonkey/ Greasemonkey] manages [[Browsers#Recommended_User_Scripts | Userscripts]].
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*The [https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/scriptish/ Scriptish] fork of this add-on that was once popular on /g/ is no longer recommended.
 
*The [https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/scriptish/ Scriptish] fork of this add-on that was once popular on /g/ is no longer recommended.
  
[[File:Redirector.png|48px]] '''Redirector''' [[File:Slow.png|x14px]] [[File:E10s.png|x14px]]
+
[[File:Redirector.png|48px]] '''Redirector''' [[File:Stalled.png|x14px]] [[File:E10s.png|x14px]]
  
 
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/redirector/ Redirector] automatically redirects to user-defined urls on a per-hyperlink basis.
 
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/redirector/ Redirector] automatically redirects to user-defined urls on a per-hyperlink basis.
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[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/vimfx/ VimFx] offers [[Vim]] bindings without changes in the UI.
 
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/vimfx/ VimFx] offers [[Vim]] bindings without changes in the UI.
  
[[File:Youtubecenter.png|48px]] '''YouTube Center''' [[File:Slow.png|x14px]] [[File:E10s.png|x14px]]
+
[[File:Youtubecenter.png|48px]] '''YouTube Center''' [[File:Stalled.png|x14px]] [[File:E10s.png|x14px]]
  
 
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/youtube-center/ YouTube Center] enhances YouTube. It is recommended that you use the [https://github.com/YePpHa/YouTubeCenter/wiki/Developer-Version developer version], as per their wiki.
 
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/youtube-center/ YouTube Center] enhances YouTube. It is recommended that you use the [https://github.com/YePpHa/YouTubeCenter/wiki/Developer-Version developer version], as per their wiki.
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Bugs are explicitly stated.
 
Bugs are explicitly stated.
  
=== [https://github.com/perfect7gentleman/pg_overlay/tree/master/www-client/firefox/files/kde OpenSUSE-KDE] [[File:Active.png|x14px]] ===
+
=== [https://github.com/perfect7gentleman/pg_overlay/tree/master/www-client/firefox/files/kde-opensuse OpenSUSE-KDE] [[File:Active.png|x14px]] ===
 
This patchset makes trivial changes to Firefox to improve its aesthetic and functionality.
 
This patchset makes trivial changes to Firefox to improve its aesthetic and functionality.
*Adds KDE integration to Firefox;
+
*Adds KDE integration to Firefox.
*Changes your {{ic|general.useragent.locale}} to {{ic|chrome://global/locale/intl.properties}};
+
*Changes your {{ic|general.useragent.locale}} to {{ic|chrome://global/locale/intl.properties}}.
 
*Adds higher resolution icons.
 
*Adds higher resolution icons.
  
=== [https://github.com/perfect7gentleman/pg_overlay/blob/master/www-client/firefox/files/pgo.patch PGO] [[File:Stalled.png|x14px]] ===
+
=== [https://github.com/perfect7gentleman/pg_overlay/blob/master/www-client/firefox/files/firefox-48.0-pgo.patch PGO] [[File:Stalled.png|x14px]] ===
 
This simple patch enables Profile-Guided Optimization techniques for the [[GCC]] build. PGO builds consist of two passes: the first one builds instrumented binaries, and the second one to rebuild optimized binaries. It might result in a [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MozillaTeam/PGOBenchmarks slight performance increase of roughly ~5%], for double the compilation time.
 
This simple patch enables Profile-Guided Optimization techniques for the [[GCC]] build. PGO builds consist of two passes: the first one builds instrumented binaries, and the second one to rebuild optimized binaries. It might result in a [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MozillaTeam/PGOBenchmarks slight performance increase of roughly ~5%], for double the compilation time.
  
