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  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 3:38 PM

    "You always have a choice in Firefox, including whether to use features enhanced with AI". LIARS! FUCKING LIARS!! THE "BLOCK AI" SWITCH UNDERNEATH THIS WAS TURNED *OFF*! YOU SILENTLY UPGRADED MY WEB BROWSER WHILE MICROSOFT WAS REBOOTING MY COMPUTER IN THE NIGHT, YOU ADDED A BUNCH OF SECRET AI BULLSHIT YOU DID NOT DISCLOSE TO ME, YOU HAD IT TURNED ON BY DEFAULT, and then you have the fucking GALL to say I had a fucking "choice"

    Get outa here with your fucking cutesy fox mascot for the apocalypse

    AI controls You always have a choice in Firefox, including whether to use features enhanced with AI. More controls coming soon. Insipid drawing of a fox with sparkles
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Replies

  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 3:39 PM

    If I'm angry it's because I *believed* I would be informed when 140ESR, the version of Firefox I agreed to use, would time out, and therefore I would have time to install Librewolf myself rather than having "Firefox I trust, somewhat" replaced out from under me on my computer with "Firefox I would rather not have any copy of my computer, at all".

    EDIT: This is why I was wrong tech.lgbt/@Mayabotics/11744019

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  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 3:42 PM

    I was told that turning off "browser.nova.enabled" in about:config would free me from the annoying rounded corners everywhere. But it's already false, and I already have quite a lot of rounded corners. I don't know why it's false because I never touched this (obviously because before this morning the setting didn't exist). Is Nova somehow already off and even the non-Nova version has some rounded corners now?'

    EDIT: Many replies claiming 140 was this rounded too. Ok? I think some things changed

    browser.nova.enabled… false
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  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 3:45 PM

    Also how do I tell whether, in the 30 seconds after this copy of Firefox booted with the new version and before, it downloaded a "local model" of any type whatsoever to my computer? Since I will only be keeping legacy Chrome and Firefox on this computer for websites that don't work with LibreWolf, if either of these apps downloaded a language model— even for benign things like translation— that is a big waste of my HD space.

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  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 3:46 PM

    I had other things to do today, I had plans. I didn't want to spend today doing cleanup because my copy of Firefox decided TODAY is the day I switch away from Firefox

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  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 3:49 PM

    Oh, this box has been open in the background the whole time. "LOL". Obviously, there is literally no way I am going to agree to a "terms of use" to use a goddamn fucking web browser on my own computer.

    Welcome to firefox By continuing, you agree to the Firefox Terms of Use and our Privacy Notice. To help improve the browser, Firefox sends diagnostics, and interaction data to Mozilla.
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  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 3:55 PM

    Downloading Librewolf and noting with approval, and additionally almost uniquely among open source software I've installed on Windows, they actually tell you on the download page who to expect the binaries be signed by.

    Hm, hoping LibreWolf integrates with my updates on Debian when it comes to that.

    "Windows binaries are signed by OSSign (Scheibling Consulting AB). For more information, see our FAQ"
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  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 4:03 PM

    Oh. Great. Librewolf has the skittles vomit look. Although for inexplicable reasons (could I have gone in and set a flag months ago speculatively, then forgotten it?!) Firefox 153.5.0esr started with Nova off, Librewolf starts with Nova on. Turning it off does not fully remove the additional roundedness I percieve as having been added since 140. Well, whatever. The goal is to avoid shit in *future*, not shit now.

    titlebar with unnerving gradient
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  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 4:06 PM

    I don't understand what I'm looking at here but I'm PRETTY sure it's my fault.

    EDIT: So what I'm pretty sure is there's somehow two copies of Librewolf on my computer, and the only piece of software that knows what it is is the "default browser" picker in Windows. Add/Remove Programs sees only one. Tragically, right clicking in this picker does nothing.

