Waterfox Joins System1

brent

2 opinions but they are really the same:
1) Someone who toils unselfishly for years to create a great product and finally starts making money is OK.
2)If they sold out the security, control, integrity of their baby, to make that money, then it's time to find another browser.

I don't know either statement to be true, but creator seemed cryptic and it's too bad, I heard so many things about it I was actually going to try a snap or flat or wherever of WF.

I am still in pursuit of a FF alternative but FF ain't too bad, and I've mostly eliminated google-authored browsers even though "the bad stuff is stripped out" 🙂 is the commone refrain....

downhill

brent You don't need to use Snap, Flatpack, or AppImage. Just click the Linux download link and extract the file (portable build I think they're called) to your bin folder. If you're multi-booting, then using a shared bin folder will allow one install to be used among all of your distros. You will however have to figure out how to add a start item to whatever desktop menu system you're using.

Harvey

I've never used waterfox so I'm not invested but... really.

Statement says:

I’ve never wanted or tried to have Waterfox appear as a privacy tool or anything more than what it is. That’s for hyper specialised tools such as Tor. People have extrapolated more from Waterfox themselves.

I never wanted Waterfox to be a part of the hyper-privacy community. It would just feel like standards that would be impossible to uphold, especially for something such as a web browser on the internet.

Throughout the years people have always asked about Waterfox and privacy, and if they’ve ever wanted more than it can afford, I’ve always pushed them to use Tor. Waterfox was here for customisations and speed, with a good level of privacy.

Waterfox has never been listed anywhere as a privacy tool, and rightly so. It is a privacy conscious web browser. Some users seem to have taken news of Waterfox’s funding to spell the end of what Waterfox never was; I just hope people keep a level head and try and rationalise things. There’s nothing more I can do in that regard, I am only human.

Yet waterfox's homepage quotes articles written about it saying:

Waterfox, which boasts 4m downloads, is now hoping to create a viable rival to Google’s ubiquitous search engine by offering users absolute privacy online.”

About waterfox says:

absolutely no data or telemetry is sent back to Mozilla or the Waterfox project.

Naive:

People also don’t seem to understand what System1 does and assume the worst (I suppose understandable).. It’s a company that is pivoting to more privacy oriented products, due to the changing landscape. Understandable.

Also an important thing to note - as much as I’m sure System1 liked what Waterfox does, they were buying into me and my knowledge more so than they were investing in Waterfox.

System1 website:

User Acquisition is Getting Harder
System1 is a consumer internet and applications company with the most powerful audience expansion platform in the industry.

As one of the largest purchasers of digital advertising in the world, we are redefining user acquisition through paid marketing and are able to attract new audiences at scale for our properties and our partners.

Our proprietary best-in-class buy/sell technology platform leverages our advanced data science capabilities and strategic partnerships.

To sum up
Majority of people who used WF were doing so due to privacy concerns despite his claims to have not been targeting that market which he clearly has been

He sold it to what appears to be an advertising/marketing company.
Claims Waterfox never claimed to be a privacy tool but quotes article saying otherwise as marketing
Deal was finalised in mid December 2019, informs community 14th February 2020
Naive / arrogant AF thinking they bought a company mainly for his knowledge... he forked a browser ffs

Justin

Harvey Can't beat good ol' fashioned paranoia mate!

downhill

Justin Not directed at you, but I'd rather be paranoid than naive.

Harvey

Nothing paranoid about pointing out inaccuracies/contradictions in public statements.

I just use Firefox an I'm happy with it, if others are more privacy conscious and want to use what claimed to provide better privacy I can understand that. Just as I now understand why people would abandon ship after he sold it to system1 and failed to communicate properly with his userbase.

Justin

Harvey Oh not saying your paranoia, just others. Many of the Linux community in general.

EbonJaeger

Waterfox was never about additional privacy O.o. It was always about 64-bit and better performance.

Harvey

EbonJaeger
Not according to them:
"Waterfox was one of the first widely distributed 64-Bit browsers on the web and quickly gained a loyal following. At a time Waterfox had one thing in mind: speed, but now Waterfox also attempts to be an ethical, user-oriented browser."

"The Waterfox source code is a specialised modification of the Mozilla platform, designed for privacy and user choice in mind."

sources:
https://www.waterfox.net/about/
https://github.com/MrAlex94/Waterfox

EbonJaeger

Harvey Huh. Wonder when that changed. Really, Waterfox became totally obsolete with Firefox Quantum, anyways. shrug

Staudey

Thanks for the interesting post, @downhill !
I think I have used Waterfox at some point in the past, for a short period of time, but have long since switched back to Firefox. Seems like it was the right decision.

brent

aquasp I'm suspicious of every wealthy benefactor/patron that purchases controlling interest in an independent project. The models for success are few and far between without a huge compromise regarding original mission statement.

Like Staudey says, no matter what I do I always return to FF simply because "it feels right." That simple.
As far as watefox I have no horse in that race or axe to grind, just simple observation, likely inaccurate🙂

Edit: I just read where system1 acquired Startpage...

aquasp

System1 is not a problem for me

sangheeta

Now that Alex the Waterfox developer has a small team to work on Waterfox, it could be interesting in the future, we'll see and I'm pretty sure he'll come back to the forefront, at least I wish him.

Axios

I think waterfox kinda went downhill use it on linux lite because firefox on that distro was always causing problems and was to much trouble to change version One reason I found Solus Last few times I downloaded it for linux COULD NOT FIND A EXECUTABLE IN IT! did net search seems other ppl complaining to I dont use it on windows. Maybe they get things straightened out.