Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Hello
I am on xenial64 on a Dell Latitude E6230.
I have been using firefox and firefox esr but am not comfortable with firefox so wondered if anyone could recommend a good non spy browser that is up to date. I gave up on palemoon a while ago because of problems, as it was a while ago I cant be exact what they were but spent a lot of effort.
Any any ideas. Help would be appreciated.
Thanks
number77

@number77

Have you looked into the Mullvad browser ??

I have lightly tested it out, might be of interest to you.

rockedge wrote: ↑Wed Oct 02, 2024 2:18 pm

@number77

Have you looked into the Mullvad browser ??

I have lightly tested it out, might be of interest to you.

Thanks rockedge
Haven't got it to run yet in xenial64 or dpup. Deleted vx, extracted to dir, neither will run it. Must be doing something wrong.

Mullvad is a decent option. Privacy Browser is still under development, but is pretty anti-spy.

Firefox can be made a little more spy-free with a few about:config changes, some of which appear to be shipped with Puppy, but I get the hesitance.

Looking forward to see what you decide on.

try Opera

Mullvad browser is a great option if you are looking for a private web browser.

To manually install it, from the terminal, try to launch the below commands

wget --content-disposition https://mullvad.net/en/download/browser/linux-x86_64/latest -P /tmp

 tar -C  ~/.local/share -J -x -f /tmp/mullvad-browser-*.tar.xz

 cd ~/.local/share/mullvad-browser

 ./start-mullvad-browser.desktop --register-app

 ./start-mullvad-browser.desktop --setDefaultBrowser

You can launch it and optionally set it as "default applications" for your web browser

~/.local/share/mullvad-browser/Browser/mullvadbrowser

You may encounter a pop up saying that the browser must be run as root, that alert comes up from a script embedded into the Mullvad web browser scripts.

To run it as spot is another step you could take after having successfully installed it, if you wish.

Opera is not what it used to be, it is owned by a Chinese company and possibly reports telemetry to 3rd parties.

darksun wrote: ↑Wed Oct 02, 2024 5:46 pm

To manually install it, from the terminal, try to launch the below commands

You may encounter a pop up saying that the browser must be run as root, that alert comes up from a script embedded into the Mullvad web browser scripts.

To run it as spot is another step you could take after having successfully installed it, if you wish.

What I get when installing using these commands is a message saying "Cannot be run as root, exiting"

I'm not sure if that's what you mean, you seem to be saying the opposite. I've tried to run this browser before, I think using a different install method, but getting the same exact screen. Perhaps if I install it on KLV-KDE-Plasma, which logs in as spot, I would get a different result.

bbbhltz wrote: ↑Wed Oct 02, 2024 5:20 pm

[...]

Firefox can be made a little more spy-free with a few about:config changes, some of which appear to be shipped with Puppy, but I get the hesitance.

Looking forward to see what you decide on.

You can also keep Firefox and increase the privacy and security if you install Arkenfox user.js:
https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js

Some people find it difficult to install, so here is a more simplified Arkenfox installation guide:
https://liassica.codeberg.page/posts/0000-arkenfox/

If still too complicated, you can install LibreWolf instead, which is a fork of Firefox focused on privacy and security:
https://librewolf.net/

Mullvad Browser is the most private one:
https://mullvad.net/en/browser
This browser is designed to prevent fingerprinting by making your browser fingerprint identical to all other Mullvad Browser users, so it is recommended not to install any extensions, but it comes with uBlock Origin and NoScript pre-installed. Also note that each time the browser is closed, you will be automatically logged out of all sites and will need to log in again after.

If it can help you choose, you can for example use Firefox+Arkenfox or LibreWolf for sites that you want to stay logged in on and Mullvad Browser for general browsing.

geo_c wrote: ↑Wed Oct 02, 2024 8:37 pm

darksun wrote: ↑Wed Oct 02, 2024 5:46 pm

To manually install it, from the terminal, try to launch the below commands

You may encounter a pop up saying that the browser must be run as root, that alert comes up from a script embedded into the Mullvad web browser scripts.

To run it as spot is another step you could take after having successfully installed it, if you wish.

What I get when installing using these commands is a message saying "Cannot be run as root, exiting"

I'm not sure if that's what you mean, you seem to be saying the opposite. I've tried to run this browser before, I think using a different install method, but getting the same exact screen. Perhaps if I install it on KLV-KDE-Plasma, which logs in as spot, I would get a different result.

@geo_c

Mullvad browser and, for the matter, the TOR Browser too (they have joint forces into those projects) refuses to run if the user is root. The developers, as they are serious about security and privacy, have implemented a launching script that run some checks before launching the actual web browser, one of those checks is finding out which user is launching the web browser, if it is root it exits with an alert pop up "Cannot be run as root, exiting".

We all know the default puppy linux user is root.

There is such code/check into the launching script of the web browser

if [ "`id -u`" -eq 0 ]; then
	complain "The Mullvad Browse should not be run as root.  Exiting."
	exit 1
fi

You can find that piece of code if you cd into the web browser directory, then

/Browser/start-mullvad-browser

For the TOR tor browser it is in

/Browser/start-tor-browser

there are ways to bypass this security check if you want to run the web browser as root

1) you can comment those lines;

#if [ "`id -u`" -eq 0 ]; then
#  complain "The Mullvad Browser should not be run as root.  Exiting."
#  exit 1
#fi

then launch the browser

./start-mullvad-browser

2) as I mentioned above in my first post you can launch directly the browser bypassing the launching script eg

cd mullvad_browser_dir ; cd Browser/ ; ./mullvadbrowser

PS as that/those projects are actively developed, those tricks may not function in the future if the developers will change something? As of today they work.

