Have you tried LibreWolf ?
this post was submitted on 28 Feb 2025
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Privacy
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Does anyone have any suggestions for a more private setup browser-wise? Tracking blocking at DNS level will continue and I’m on debian-based linux.
My worries sound similar to yours but my approach is a bit different.
- I switched from Mac to Linux (Arch, then Debian and for the last 4 years, Mint).
- I use EU services as much as I can instead of the US ones.
- I do block as much tracking and ad crap as I can. Still use javascript on a few sites.
- I use different browsers for different activities.
But I also consider this a lost cause. Sadly.
- I consider anything I do online (read, write, watch, listen to,...) is at risk of being tracked, and exploited, mined or whatever and somehow linked to the real me (not to one of my pseudonyms).
- With an increasing speed and willingness to destroy any remaining rights to privacy we may still have, I'm also expecting my country (France) to sooner than later make it illegal to use real encryption, to use a VPN, or even to use a pseudonym instead of my real name—all of that for my own good and for the protection of little kids which is obviously something that I as a law abiding citizen would not ever dare question.
So, instead, I do as much things as I can offline. Reading, writing, watching stuff, listening to stuff, communicating with people.
with javascript and cookies turned off
My threat model isn’t the tightest
If that's not tight, I hardly know what is. The modern web is all but unusable without JS.
What I meant by my threat model not being the tightest was that if I want to read something on a site that requires javascript and cookies then I will just turn them back on temporarily rather than not read what I want just because of possible tracking.
I agree with your point about the web being almost unusable in parts without JavaScript. However, I find that a lot of sites have a lot of javascript-heavy pages at the front but simpler pages behind where you get to things you actually want to look at. Usually a site's RSS feeds let you get directly to the simpler pages without using JavaScript.
He may as well go without images, too, and use Lynx Browser, haha. I can't even figure out how to install that one!
# Debian
sudo apt install lynx
# Fedora
sudo dnf install lynx
# arch, BTW
sudo pacman -Sy lynx
I am, unfortunately, on Windows, mostly because of my inability to find adequate Linux replacements for key features in AutoHotkey and IrfanView. Believe me, I've been looking and trying to learn...
I've found XnView to be a good IrfanView replacement. (Granted it's not QUITE as good; same as how there isn't anything quite as good as Notepad++)
As for Lynx on Windows, looks like it's available through Scoop! https://bjansen.github.io/scoop-apps/main/lynx/
Out of curiosity, what can N++ do that VSCodium can't? That's what I've been using and it's been mostly fantastic.
Wow, thanks for sharing Scoop; I had no idea of this software, and dang, that is one huge games bucket... I'm gonna have to crawl through this sometime. I'll check out XnView as well! I think I knew of that one earlier, but never actually looked into it and then forgot...
Update: Unfortunately, XnView can't do anything like the interior cropping that I'm hoping to do. There is a "Suggestions" subforum in their forum, but I can't even register; despite disabling uBlock Origin, I get met with the nonsensical error The solution you provided was incorrect as I see no CAPTCHA test, so I'm unable to pitch this as a suggestion. Alas...
Haha, thanks to you, I discovered that graphical ADOM is free (I thought it was paid). And MegaGlest is an unexpectedly awesome RTS!
It seems like an interesting setup. I don't really have too much to say other than nitpicks.
Why not use Mullvad browser for both scenarios. Mullvad with security level safest should block all JS. You could create a 2nd profile for safest only mode.
Using Linux .desktop launcher scripts, you could:
- Create a .desktop launcher (in ~/.local/share/applications/) for each profile
- Edit default desktop launcher to always prompt to choice profile on start (using the launch option
-P) - Edit the default launcher to offer a menu option for each profile.
Related to your choice of host OS, I personally avoid Debian for desktop because it is slow to adapt (cus its Debian). I know it isnt directly applicable to situation since your main concern seems to be anti-fingerprinting, but a secure base is important. I'd like to know your reason for picking it. I don't dislike Debian and I still use it for different things (mostly VMs and some dev work).
What host os do you use?
I recommend Fedora or openSUSE Tumbleweed.
your setup looks good to me