**performed on a new install FF with old .configs all trashed
After years of reading the hype I tried the famous arkenfox user.js file. I put it off for years until I found a sesame street tutorial since I only respond well to dirt simple anymore. This is a user profile written for firefox 'hardening' and blocking ads and trackers by doing all the stuff in about:config that you don't want to do.
Meh.
Anyone who even has a cursory interest in hardening a new firefox already knows by heart that you set resist fingerprinting to true, geoenabled to false, firstpartyisolation to true, disable webrtc, peerconnetions, and a small handful of other tweaks.
Arkenfox, who claims they offer superior tracking and ad protection, leaves fingerprinting enabled, location on, and the stuff the top ten hardening sites tell you to take care of right away.
Arkenfox does little of this and that's a gigantic Red Flag for me..."you install the new user profile and then re-harden firefox yourself by hand." not a great marketing slogan. They don't even disable Pocket....wth?
It's mediocre, could be worse, and I'll save the real punchline for the end of this post.
But it was interesting.
First I went to the website of the greatest sport in the entire planet, which, of course, everyone knows is American Football. Are there any other sports outside of NFL and Snooker? Of course not.
Sometimes there are pictures, sometimes there are not. Sometimes there are ready-to-play media, sometimes not. Inconsistent, but clean margins, eh?
Next, Ikea, where I bought some imaginary crappy furniture:
Note it would not let me throw this junk in the cart. Nice but I don't use it to shop.
Next, those sneaky London Burberry fellows:
This is a bolt of cloth I could not afford in this lifetime without winning lottery, but I am able to add to cart.
Inconsistency is the consistency with this profile.
I clicked on a random story at this site:
A perfectly clean slate as I am used to. You know sites like these get busy with lip balm and colloidal silver ads. Not bad.
I also got inspired and do something I never do: visit over there:
even with popups blocked (by hand since arkenfox wouldn't do it) I did not like the popup.
What else is busy? Amazon of course:
Now this is how I like my Amazon! I was still able to read a slew of poor 1-star reviews because the box had a ding and the color was off or the shipper left it on the porch sideways. I am formulating an academic thesis that the same intelligence-set that leaves 1-star reviews at Amazon that have nothing to do with the item purchased are the same set that leave 1-star reviews at Yelp for the restaurant's food because doordash took 2 hours to deliver, the middleman forgot to check the order or ask for the right dipping sauces since the entire transaction was done at the middleman website/app, or the 3rd party left it on the wrong door so it was cold. I am sure of this connection but I digress😉.
Anyways. I wondered what's a train wreck site with a crapload of ads and is notoriously campy and vile? And it came to me! I hurriedly typed in 'Anne Heche' but all I got was:
Real poor job in the side margins. I'm used to cleaner.
All in all not worth the hype. The joke I promised at the end was I only use two extensions in Firefox. Combined those two do a more consistent and able job--paired with my tweaks that arkenfox would not do---than this famous and storied user.js.
To end on a positive note there are a large contingent of FF arkenfox users, including the arkenfox people themselves, who say this user.js will break a lot of sites. They sell themselves short. It didn't break any websites and I spent half a day with it. Hat tip ma'ams and sirs.
In short: my two extensions and my sparse manual settings moves are better than the arkenfox user. js in my opinion.
I have an open mind. I will keep the extensions or keep the user.js. Keeping all of it is a tinfoil overkill I'm really not ready for.