Why You Shouldn’t Use Firefox Forks Like Waterfox, Pale Moon, or Basilisk

[ADN]

 

Mozilla Firefox is an open source project, so anyone can take its code, modify it, and release a new browser. That’s what Waterfox, Pale Moon, and Basilisk are—alternative browsers based on the Firefox code. But we recommend against using any of them.

If You Don’t Like Firefox Quantum, Use Firefox ESR Instead

 

We like Firefox Quantum, which is faster and more modern than previous releases of Firefox. If you want to keep using your old add-ons that no longer work in Firefox Quantum, we recommend Mozilla’s Firefox Extended Support Release (ESR) instead.

Firefox ESR is based on Firefox 52, supports traditional XUL Firefox add-ons and NPAPI plug-ins, and will continue receiving security updates directly from Mozilla until July 2, 2018.

Yes, Mozilla has done some things we’re not crazy about. The Mr. Robot  “Looking Glass” add-on was ridiculous, and we’re not thrilled about what they’re doing with Cliqz in Germany. But, after taking some deserved public heat, they’ve made policy changes and we’re hopeful they’ll do better in the future.

Even if you don’t completely trust some of Mozilla’s business decisions, your browser is just too important to be left to a small community of enthusiasts. We think it’s best to go with a big project with a large number of developers that receives a lot of attention to security. That’s why we recommend against using these smaller Firefox-based browsers, and why we also recommend against using alternative browsers based on Google Chrome. Here are our concerns with some of the more popular Firefox alternatives.

Waterfox Is Firefox ESR, But With Slower Security Updates

 

Waterfox is based on Mozilla Firefox, and it’s probably the most popular alternative browser based on the Firefox code. It made a name for itself by being a 64-bit browser based on the Mozilla Firefox code when Mozilla only offered 32-bit versions. However, Mozilla Firefox is now a 64-bit browser on 64-bit versions of Windows, so that’s not a reason to use Waterfox anymore.

Today, Waterfox is based on Firefox ESR. It advertises support for traditional XUL Firefox extensions and NPAPI plug-ins like Java and Silverlight. These are both features of Firefox ESR, so you don’t need to switch to Waterfox to get them. After Firefox ESR reaches end of Life, “a “new” browser will be developed to follow the ethos of Waterfox of customisation and choice”, according to the Waterfox blog.

Waterfox also has some other different features. It disables Pocket by default, but you can disable Pocket yourself in Firefox. It won’t send telemetry data to Mozilla, but you can disable that from Options > Privacy & Security > Firefox Data Collection and Use in Firefox. Encrypted Media Extensions (EME), which are required for sites like Netflix, are also disabled by default—and, again, you can disable them yourself in Firefox, if you like.

Overall, using Waterfox is basically just like using Firefox ESR and changing a few settings…with one big difference: security updates arrive in Firefox ESR much faster than they do in Waterfox. Whenever Mozilla releases security updates for Firefox ESR, the Waterfox developers have to integrate those updates into Waterfox before delivering them to users.

Let’s look at the most recent major release: Mozilla released Firefox 57 on November 14, 2017. Waterfox’s developers released Waterfox 56 that incorporated the security updates found in Firefox 57 on November 30, 2017. We don’t think waiting more than two weeks for security updates is a good idea!

Here’s a more recent example from a minor release: On January 23, 2018, Mozilla released Firefox 58 and Firefox ESR 52.6 with a variety of security fixes. Three days later, the Waterfox project said it was working on integrating these patches on Twitter. On February 1, 2018, Waterfox 56.0.4 was released with these patches. That means Waterfox users waited nine days for a security patches from a minor release, compared to if they were just using Firefox. We don’t think it’s a good idea to wait that long.

In the future, this will only get more complicated as the Waterfox developers try to make their own browser. We recommend staying away and just using Firefox ESR.

Pale Moon Is Based on Very Outdated Firefox Code

 

Pale Moon is based on older Firefox code. The current version of Pale Moon is based on Firefox 38 ESR, which was originally released in 2015. The prior release was based on Firefox 24 ESR, which was released in 2013. The project uses an older Firefox interface created before the Australis theme, and still supports XUL add-ons.

Rather than being based on Mozilla’s Gecko rendering engine, Pale Moon is based on “Goanna“, an open-source browser engine that’s a fork of gecko. (In open-source software, a “fork” is when someone takes the existing code of a project, copies it, and develops it themselves from that point forward, going in a different direction.)

While Waterfox is based on code that’s currently supported by Mozilla, Pale Moon is based on much older code. It won’t have the new web features or performance improvements of modern versions of Firefox, nor does it support watching certain kinds of video with DRM.

More importantly, basing a browser on such old code makes security patches harder. Pale Moon’s developer tries to keep up with Firefox security patches, but he’s maintaining old code that Mozilla has abandoned. Mozilla reportedly has over a thousand employees, while Pale Moon has one primary developer, trying to maintain a huge amount of code that’s becoming increasingly outdated. The older code also omits features that help make modern browsers so secure, like the multi-process sandboxing features that have finally arrived in Firefox Quantum.

