this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2025
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/26244492

The answer to "what is Firefox?" on Mozilla's FAQ page about its browser used to read:

The Firefox Browser is the only major browser backed by a not-for-profit that doesn’t sell your personal data to advertisers while helping you protect your personal information.

Now it just says:

The Firefox Browser, the only major browser backed by a not-for-profit, helps you protect your personal information.

In other words, Mozilla is no longer willing to commit to not selling your personal data to advertisers.

A related change was also highlighted by mozilla.org commenter jkaelin, who linked direct to the source code for that FAQ page. To answer the question, "is Firefox free?" Moz used to say:

Yep! The Firefox Browser is free. Super free, actually. No hidden costs or anything. You don’t pay anything to use it, and we don’t sell your personal data.

Now it simply reads:

Yep! The Firefox Browser is free. Super free, actually. No hidden costs or anything. You don’t pay anything to use it.

Again, a pledge to not sell people's data has disappeared. Varma insisted this is the result of the fluid definition of “sell” in the context of data sharing and privacy.

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[–] DougHolland 18 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

Very, very long-time Firefox user here, now open to suggestions for a replacement. Windows, desktop, and it absolutely must have adblocker capabilities.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (2 children)
[–] root 3 points 15 hours ago (3 children)

Anything for iOS? Or do I need to go back to Graphene?

[–] PM_Your_Nudes_Please 3 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Everything on iOS will be based on WebKit. Apple doesn’t allow third-party browser engines on iOS. Even the official Google Chrome app is running WebKit under the hood instead of Chromium.

That’s why browser extensions never get supported on iOS; They’re literally made for the wrong browser engine. If you want extensions, you’re forced to use the default Safari app, because that’s the only browser that natively supports extension apps.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 14 hours ago

This isn’t true anymore, as vendors have the ability to provide other engines within the EU.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

I’m using Orion. It stores nothing. It’s WebKit based, I think.

[–] PM_Your_Nudes_Please 2 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

Everything on iOS is WebKit based. Apple doesn’t allow third-party browser engines on iOS. Even the official Chrome and Firefox apps are just reskins of the WebKit engine that iOS’ default Safari uses.

It’s why things like Firefox extensions never got ported to iOS; They’re made for Gecko, not WebKit. If you want extensions, you have to use the default Safari browser.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 hours ago

Oh wow, I didn't know that.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 14 hours ago

Not in the EU, at least. Time will tell if any major vendor bothers to provide a custom engine (read: their own). But important to note that this isn’t the limitation it was.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 15 hours ago

Nothing that I know of, sorry. I have never used iOS before and don't know anyone who has.

[–] DougHolland 4 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

That does look intriguing, especially if being a Firefox fork means I can bring my familiar add-ons along. Thank you!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

Just be aware that there is a slight chance of sites not working as expected due to all of the privacy tweaks. It's mostly fine though.

Good luck!

[–] grue 8 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

I have used Firefox for literally its entire existence -- it was still called "Phoenix" when I started using it! -- and even I am on the brink of switching. That's how abjectly fucked up Mozilla has gotten.

[–] DougHolland 3 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Hello, old timer! Pretty sure it was just plain Netscape when I installed it (not yet called Navigator), but I'd never heard of it as Phoenix. It has served me well for 30 years across a dozen computers, but now it might be time to move on.

[–] grue 9 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (1 children)

Netscape Navigator was different software. It became the browser component of Netscape Communicator, then Mozilla Application Suite, then Mozilla Seamonkey, and has now been spun off from Mozilla and is just called Seamonkey.

Mozilla Phoenix/Firebird/Firefox was a from-scratch rewrite to make a minimalist standalone browser without the bloat of Mozilla Application Suite, where nonessential features could be added as extensions. (That's why it was initially named "Phoenix": because it was rising from the ashes of Navigator.)

(For the record, I am not so old as to have used Netscape 1.0.)

[–] DougHolland 5 points 18 hours ago

(: Man, the things I learn from smart folks on Lemmy...