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=== [https://aur.archlinux.org/cgit/aur.git/tree/?h=firefox-esr-privacy Privacy] [[File:Active.png|x14px]] ===
 
=== [https://aur.archlinux.org/cgit/aur.git/tree/?h=firefox-esr-privacy Privacy] [[File:Active.png|x14px]] ===
 
This patchset aims to disable certain Firefox 'features' that might undermine one's attempt at staying anonymous. In a way, it debloats it.
 
This patchset aims to disable certain Firefox 'features' that might undermine one's attempt at staying anonymous. In a way, it debloats it.
*Certain connections to Mozilla are removed;
+
*Certain connections to Mozilla are removed.
*Disables: telemetry, location.services, sponsored tiles, Pocket, Hello, and Reader View;
+
*Disables: telemetry, location.services, sponsored tiles, Pocket, Hello, and Reader View.
*Applies certain privacy conscious settings to about:config by default;
+
*Applies certain privacy conscious settings to about:config by default.
 
*Enables tracking protection by default (disable if you use uBlock and/or uMatrix).
 
*Enables tracking protection by default (disable if you use uBlock and/or uMatrix).
  
== Tweaking ==
+
=== DNS over HTTPS and Encrytped SNI ===
 +
 
 +
[[File:ESNI.png|thumb|How ESNI makes the internet opaque. Website support may vary.]]
 +
 
 +
Newer Firefox versions support DNS over HTTPS and Encrypted SNI. For an introduction to ESNI read [https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/09/esni-privacy-protecting-upgrade-https this article from the EFF].
 +
 
 +
To enable DoH:
 +
* Set {{ic|network.trr.mode}} to {{ic|2}}.
 +
 
 +
* Set {{ic|network.trr.uri}} to a DoH compliant server such as {{ic|https://mozilla.cloudflare-dns.com/dns-query}}.
 +
 
 +
DNS over HTTPS is an ESNI prerequisite.
 +
 
 +
For ESNI set {{ic|network.security.esni.enabled}} to {{ic|true}}.
 +
 
 +
[[https://www.cloudflare.com/ssl/encrypted-sni/ Test your configuration courtesy of CloudFlare]]
 +
 
 +
== Ricing ==
 +
 
 +
You can edit Firefox's appearance with [[CSS]] (Cascading Style Sheets). To be more general, you can alter ANY web page with CSS. This is achieved with the usage of userstyles. To use and take complete advantage of them, you need a userstyle manager. [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/stylish/ Stylish] is the most common.
 +
 
 +
The Stylish button that appears after you install it is useful. For instance, to write a userstyle for Firefox, you need to go to:
 +
 
 +
    chrome://browser/content/browser.xul
 +
 
 +
And select Write new style -> For this URL, and it'll have a template set up.
 +
 
 +
The most useful feature in writing userstyles is the Inspector. You pop it up by pressing Ctrl+Shift+C and it'll let you see what elements you can style on the page.
 +
 
 +
== Config ==
  
 
Below are options in '''about:config''' worth considering.
 
Below are options in '''about:config''' worth considering.
  