Besides, Pale Moon tends to perform worse on browser benchmarks compared to modern browsers, which isn’t surprising given its age. The developer disagrees with browser benchmarking, but it’s not surprising a browser based on four year old code might be slower than a modern one.

Basilisk Is a More Modern, But More Unstable Pale Moon

 

Basilisk is a new browser from the creator of Pale Moon. While Pale Moon is based on Firefox 38 ESR, Basilisk is based on newer Firefox code. The developer is working on the “Unified XUL Platform (UXP)”, which is a fork of Mozilla’s code without the new Servo and Rust code that makes Firefox Quantum so fast. It also doesn’t enable any multi-process features.

A future version of Pale Moon will be based on this code, but right now the developer considers Basilisk an unstable development platform.

This fits Pale Moon’s kind of weird history. The first major version of Pale Moon was based on Firefox 24 ESR, due to a disagreement about where Firefox was headed. But the developer eventually had to switch to Firefox 38 ESR to get more modern features. Now, the developer is doing the same thing again, basing this new version largely on the pre-Quantum Firefox code. We don’t see the point of resisting new features only to make a major leap to them every few years anyway. Just stick with a browser that’s continually updated, like Firefox.

As for why you shouldn’t use this browser, aside from the same security and usability concerns inherent with Pale Moon, even the developer says it’s “development software” that should be considered beta.

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These aren’t the only Firefox-based browsers out there, but they are the most popular—and most others will likely come with similar issues. It’s best to stick with a browser that has a big team behind it so security problems can be caught, fixed, and patched as fast as possible.

 

Howtogeek.com

[luisam]

Actually, the conclusion is obvious: why use a browser BASED ON any source version of Mozilla Firefox if you can use the proper Firefox FREE. I actually had downloaded and installed some of these browsers, supposed to be faster, more relalble, easier, etc... with the same conclusion: I saw no improvement over Firefox. In best case, they were mostly similar. Finally, my salamonic decison on my Windows 10 laptop was to use Google Chrome I continue using Firefox ESR on Windows 7 and XP mostly because further versions of Firefox won't run on XP and I use both 7 and XP on multibooting, with Firefox linked to the version installed for XP .

[shorty6100]

I read this article a while back. At one time, Pale Moon was my default browser-but that was years ago. I guess I kept it for nostalgia. I finally uninstalled it for good a couple weeks ago.

[steven36]

Post is 20 days old  lol  , i been using forks of Firefox for years  and never had any problem what so ever , How to geek is no security researchers there fud spreaders .

 

 

 

Quote

 

jd2066

@ChrisHoffman The article title is incorrect, these are not clones, they are forks.
A clone is different from a fork in that it usually means software that trying to clone features of another program without using the source.
Also as someone who has contributed patches to Waterfox, on GitHub, I can say you are totally wrong about Waterfox being based on Firefox 52 ESR.
Waterfox 56 is a fork of Firefox 56 that contains backports of security fixes from Firefox 57 and above.

You are spreading a bit of FUD here, Waterfox is a good option.
The developer has been fairly quick about releasing new versions to deal with security issues.

Using Firefox 56 as the codebase instead of Firefox 52 is lot better then going backwards from Firefox 56 to Firefox 52 to use all the features available before quantum.

Also in response to this:

We don’t see the point of resisting new features only to make a major leap to them every few years anyway. Just stick with a browser that’s continually updated, like Firefox.

You obviously don’t use add-ons that haven’t been ported to WebExtensions yet.
Mozilla was still working on the needed WebExtensions APIs close to the release of Firefox 57 and most developers just barely got a release out that supported WebExtensions and many of them only support basic functionality as the WebExtensions APIs are not even close to being on par with XUL/XPCOM based Extension APIs.
There are still developers trying to create a WebExtensions based version of their Extension and finding the WebExtensions APIs to be lacking in a lot of ways.
Mozilla made a mistake by releasing Firefox 57 without support for XUL/XPCOM Extensions and not providing better WebExtensions APIs at that point.

Or you misunderstood why most people use Pale Moon.
The reason is because Mozilla keeps changing the UI and are happy with the UI that Firefox had before.
People could use Firefox with the Classic Theme Restorer to get the same UI back without using a fork like Pale Moon until the release of Firefox 57.

 

https://discuss.howtogeek.com/t/why-you-shouldnt-use-firefox-clones-like-waterfox-pale-moon-or-basilisk/69022/4

[jiski]

Mr. Steven36 say: these are not clones, they are forks.  I use Pale Moon good.  Basilisk  also good. 