The best way to run those web browser is, in my opinion, with

run-as-spot

I use this way for security reasons. I use a debian based puppy linux and install the mullvad browser with apt using the official method described in their website https://mullvad.net/en/download/browser/linux and then I launch the browser with

run-as-spot mullvad-browser

It is convenient for me to use the same command into the "Default Applications Chooser" of your puppy linux.

I hope I have explained myself better.

bbbhltz wrote: ↑Wed Oct 02, 2024 5:57 pm

Opera is not what it used to be, it is owned by a Chinese company and possibly reports telemetry to 3rd parties.

Thanks but can you tell me what do you mean by telemetry.

I'm not a security researcher.

This article by someone who knows way more breaks it down

https://www.spacebar.news/stop-using-opera-browser/

It doesn't say anything about telemetry. I said possibly because some folks assume that is the case.

I use the Brave Browser, it focuses on security and privacy and blocks trackers and adds.
Mike Walsh has built a portable for it here -> viewtopic.php?t=6150&start=30

The only problem with it is it doesn't auto update hence you have to check regularly for updates.
To update it you have to open a terminal in the brave portable directory and enter

./UpdateBrave

Phil.

If you want a 'mozilla' type browser you might consider Librewolf - I've been using it happily for years ..https://librewolf.net/#what-is-librewolf

It offers both snap and appimages packages - so easy to download and use.

I'm not well versed in what makes one of the "private" browser better than the other

but I've spend the past two months or so testing out WaterFox

They claim "Get privacy out of the box with Waterfox".

I'm using it because it seems slimmer and less resource hungry than Firefox, especially when playing videos (although there was something about DRM when i tried to watch my Amazon Prime Video's and i just clicked it....so i probably lost some "privacy" there on that particular Chromebook)

you can also put the tab bar on the left with just one click (although it's still buggy every now and then, you just click it off and then back on). I like this a lot.

Thanks for the answers that gives me masses to try. I have come to the conclusion that my xenial64
has a problem as many of the examples will not run. I will reinstall it and try again. That usually causes
me more problems but here goes.
Thanks for all the help so far.
number77

I gave up on palemoon a while ago because of problems, as it was a while ago I cant be exact what they were but spent a lot of effort.

At the time of version 30.0, Pale Moon got broken, by a disgruntled developer putting bad code in it.

The latest version has a lot of improvements and fixes.

So it is back to working very well.

See this topic:
viewtopic.php?t=10726

They do still offer it in less demanding versions, for what is needed for dependency stuff.

This could be your issues with other browsers, with Xenialpup64, not having needed version of dependency stuff.

I believe there is little or no more serious actors within the area of browsing the web in a private/privacy and secure way other than the TOR project (which now have joined forces with TAILS) and its "partner" for this matter, Mullvad .

TOR project and TAILS with the cooperation of Mullvad for the making of (among other projects) the Mullvad browser.

If a user, such as in this topic, looks for a private/secure browser, Mullvad browser has to be the top pick in my opinion; for a desktop OS.

articles
https://blog.torproject.org/tor-tails-join-forces/
https://tails.net/news/tails_tor/index.en.html
https://www.mullvad.net/en/blog/2023/4/ ... d-browser/

I would look no further, unless there are more important reasons to.

bigpup wrote: ↑Fri Oct 04, 2024 10:00 am

I gave up on palemoon a while ago because of problems, as it was a while ago I cant be exact what they were but spent a lot of effort.

At the time of version 30.0, Pale Moon got broken, by a disgruntled developer putting bad code in it.

The latest version has a lot of improvements and fixes.

So it is back to working very well.

See this topic:
viewtopic.php?t=10726

They do still offer it in less demanding versions, for what is needed for dependency stuff.

This could be your issues with other browsers, with Xenialpup64, not having needed version of dependency stuff.

Thanks bigpup. Palemoon is now back to working well for me. I am used to it so that is a relief.
One question, am I safe to update it when needed as that was when trouble began
I am still working my way through others.

@number77 :-

You should be fine updating it.

I've just had to replace the D630 Latitude I bought a couple of years ago, 'cos the Nvidia mobile GPU has shuffled off its mortal coil. No GPU, no display.....and an external monitor wouldn't work either, 'cos it runs off the same GPU!

I found a nice E6430, literally one step up the ladder from yours. Moonchild upgraded the build environment back in the summer to require the AES/AVX CPU instruction sets. My Core i5-3340M has them, as does your 3320M....

Mike.

mikewalsh wrote: ↑Fri Oct 04, 2024 9:21 pm

@number77 :-

You should be fine updating it.

I've just had to replace the D630 Latitude I bought a couple of years ago, 'cos the Nvidia mobile GPU has shuffled off its mortal coil. No GPU, no display.....and an external monitor wouldn't work either, 'cos it runs off the same GPU!

I found a nice E6430, literally one step up the ladder from yours. Moonchild upgraded the build environment back in the summer to require the AES/AVX CPU instruction sets. My Core i5-3340M has them, as does your 3320M....

Mike.

Thanks Mike. I will carry on and uodate.