* dom.storage.enabled FALSE - Disable "client-side session and persistent storage" cookies. (bad for 8ch - the replies hypelinks next to the post number disappears)  
+
* '''dom.storage.enabled''' ''FALSE'' - Disable "client-side session and persistent storage" cookies (bad for 8ch - the replies hypelinks next to the post number disappears).
* geo.enabled FALSE - Disable location data.
+
* '''geo.enabled''' ''FALSE'' - Disable location data.
* general.useragent.override - Create as a String value and insert your own useragent.
+
* '''general.useragent.override''' - Create as a String value and insert your own useragent.
** [http://techblog.willshouse.com/2012/01/03/most-common-user-agents/ Dynamically updated list of common user agents]
+
** [http://techblog.willshouse.com/2012/01/03/most-common-user-agents/ Dynamically updated list of common user agents].
* network.dns.disablePrefetch TRUE - Stop Firefox looking up IP addresses of links of the page you haven't/aren't going to.
+
* '''network.dns.disablePrefetch''' ''TRUE'' - Stop Firefox looking up IP addresses of links of the page you haven't/aren't going to.
* network.http.pipelining TRUE - Possible speedup for some servers (send multiple files through one connection).
+
* '''network.http.pipelining''' ''TRUE'' - Possible speedup for some servers (send multiple files through one connection).
* network.http.pipelining.max-optimistic-requests 8 - Total number of pipelines.
+
* '''network.http.pipelining.max-optimistic-requests''' ''8'' - Total number of pipelines.
* network.http.pipelining.ssl TRUE - Pipeline with HTTPS sites.
+
* '''network.http.pipelining.ssl''' ''TRUE'' - Pipeline with HTTPS sites.
* network.http.proxy.pipelining TRUE - Pipleline through proxy connections.
+
* '''network.http.proxy.pipelining''' ''TRUE'' - Pipleline through proxy connections.
* network.http.sendRefererHeader - 0 = never (bad for 8ch), 1 = domain only, 2 = full url (default)
+
* '''network.http.sendRefererHeader''' - ''0'' = never (bad for 8ch), ''1'' = domain only, ''2'' = full url (default).
* network.prefetch-next FALSE - Don't download pages linked to the current page unless we click the link.
+
* '''network.prefetch-next''' ''FALSE'' - Don't download pages linked to the current page unless we click the link.
* dom.event.clipboardevents.enabled FALSE - Don't allow webpages to mess with the clipboard.
+
* '''dom.event.clipboardevents.enabled''' ''FALSE'' - Don't allow webpages to mess with the clipboard.
* dom.disable_window_move_resize TRUE - Don't allow webpages to move or resize the browser window.
+
* '''dom.disable_window_move_resize''' ''TRUE'' - Don't allow webpages to move or resize the browser window.
* dom.ipc.plugins.flash.subprocess.crashreporter.enabled FALSE - Don't report flash plugin crashes.
+
* '''dom.ipc.plugins.flash.subprocess.crashreporter.enabled''' ''FALSE'' - Don't report flash plugin crashes.
* media.autoplay.enabled FALSE - Don't autoplay media.
+
* '''media.autoplay.enabled''' ''FALSE'' - Don't autoplay media.
* media.peerconnection.enabled FALSE - Important for VPN users. Don't allow p2p downloading of media.
+
* '''media.peerconnection.enabled''' ''FALSE'' - Important for VPN users. Don't allow p2p downloading of media.
* pdfjs.disabled TRUE - Don't run javascript within the builtin pdf viewer.
+
* '''pdfjs.disabled''' ''TRUE'' - Don't run javascript within the builtin pdf viewer.
* reader.parse-on-load.enabled FALSE - disable "reader view"
+
* '''reader.parse-on-load.enabled''' ''FALSE'' - disable "reader view".
* browser.pocket.enabled FALSE - disable pocket
+
* '''browser.pocket.enabled''' (or '''extensions.pocket.enabled''') ''FALSE''  - disable pocket.
* network.http.speculative-parallel-limit 0 - don't create connections to links [http://news.slashdot.org/story/15/08/14/2321202/how-to-quash-firefoxs-silent-requests you only hover over]
+
* '''network.http.speculative-parallel-limit''' ''0'' - don't create connections to links [http://news.slashdot.org/story/15/08/14/2321202/how-to-quash-firefoxs-silent-requests you only hover over].
* dom.push.connection.enabled FALSE - Disable push notifications (FF44+)
+
* '''dom.push.connection.enabled''' ''FALSE'' - Disable push notifications (FF44+).
* dom.push.enabled FALSE - (as above)
+
* '''dom.push.enabled''' ''FALSE'' - (as above).
* dom.webnotifications.enabled FALSE - (as above)
+
* '''dom.webnotifications.enabled''' ''FALSE'' - (as above).
* dom.webnotifications.serviceworker.enabled FALSE - (as above)
+
* '''dom.webnotifications.serviceworker.enabled''' ''FALSE'' - (as above).
* loop.enabled FALSE - Disable loop/conversation calling features.
+
* '''loop.enabled''' ''FALSE'' - Disable loop/conversation calling features.
* browser.urlbar.unifiedcomplete FALSE - Disables the "Search With" popup when typing into the location bar.
+
* '''browser.urlbar.unifiedcomplete''' ''FALSE'' - Disables the "Search With" popup when typing into the location bar.
* media.ffmpeg.enabled FALSE (linux only as of FF44) - Disable mp4 playback through ffmpeg, to stop ffmpeg bugs breaking your firefox.
+
* '''media.ffmpeg.enabled''' ''FALSE'' (linux only as of FF44) - Disable mp4 playback through ffmpeg, to stop ffmpeg bugs breaking your firefox.
* media.eme.apiVisible FALSE - Stops pages from using a JavaScript library for DRM (Digital Rights Management/
+
* '''media.eme.apiVisible''' ''FALSE'' - Stops pages from using a JavaScript library for DRM (Digital Rights Management/
 
