What a mess Mozilla. Recently have presented their terms of use, and damage has been done that I don't know if it can be repaired. In short, they removed a few lines in which they said they would never use user data, and added the word "sell" there. Many people have raised the alarm, claiming that Firefox is no longer what it used to be, and have started looking for alternatives.
For its part, the company that develops the red panda browser has tried to get out of the way. They explain that "selling" is the word that best defines everything they have in mind, although in reality they will never sell our data. According to Mozilla, privacy and security will continue to be a fundamental part of its web browser, but what happened just a few days ago has made many start using LibreWolf.
Mozilla's shot in the foot makes many switch to LibreWolf
There is a large majority of users who don't really know what they're using. Not all of us are up to date when it comes to software. I think that the vast majority of readers of this blog know that Chromium is the engine that Chrome uses, and that if we want to have similar features we can use the same browser Chromium, Vivaldi, Brave and many others with the same engine. The Chromium that is most similar to Chrome without the claws of Google (or Microsoft) is Brave, but almost everyone uses Chrome and jumps through its hoops because they don't know what's going on inside it.
Firefox is Mozilla's browser and it is open source. Being Open Source allows us to see its code, and also use it to create what is known as forksWith everything that is happening, those who know a little about software have done something similar to what Brave users do: they do not want to use the "original" browser, let's say, and have decided to use another very similar one, but that keep them away from practices that they consider somewhat negative.
As we had explained, the majority's choice is LibreWolf, which We wrote on LXA a while ago. In the article you can read that it is a fork Firefox and its key features. In this link here is their official website.
Other Firefox-based browsers
If anyone, for this or any other reason, is thinking of using another browser but with the same base, the most notable ones are:
- Waterfox: Focused on privacy and performance. Supports legacy Firefox add-ons.
- Floorp: Based on Firefox ESR, with customization and productivity improvements.
- basilisk: Developed by the Pale Moon team. It resembles older versions of Firefox.
- Tor Browser: Based on Firefox ESR, optimized for anonymity on the Tor network.
- GNU IceCat: Derived from Firefox ESR, with a focus on free software and privacy.
Is the future looking so bleak?
If we pay attention to what is read on social networks, things look bad for Mozilla. In various media outlets where they have published something trying to calm things down, the most common thing is to say “late”, claiming that they have lost confidence in the company. Some say that they are switching to Brave, which kills two birds with one stone – they use the engine for which everything is prepared and gain privacy –, and others opt for the aforementioned LibreWolf.
But in my opinion, tempers will calm down soon. I don't think Mozilla has changed that much. Still in my own opinion, I think they are trying to adapt to the new times. And in these times a lot has to do with artificial intelligence. Also, Firefox is only used by a minority, and if they see that they stop using their browser, would they continue with its development if people are going to use a different browser? fork? I doubt it.
It remains to be seen how this all turns out. But this could not come at a time when times are more difficult for the red panda's browser.