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Just the Browser: tools to remove AI and other bloatware from Chrome, Edge and Firefox (justthebrowser.com)
submitted 3 months ago by dantheclamman@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[-] guywithoutaname@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

FYI if you want to edit the Firefox policies directly and save it in /etc/firefox/policies/policies.json, this is the file they are using

  "policies": {
    "DisableFirefoxStudies": true,
    "DisableTelemetry": true,
    "DontCheckDefaultBrowser": true,
    "FirefoxHome": {
      "SponsoredStories": false,
      "SponsoredTopSites": false,
      "Stories": false
    },
    "GenerativeAI": {
      "Enabled": false
    },
    "SearchEngines": {
      "Remove": [
        "Perplexity"
      ]
    }
  }
}`
[-] Dequei@piefed.social 3 points 3 months ago

Just use Librewolf

[-] FenderStratocaster@piefed.social 2 points 3 months ago

I know I'll get flak for this, but I am sticking with FireFox, because it saves my passwords.

[-] albbi@piefed.ca 1 points 3 months ago

You can switch to WaterFox and it seamlessly uses the FireFox sync to use all your passwords. Very easy drop in replacement.

[-] in_my_honest_opinion@piefed.social 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

For those interested

https://librewolf.net/installation/

https://codeberg.org/librewolf/issues/issues/1919

Thanks to @acockworkorange@mander.xyz for the context below.

The settings that Mozilla packaged in were the main big ones, Claude, ChatGPT etc, it didn’t look like any of them were locally hosted or even if a locally hosted model could be chose. Local AI… where the model itself and all the token are processed on either your own machine or another machine controlled by you certainly isn’t violating privacy, but as I said the choices on offer were none of these.

LibreWolf by default gets rid of anything that seeks to abuse your right to privacy, you won’t even find Google or Bing in your search engine. Naturally this will also apply to AI providers. Unfortunately, at the moment, we can’t trust Mozilla and by extension with AI items so these things were removed. That doesn’t mean you can’t install third party AI extensions.

Also you can host your own search engine for even more privacy.

https://docs.searxng.org/index.html

[-] ken@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Grumpy ken thinks "Just use Foo" meming is promoting mindless use and I think should therefore be discouraged. Even in jest I think this affects us subconsciously to feel more comfortable with not thinking deeper for ourselves. Even if X is the right one. "Use Foo already!" is nicer~!

If I may illustrate:

Use Konform Browser^1^ already!

^1^: Disclosures: Am dev; is LibreWolf fork

[-] NotSteve_@piefed.ca 1 points 3 months ago

I really like the Zen browser. It's Firefox-based, open source and privacy focused with AI removed but it's also really pretty and is built around vertical tabs

[-] Anarki_@lemmy.blahaj.zone 0 points 3 months ago

Zen browser my beloved 🥰

[-] friend_of_satan@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I switched from Firefox to Librewolf about a month ago and it's been wonderful. I can't imagine what it would take for me to switch back to Firefox. I'll probably ride Librewolf until the project dies or gets corrupted.

[-] edible_funk@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago

What about mobile?

[-] Dequei@piefed.social 1 points 3 months ago

Ironfox

[-] CheerfulPassionFruit@lemmy.world -1 points 3 months ago

As a libreworlf user, I'd have to advise some caution to regular users. A lot of sites are broken as images won't load and "fancier" web apps don't work super well either. Yes it's an easy fix, but expecting someone to go look in the config files to get an image to load is too much for a lot of people

[-] kali_fornication@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

given what "edge" means among the teens these days, microsoft really should go back to the old browser name.....microsoft goon

[-] Goodlucksil@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 3 months ago

I don't get what was wrong with the name of Internet Explorer.

[-] Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org 1 points 3 months ago

They don't want you exploring anymore. Exploration would take you away from their profitable walled garden.

[-] Suavevillain@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

I switched to Watefox myself. It is comfy and no AI.

[-] Bwaz@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

Or just use Waterfox.

[-] RIotingPacifist@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago

Shopping features: coupon codes

This feature doesn't seem like the others.

[-] AmbitiousProcess@piefed.social 1 points 3 months ago

It kind of is. For example, Edge will automatically pop up in the corner at checkout and offer coupon codes, most of them will never work, then they'll steal the affiliate revenue from whoever actually sent you to the site in the first place, or add an affiliate link where it didn't previously exist, so that the site now has more expenses that are just... paying Microsoft for no reason, making everything you buy more expensive in the long run.

It pops up whether you want it or not, it's convoluted to disable, it slows down your browser when it's running, it financially harms the shops you buy from, and it often just lies about having coupons to waste your time while pretending it's helping you.

[-] dantheclamman@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

If you're familiar with the controversy around the Honey coupon addon, there are a lot of parallels in terms of privacy, ethics etc.

[-] rando@lemmy.ml 0 points 3 months ago

Would anyone know if this would work for all Firefox derivatives as well? Zen browser in my case. Also would it work for flatpak installations as well?

[-] Peruvian_Skies@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 months ago

Does Zen Browser even include the AI shit from Mozilla? I know for a fact that neither Waterfox nor Librewolf do.

[-] rando@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 months ago

I see, at least initial read/reviews seem to mention Zen removes Firefox telemetry and AI so that's good. (I also have waterfox installed but didn't really use it as main browser)

Now need to see if flatpak Firefox is supported by this script.

[-] dreamertech@linux-nerds.org 0 points 3 months ago

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this post was submitted on 22 Jan 2026
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