Digital Restrictions Management) in html video.
 
Digital Restrictions Management) in html video.
* media.eme.enabled FALSE - (as above)
+
* '''media.eme.enabled''' ''FALSE'' - (as above).
  
 
For a privacy conscious user.js, study https://github.com/crisbrm/user.js for a user.js that comes with minimal breakage, or https://github.com/pyllyukko/user.js for one with even more emphasis on security (occasionally at the cost of functionality, like when you completely disable DOM storage, for instance), and less emphasis on blending in.
 
For a privacy conscious user.js, study https://github.com/crisbrm/user.js for a user.js that comes with minimal breakage, or https://github.com/pyllyukko/user.js for one with even more emphasis on security (occasionally at the cost of functionality, like when you completely disable DOM storage, for instance), and less emphasis on blending in.

Revision as of 10:21, 30 April 2019

Cleanup.png
Cleanup.png
CLEANUP CANDIDATE
Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Reason: Add-ons section really outdated


Note: try to keep this page up-to-date by updating the status of the extensions and patches.
Mozilla Firefox
Firefox.png
Type Free
Layout engine Gecko
Website https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/

Firefox is a free and open source web browser developed and maintained by the Mozilla Foundation. It is known for its high degree of customisability through add-ons and its adherence to Web standards.

Official branches

Unfortunately, the v3.6.x series of Firefox is now unsupported. It will no longer receive security or stability updates.

Mozilla offers five officially compiled branches or channels of Firefox. These are Release, Beta, Dev Edition, Nightly, and ESR.

  • The Release branch of Firefox is geared towards the the average home or office Web user. It receives a major update every six weeks if all goes according to plan, but security and stability patches are issued as needed in the meantime.
  • The Beta branch of Firefox is geared towards home users who want to try new features a few weeks early while contributing to Firefox development. It is generally quite stable with most remaining bugs being specific to certain configurations or drivers. In the course of a typical six week beta run, there are between seven and thirteen builds released.
  • The Developer Edition or alpha branch of Firefox replaced the Aurora branch and is geared towards Web developers and includes extra development tools and a special theme. Some instability and bugs should be expected.
  • The Nightly or pre-alpha branch is intended for testing and debugging purposes. It represents the bleeding edge of Firefox development, so the likelihood of encountering instability, security vulnerabilities, and major bugs is high. As the name implies, Nightly typically receives patches on a day-to-day basis and new features as soon as they become ready. Oddly, it is the only official branch in which native 64-bit builds for Windows are offered.
  • The Extended support release or ESR branch of Firefox is geared towards large organizations who require long-term support for mass deployments, but it is can also be a good option for the technologically illiterate. It remains static for approximately one year after a major release, receiving new code only in the form of security and stability patches.