    A popup in Windows 10. It says "Choose an App?". It lists various browsers, and lists LibreWolf twice.
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  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 4:19 PM

    Okay so the first thing I want to do on Librewolf, obviously, is disable strict tracking protections. That's a feature. I hate features. The only reason I'm using Librewolf is so that they'll turn features off automatically instead of me having to do it.

    Last time I used firefox, there was a choice in this box. Now there's only one option, "Strict", inexplicably with a radio button.

    Can I turn off tracking protection and make Librewolf into basically a copy of Firefox, or is about:config time?

    Enhanced tracking protection box in firefox
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  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 4:21 PM

    Alternately, am I confused, and "ResistFingerprinting" is the obnoxious shit that breaks web pages, and 'tracking protection:strict" is something minor like third-party cookie protections that Firefox Baseline also has? (If so, that's REALLY strange that the high-impact feature is a tiny unlabeled checkbox lower down, whereas the low-impact feature is this big box with lots of warnings and explainers on it.)

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  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 4:26 PM

    Okay another LibreWolf question. They've got these two questions about WebGL. But they don't mention WebGPU. What should I take that to mean? Firefox on Windows supports WebGPU by now. I guess Librewolf… doesn't? Or they do, but they don't have the "warning about to enable webgl" popup? Or what?!

    * Always allow WebGL * Hide the WebGL per-site popup
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  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 4:27 PM

    Librewolf disables offers to save passwords, offers to save credit cards, and offers to save addresses by default. Finally. Fucking finally.

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  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 4:33 PM

    Man setting up a browser is so slow. I wish it was possible to self-host the settings syncing in Firefox instead of it being fake possible

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  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 5:05 PM

    OK here's a question. And I thank you all for your patience with my questions and my cussing and whatnot.

    In the last browser I enjoyed using—mid-2023 Chrome—there was a "V" button on the right side I could click to search my open tabs.

    Firefox has, oddly, 2 versions of this, neither adequate. (A) brings up this complex "Firefox View" thing. (B) is a menu that allows an awkward tab search. I think I like (A) better, though I wish it had fewer clicks.

    Librewolf is missing (A). Can I enable it?

    Firefox diagram showing a weird shelf icon on the left and a "V" icon on the right.
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  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 5:08 PM

    Also, as long as I'm now highly customizing my browser instead of simply accepting whatever slop Mozilla gives me… what I *want*, what I *really want*, is to remove the "V", put the "drawer"/"Firefox View" on the *right* side where the V is, and have clicking the button auto-select the text entry box in either "recent browsing" or "open tabs"? To replicate the old Chrome mid-2023 behavior?

    Could I do this fancy thing with… "User Chrome"? or "XUL"? Or "ZOOL"?

    Game Boy box art for "Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension"
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  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 5:08 PM

    Back in the 00s I wrote a bunch of "XUL". The "XUL" called out to a web service I operated using "XML-RPC". I thought this was so cool. I thought this was the future of technology.

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  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 5:14 PM

    More things I wonder but I think I know the answer to

    1. Does "Add tab to taskbar" add the tab to… the *Windows* taskbar?

    2. Container groups are still a plugin, published by Firefox. Does that mean if I install the container groups plugin on LibreWolf, I'm still gonna be getting ads for Firefox's VPN service or whatever even in LibreWolf?

    3. Librewolf doesn't make "Profiles" any easier to use then their (wildly impractical) state in baseline Firefox 140esr, does it?

    "Add tab to taskbar" button
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  • josefjk@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 3:44 PM

    @mcc iirc the visual 'update' that happened *before* nova was the one that made corners rounded. gradually they've been turning tabs into things that aren't tabs anymore. i'm not sure how to revert it to make it look reasonable. i'm currently stuck with "everything is a bit rounded but not as bad as they want it to be". whole thing is fucked tbh

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  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 3:50 PM

    @jk ok see i didn't get the one before that because i've been on ESR, specificall because i don't want them to change things

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  • crypticrainfall☄️crypticrainfall@app.wafrn.net
    Oct 14, 2026, 4:35 PM

    @mcc@mastodon.social @jk@mastodon.social

    This isn't going to help fix your current firefox install, unfortunately, but I've been moving all my browsers to Floorp and Firedragon in part because the rounded look irks me so much. They are basically just Firefox with more customizability options, so you can switch the tabs to the old Photon or Lepton designs. If you prefer LibreWolf, Firedragon has a bunch of the Librewolf settings imported along with Floorp's customizability.

