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Author Topic: Firefox Based Browsers  (Read 4970 times)

Offline SamK

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Firefox Based Browsers
« on: July 10, 2012, 03:38:00 AM »
Do any of the firefox based browser prevent the creation and use of urlclassifier3.sqlite?  If so:
  • Which are they?
  • What are the security implications of using them?

Offline netnomad

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Re: Firefox Based Browsers
« Reply #1 on: July 10, 2012, 04:21:46 AM »
hi samk,

i donĀ“t know the exact behavior of the different browsers in all technical details,
but nevertheless i want to give you some hints:

minefield is collecting far less protocolls, journals and logfiles compared to firefox.
icecat works in a resembling way and gnu and fsf are looking for some security concerns, too.

if security and value of personal data is a central topic for you,
i suggest to use icecat, together with noscript and https-everywhere.

the next step could be to start every session with a lean basic set of config-files in your browser-configuration or just delete all *.sqlite-files at every reboot.
there is some extra work to do, f.e. if you change some options or preferences, but you enhance you privacy in many ways.
on the other hand by using always the same set of lean-config-files you reduce the size of your backup-file.
mine f.e. is far smaller than 2mb and it includes many configuration files, scripts, binaries and even some funny stuff, too.

i hope i could give you some interesting hints.
« Last Edit: July 10, 2012, 04:26:12 AM by netnomad »

Offline curaga

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Re: Firefox Based Browsers
« Reply #2 on: July 10, 2012, 04:39:20 AM »
The minefields do, IIRC. The old one I did disabled it in code, the later ones disable it in the config.

Without it FF won't warn you about sites it thinks are phishing, etc.
The only barriers that can stop you are the ones you create yourself.

Offline Jason W

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Re: Firefox Based Browsers
« Reply #3 on: July 11, 2012, 06:25:32 AM »
I had gone back to the official firefox as the disabling of the official branding was not working, making the result not distributable.  I will try a build again in the near future that will not have the url classifier.

Offline SamK

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Re: Firefox Based Browsers
« Reply #4 on: July 11, 2012, 08:47:36 AM »
The original question was asked because when using Firefox, in both TC and other distros, and when wanting to avoid the ever growing urlclassifier3.sqlite I tended to replace it with a symlink to /tmp.  Does using a Minefield browser offer any advantages over the linking method with Firefox?

Offline Jason W

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Re: Firefox Based Browsers
« Reply #5 on: July 11, 2012, 09:30:15 AM »
With a minefield build, that urlclassifier is disabled, so that ever growing file never gets created in the first place, so no file to have to deal with.

Offline curaga

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Re: Firefox Based Browsers
« Reply #6 on: July 11, 2012, 11:42:44 AM »
Yep, you're wasting RAM and network with that method.
The only barriers that can stop you are the ones you create yourself.