Regarding experimental features, Mozilla gives you the option to install an extension that allows you to enable them before they come enabled out of the box, if they ever make it to the stable branch. For more information, go to testpilot.com.

Notable forks

Due to the free and open source nature of its code base, Firefox has given rise to several forks.

  • GNU IceCat is a fork maintained by the GNU Project for those who happen to be of one mind with Richard Stallman. In addition to removing and replacing the copyrighted or trademarked parts of Firefox, the maintainer has added a couple of minor privacy and security features.
  • Iceweasel is a fork maintained by the Debian Project. It is designed to allow the project to back-port as it pleased without running afoul of Mozilla's trademarks.
  • Pale Moon is a fork of Firefox ESR dedicated to providing an optimised Firefox with the classic user interface layout of the v3.6.x series. Pale Moon is offered in both 32-bit and 64-bit builds, and uses a fork of the Gecko rendering engine called Goanna. For a complete list of the differences between Pale Moon and Firefox, see this page. Note: it's made by a furry who has a fursona named Moonchild. He has art and has written furry stories. His furry website is here.
  • The Tor Browser Bundle is a package designed specifically to visit Onion sites and to browse the Internet through the Tor network.
  • Librefox Modern FF fork enhanced for privacy.
  • Waterfox Maintains support for legacy addons and aims to be fast.

Tags

Active.png — Development process is very active.

Slow.png — Development process is slow. Software is mature enough to warrant less frequent updates, unless it comes with a "buggy" tag.

Stalled.png — Software isn't updated regularly. Mostly fine unless it comes with a buggy tag.

Buggy.png — Comes with a significant amount of bugs, possibly due to slow, or non-existent development.

E10s.png — Compatible with e10s. Lacking this tag means it is either incompatible with it, or that the extension has been shimmed. If it lacks an e10s tag, look in the database for your extension.

Notable add-ons

Note: some of these listed add-ons may overlap slightly. They are both listed for modularity. Some people like one thing, and some like the other or a third. Pick your poison.
Warning: With Firefox having a new addon engine with Version 55 and above, many of these addons no longer work!

Adblocking, privacy, and security

Certificatepatrol.png Certificate Patrol Slow.png Buggy.png

Certificate Patrol discovers when certificates have changed. Currently no working download link. However they do have a site.

Decentraleyes.png Decentraleyes Slow.png E10s.png

Decentraleyes loads common CDN resources locally, minimizing your exposure to third-party servers and slightly decreasing page load times, as well as the amount of data transferred.

Httpseverywhere.png HTTPS-Everywhere Active.png E10s.png

HTTPS Everywhere encrypts your communications with many major websites, making your browsing more secure. If you can only install a couple of add-ons, this should be one of them.

Httpsfinder.png HTTPS Finder Stalled.png Buggy.png

HTTPS Finder detects available https and creates HTTPS Everywhere rules.

Noscript.png NoScript Active.png

NoScript allows JavaScript, Java and other executable content to run only from trusted domains of your choice.

RAS.png Random Agent Spoofer Stalled.png

Random Agent Spoofer spoofs your user-agent string to any value of your choice, with the option to change to popular agent strings randomly. It also includes the ability to spoof various HTTP Referer request values, as well as multiple about:config tweaks.

Referer Controler Stalled.png

Referer Controler controls what gets sent as the HTTP Referer on a per-site basis.

Selfdestructingcookies.png Self-Destructing Cookies Slow.png

Self-Destructing Cookies auto-deletes cookies on tab close.

Multi Account Containers Slow.png E10s.png

Multi Account Containers is a Firefox addon that uses part of the security model of Firefox OS to create sandboxed tabs and manage them. Updated infrequently and might be incompatible with certain addons.

UBlock.png uBlock Origin Active.png E10s.png

uBlock Origin is a lightweight and low-resource adblocker. Has many filter lists built in, with EasyList, Peter Lowe’s Ad server list, EasyPrivacy, and Malware domains enabled by default. Can fully replace NoScript in advanced mode and outperform it, whilst offering more features.

