i hate to be that guy but, why not something like waterfox? mastodon.derg.nz/@anthropy/115…

Anthropy

2025-12-17 12:38:46

i can't believe how many people are flocking to closed source chrome forks like Vivaldi in the light of Firefox's AI stuff, when stuff like Waterfox is right there

For the record, Waterfox has said not to use AI: waterfox.com/support/ai-chatbo…
"Waterfox does not include a built‑in AI chatbot integration. If you want AI assistance in the browser, you can install a compatible extension from Firefox Add-ons."

if you want to actually keep using Firefox and not some closed source Chrome fork, try Waterfox

AI Chatbot in Waterfox - Waterfox Support

^Waterfox

Good choice. I've been using #Vivaldi for years and years now, and it's always been great.

@Vivaldi

Does Vivaldi support profile and sync between devices? @Vivaldi

#vivaldi #firefox

Vivaldi is good browser and very customizable.

As for Firefox, Mozilla's leadership still has no idea how to choose the right direction for the project. The browser is behind competitors, Mozilla depends on Google's funding, there is no clear vision and goals for Firefox and Mozilla.

I'm not saying it because I don't like Firefox as long time ago I was using it for years, but there are problems that put a lot of doubt over the project's future.

vivaldi also autodiscovers #rss feeds on a page (small detail yet speaks volumes about their value system).

It will be heartbreaking to part ways with firefox after decades, but alas mozilla does not seem to have a way out of its enshittification predicament. Pacts with the Devil eventually extract their pound of flesh.

I'm still on Vivaldi and love it but they have said more than once already that they do plan to drop support for manifest v2. Once they do I'll be spinning the Firefork roulette so... Maybe don't get too attached?

We cannot, in fact, have nice things

Or you can use Librewolf.

librewolf.net

LibreWolf Browser

A custom version of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom.

^{librewolf.net}

If memory serves me well, my first browser was Netscape - guess my age 😉
Briefly used Mozilla and Opera but Firefox has been my dominant browser after Netscape ever since.

I'm not liking certain decisions within the Mozilla group, including the AI hype, but so far I'm sticking to it.

The question is how much longer browsers dependent on Chromium upstream will still be able to support uBlock Origin against Google's will.

The better choice would have been a Firefox-based browser like Waterfox, which takes Firefox and strips it of all the annoying telemetry and AI nonsense

waterfox.com/blog/no-ai-here-r…

No AI* Here - A Response to Mozilla's Next Chapter

Mozilla's pivot to AI first browsing raises fundamental questions about what a browser should be.

^{Alex Kontos (Waterfox)}

why not #waterfox

Its what Firefox should be open and extremely user-friendly 🩵 #noai

RE: mastodon.social/@Gargron/11573…

@Gargron @Vivaldi I did the same. For a few weeks. Then I met Zen Browser.
Less is more.

Eugen Rochko

2025-12-17 23:24:01

I've finally switched to the @Vivaldi browser. I've been using Firefox for as long as I've been on the internet, but the focus on AI means it's no longer the browser for me. Thankfully unlike Chrome, Vivaldi supports the uBlock Origin extension which is the most important extension for being able to browse the web nowadays.

That seems like a step backwards to be very honest. Firefox is a truly open-source project, with its own nuts and bolts under the hood, whereas Vivaldi is just another Chromium fork with a bunch of proprietary bits strapped to it.

I don't agree with the choices from Mozilla, but if everything is opt-in, local, and respects user privacy, what is the problem? And if it does bother you, why not use something like LibeWolf?