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The Fennec Android browser is currently behind on Firefox security updates, deemed unsafe by F-droid (leminal.space)

submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/technology

54 comments fedilink hide all child comments

If, like me, you've relied on Fennec as a more tolerable version of Firefox for Android, you may have gotten some bad news in the latest F-droid update cycle.

Fennec has fallen so far behind on updates that serious security patches implemented by Mozilla in Firefox haven't been applied to the fork, and Fennec is therefore still breachable.

The developer responded two weeks ago that they were "short on time", and there still isn't a new, secure version available. This appears to be due to that recurring weak link in open source development: small teams, confronted by real life demands like time and money?

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[–] gaylord_fartmaster 27 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

I'll just throw out Mull from DivestOS's third-party f-droid repo as an up to date alternative. The newest versions are incompatible with the main repo but here is their explanation:

Updated Mull to 131.0.0, has 14+1+25 security fixes from the previous 129.0.2 release. In order to resolve the compilation issue introduced in 130, Mull is now compiled using Mozilla's prebuilt clang toolchain. This however is incompatible with the F-Droid.org inclusion criteria, so these updates (for now at least) will only be available via the DivestOS.org F-Droid repository. Please note, while this adds a prebuilt dependency, the result does still remain FOSS.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Ah yes, the toolchain changes appear to be a stumbling stone for the Fennec devs as well. That kind of thing doesn't exactly speed up new releases, I'm sure.

What are your experiences with Mull? Is it generally compatible with Firefox plugins, and are there performance improvements as well as in security?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

IMHO as i have it as my daily browser, it can become troublesome with booking websites (flights, tickets, hotels, restaurant orders, shopping). They don't like whatever Mull blocks, and at some point during any booking process you'll be unable to complete it. Sometimes during the payment step, so it can be... Frustrating.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I experience similar, if rarely, with my about:config modifications and muBlock add-on [edit: that was on Fennec, I expect similar on other Fenix forks]. Those things I blame more on the modern web than on any browser :/

[–] gaylord_fartmaster 6 points 2 weeks ago

I've been using it as my primary browser on Android for years so I don't really have much to compare it to, but I haven't had any issues with extension compatibility. It includes changes from Tor browser and Arkenfox so it's more privacy-focused than on performance.

[–] airglow 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Mull has defaults that improve privacy at the cost of performance and website compatibility. They maintain a list of changes that you can reverse through about:config. If Mull seems slow for you, consider re-enabling the JavaScript JIT.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

The only reason the Fennec devs haven't announced this is that they've been moving but they're basically working on the same things to get it back on F Droid.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The link(s) to add their F-Droid repo if not running DivestOS: https://divestos.org/pages/our_apps.html#repos

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

Been using Mull, didn't realize there was newer versions, thanks for the link!