  • Not to be confused with 'uBlock', an EXTREMELY outdated fork with some very slight changes to the UI.
  • If you feel bad about blocking advertisements, make a deal with yourself: you'll stop blocking ads when major international internet companies stop serving malware.
  • Supports the WebExtensions API.

UMatrix.png uMatrix Slow.png E10s.png

uMatrix's fine-grained control

uMatrix, made by the creator of uBlock, is a high performance matrix-based firewall that supports hosts files, capable of blocking a myriad of objects, complete with per-hostname and global toggles, as well as plenty of privacy oriented features. Able to replace NoScript1, policeman, and request policy continued. Can be used with uBlock.

  • 1 - Cannot replace NoScript's surrogate script functionality (which is very, VERY rarely used anyway). uBlock has a similar feature called redirect, whose purpose is to redirect blocked resources to locally-hosted, neutered contents.

Customisability

Classicthemerestorer.png Classic Theme Restorer Active.png E10s.png

Classic Theme Restorer offers extensive GUI options to make Firefox look like old Firefox.

Tabgroups.png Tab Groups Slow.png E10s.png

Tab Groups allows you to create tab groups, a feature that was once part of Firefox.

Treestyletabs.png Tree Style Tabs Slow.png

Tree Style Tabs shows tabs like a tree.

Dev tools

Livehttpheaders.png Live HTTP Headers Stalled.png E10s.png

Live HTTP Headers lets you view HTTP headers, and includes a generator and a filter.

Usability

FxIF.png FxIF Stalled.png E10s.png

FxIF is a tool to view EXIF data in image properties.

Greasemonkey.png Greasemonkey Slow.png E10s.png

Greasemonkey manages Userscripts.

  • The Scriptish fork of this add-on that was once popular on /g/ is no longer recommended.

Redirector.png Redirector Stalled.png E10s.png

Redirector automatically redirects to user-defined urls on a per-hyperlink basis.

Singingstallman.png Singing Stallman Stalled.png

Singing Stallman, the Singing Stallman icon bides its time in the toolbar, waiting to be invoked in your time of need.

Vimfx.png VimFx Active.png E10s.png

VimFx offers Vim bindings without changes in the UI.

Youtubecenter.png YouTube Center Stalled.png E10s.png

YouTube Center enhances YouTube. It is recommended that you use the developer version, as per their wiki.

Notable patches

Bugs are explicitly stated.

OpenSUSE-KDE Active.png

This patchset makes trivial changes to Firefox to improve its aesthetic and functionality.

  • Adds KDE integration to Firefox.
  • Changes your general.useragent.locale to chrome://global/locale/intl.properties.
  • Adds higher resolution icons.

PGO Stalled.png

This simple patch enables Profile-Guided Optimization techniques for the GCC build. PGO builds consist of two passes: the first one builds instrumented binaries, and the second one to rebuild optimized binaries. It might result in a slight performance increase of roughly ~5%, for double the compilation time.

As it stands, the clang-pgo.patch may not be working.

Bugs

  • The Makefile.in file might not have the compile rule called pgo-profile-run1.
    • Solution: add the pgo-profile-run rule to the Makefile.in.

Privacy Active.png

This patchset aims to disable certain Firefox 'features' that might undermine one's attempt at staying anonymous. In a way, it debloats it.

  • Certain connections to Mozilla are removed.
  • Disables: telemetry, location.services, sponsored tiles, Pocket, Hello, and Reader View.
  • Applies certain privacy conscious settings to about:config by default.
  • Enables tracking protection by default (disable if you use uBlock and/or uMatrix).

DNS over HTTPS and Encrytped SNI

How ESNI makes the internet opaque. Website support may vary.