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  • damien 🥖🐈‍⬛🧣eramdam@erambert.me
    Oct 14, 2026, 3:47 PM

    @mcc also...did your copy of Firefox have this disabled? Because I feel like if you tell it to not install updates automatically it would respect that choice but I dont run ESR

    Image attached toot
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  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 3:49 PM

    @eramdam Well, obviously I want point releases with security fixes. But also, I don't want features (if I was willing to accept features, I wouldn't be using ESR in the first place.) So I guess I just *assumed* ESR140 updates until the 140 line terminates and then you get a warning that you're no longer getting security updates. I guess that was a poorly founded assumption. I have no justification for why I assumed it.

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  • damien 🥖🐈‍⬛🧣eramdam@erambert.me
    Oct 14, 2026, 3:55 PM

    @mcc idk, ESR to me sounds like an alternative update channel which feels like is divorced from the "automatically install updates" setting 🤷

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  • Shar(yna)Tran/Shark(aeopteryx)Sharksonaplane@mastodon.sandwich.net
    Oct 14, 2026, 5:36 PM

    @mcc I mean I would have assumed the same bc that's how it used to work with software that was considered out of date. I don't think it's an unreasonable assumption and it's sure as hell not your fault that Mozilla jetéd itself into a trash heap.

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  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 5:37 PM

    @Sharksonaplane like I just blankly assumed if one specifically opted into a 140 channel that means something. But no I didn't opt into the 140 channel I opted into "the ESR channel".

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  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 4:17 PM

    @ratsnakegames Remember I jumped directly from 140 to 157 so I think some things that happened for you last december happened for me only today

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  • Gourdgourd@indieverse.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 4:23 PM

    @mcc ResistFingerprinting is the thing that breaks many webpages, IMHO.

    I like Librewolf, but paranoid Firefox as a project probably shouldn't be the main slop-free version for normal people to use. Waterfox was/kinda is that but...

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  • :blahaj: Why Not Zoidberg? 🦑WhyNotZoidberg@topspicy.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 4:24 PM

    @mcc Yes, this is correct. "Strict tracking protection" is the baseline feature in Firefox.

    I use Waterfox, because Liberwolf was just too annyoing and restricting, and I find it a good middle ground, but I don't think I can go back to Firefox.

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  • bipolaronbipolaron@scholar.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 4:28 PM

    @WhyNotZoidberg @mcc when I was picking between librewolf and waterfox I could have sworn waterfox leadership was not lending confidence. wish I remembered what the drama was.

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  • Faraiwefaraiwe@mstdn.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 4:35 PM

    @mcc it would be way too convenient if we could save settings to a file :/

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  • ErinChateauErin@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 4:45 PM

    @faraiwe @mcc I've had good success copying the profile folders between installs, except that...there was something weird about actually switching between them? I *think* my successes have been when I overwrite the profile folder in the new install with the old profile

    many of my current tabs are technically older than this computer

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  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 4:52 PM

    @coelacanthus @faraiwe like yeah i'm sure i can scrounge around and figure out where firefox stores prefs and where librewolf stores prefs and copy them between and hope they work, but the point of the built in syncing is that it does all the scrounging for you

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  • damien 🥖🐈‍⬛🧣eramdam@erambert.me
    Oct 14, 2026, 5:06 PM

    @mcc it might just not be in the toolbar? is the Firefox View button available as an option when you customize the toolbar in LibreWolf?

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