Newer Firefox versions support DNS over HTTPS and Encrypted SNI. For an introduction to ESNI read this article from the EFF.

To enable DoH:

  • Set network.trr.mode to 2.

DNS over HTTPS is an ESNI prerequisite.

For ESNI set network.security.esni.enabled to true.

[Test your configuration courtesy of CloudFlare]

Ricing

You can edit Firefox's appearance with CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). To be more general, you can alter ANY web page with CSS. This is achieved with the usage of userstyles. To use and take complete advantage of them, you need a userstyle manager. Stylish is the most common.

The Stylish button that appears after you install it is useful. For instance, to write a userstyle for Firefox, you need to go to:

   chrome://browser/content/browser.xul

And select Write new style -> For this URL, and it'll have a template set up.

The most useful feature in writing userstyles is the Inspector. You pop it up by pressing Ctrl+Shift+C and it'll let you see what elements you can style on the page.

Config

Below are options in about:config worth considering.

  • dom.storage.enabled FALSE - Disable "client-side session and persistent storage" cookies (bad for 8ch - the replies hypelinks next to the post number disappears).
  • geo.enabled FALSE - Disable location data.
  • general.useragent.override - Create as a String value and insert your own useragent.
  • network.dns.disablePrefetch TRUE - Stop Firefox looking up IP addresses of links of the page you haven't/aren't going to.
  • network.http.pipelining TRUE - Possible speedup for some servers (send multiple files through one connection).
  • network.http.pipelining.max-optimistic-requests 8 - Total number of pipelines.
  • network.http.pipelining.ssl TRUE - Pipeline with HTTPS sites.
  • network.http.proxy.pipelining TRUE - Pipleline through proxy connections.
  • network.http.sendRefererHeader - 0 = never (bad for 8ch), 1 = domain only, 2 = full url (default).
  • network.prefetch-next FALSE - Don't download pages linked to the current page unless we click the link.
  • dom.event.clipboardevents.enabled FALSE - Don't allow webpages to mess with the clipboard.
  • dom.disable_window_move_resize TRUE - Don't allow webpages to move or resize the browser window.
  • dom.ipc.plugins.flash.subprocess.crashreporter.enabled FALSE - Don't report flash plugin crashes.
  • media.autoplay.enabled FALSE - Don't autoplay media.
  • media.peerconnection.enabled FALSE - Important for VPN users. Don't allow p2p downloading of media.
  • pdfjs.disabled TRUE - Don't run javascript within the builtin pdf viewer.
  • reader.parse-on-load.enabled FALSE - disable "reader view".
  • browser.pocket.enabled (or extensions.pocket.enabled) FALSE - disable pocket.
  • network.http.speculative-parallel-limit 0 - don't create connections to links you only hover over.
  • dom.push.connection.enabled FALSE - Disable push notifications (FF44+).
  • dom.push.enabled FALSE - (as above).
  • dom.webnotifications.enabled FALSE - (as above).
  • dom.webnotifications.serviceworker.enabled FALSE - (as above).
  • loop.enabled FALSE - Disable loop/conversation calling features.
  • browser.urlbar.unifiedcomplete FALSE - Disables the "Search With" popup when typing into the location bar.
  • media.ffmpeg.enabled FALSE (linux only as of FF44) - Disable mp4 playback through ffmpeg, to stop ffmpeg bugs breaking your firefox.
  • media.eme.apiVisible FALSE - Stops pages from using a JavaScript library for DRM (Digital Rights Management/

Digital Restrictions Management) in html video.

  • media.eme.enabled FALSE - (as above).

For a privacy conscious user.js, study https://github.com/crisbrm/user.js for a user.js that comes with minimal breakage, or https://github.com/pyllyukko/user.js for one with even more emphasis on security (occasionally at the cost of functionality, like when you completely disable DOM storage, for instance), and less emphasis on blending in.

To compare a myriad of privacy-conscious user.js files, use jm42's compare-user.js

External links