[WALLONN7]

It's obviously a

 

[steven36]

54 minutes ago, WALLONN7 said:

It's obviously a

 

People used XP for years after it didnt even get anymore  updates  with out any problems ether but they said in 2014  everyone was going catch  zombie virus it never happened . These  morons  are taking about browsers  that still get updates so its uncalled for . fanboyism crap,

 

Most malware in browsers  happens to people who keep flash enabled  and idiots who check there email and click on anything or people who don't use adblockers.  Most people who use forks are power users that don't have to worry because there not noobs . Google decided along time ago to turn Windows browsers into a jail  because of this   and Mozilla turn there back on there users  in order to try to gain new users and ported Chrome addons and  making there browser a jail as well . But looking at the marketshare  it's not helping any,  the masses of chrome users are not making a quantum leap .  The only people that are left at Firefox are ESR users and Fanboys that are just using it for the name because that browser is no longer Firefox sorry to tell you.

 

 

 

If i want to use Chrome addons I just use open source Chromium browser  were they work without bugs .  I  beta tested Firefox 57  and  that was the end of the road for me. My Linux distro I use  come with Chromium and also I install Waterfox. The only zombies I see are the ones who believes all the FUD and want no one to   have any choices .  You have  to use EDGE , Google or Firefox and just use Windows 10 or Android blah, blah, blah . They need to get a life because I will use what the hell i want just like I been since 2001 .

[steven36]

Here   is some  interesting  stuff still  5% of  browser users are using IE 7  and still more users are using IE  all versions combined  than Firefox all versions combined  and if i remember correctly Palemoon and Waterfox is counted  as Firefox too.

 

https://analytics.wikimedia.org/dashboards/browsers/#desktop-site-by-browser
 

Quote

 

TimVdEynde

The truth is, people don't care about what web browser they use, as long as it isn't giving them any major problems. The large majority of people hasn't heard about Quantum, let alone they'll leave their current browser behind to try it. It's different, so it's an effort to learn. People don't want to invest that effort if they don't have a good reason to. As long as Google doesn't majority fu*k up, I don't think a lot is going to change. Maybe in the long run, just like it took Google the better part of a decade to get where they are now (and they had ads on some of the most visited websites in the world!),

 

 

Only reason Firefox have  13% of the market today is because of  Techies Windows and Linux ,   the masses on Windows and Android  don't care at all  and don't read the PC centric news .  Google Chrome  gained so much  ground because  people seen it in ads  and as a bundle in other software installers and it came in Mobile phones .  They had the best Advertisement hands down  its not because  it  was a better browser, No open source project can compete against it,  even Microsoft couldn't.

[mosaji]

I used to use waterfox and chrome but with firefox quantum 64-bit, firefox is back...

[steven36]

1 hour ago, mosaji said:

I used to use waterfox and chrome but with firefox quantum 64-bit, firefox is back...

Twitter is full of stories like your's  but the maketshare don't show any  gains if you used Waterfox  thats not counted as switching no ways . Firefox had 15% in 2015 and only has 13% of the market today its not lost much or gained much in years. For Years Waterfox was the same version as Firefox i never did use  it  because it was making changes I didn't like Just like Firefox was.Now  I only i use it on Linux  but the only reason i use  it is because it works with old addons because they are based on Firefox 56. I still am using Firefox ESR on windows because i' don't fell like bothering with or  dealing with new bugs on Windows. Browsers never act the same on different platforms. IDM and stuff plays nice for me with ESR   on Windows and i can still use old addons.

.

You would have to have knowledge about PCs  to be reading about the PC centric news .  For years I could tell you all kinds of stuff about  how to use software cracks and posted updates in those sections of the boards . But  I didn't even read  PC centric news tell 2014  for years I didn't care  only reason I used Firefox was because all my friends did on the warez boards . I started using Firefox all the time back in v2  but tired v1.5 . This is when we just had Opera, IE and Firefox. I used IE only  for like the 5 or 6 years I was on the Internet. I tired others but  it was not tell i  used addons i migrated . If i cant use addons I want I may as well install Google Chrome .

 

On Linux I can use Flashgot in Waterfox  for my download mangers  and Firefox 58 and Chrome  have crappy interrogation , I can still use all my old addons i like and some new ones too.

[dcs18]

Those who like the WebExtension builds would not prefer to use a Firefox fork.

 

Others (like me) who like the legacy builds (for example ESR,) would stick with Firefox for as long as it lasts — in 2019 though, legacy Users might feel obliged to switch-over to Firefox forks.

[OrbingStorm]

ATM I,m using Slimjet as its very fast but it has old looks.

[trufpal]

On 3/15/2018 at 12:42 PM, BioHazard said:

maybe he gets inspiration from this image?  

 

New drama?

Brb, grabbing some popcorn....

No, seriously. How could this place became so toxic?

Members mocking each other. Disagreement is normal, but it's kind of childish if it gets dragged over like this.

[Sylence]

Firefox quantum doesn't work with some important add-ons  

[DKT27]

Some posts removed.

 

On 3/16/2018 at 10:50 AM, trufpal said:

New drama?

Brb, grabbing some popcorn....

No, seriously. How could this place became so toxic?

Members mocking each other. Disagreement is normal, but it's kind of childish if it gets dragged over like this.

 

Fully agree. This is a community, not some fighting ring.

 

 

As for the article, as sensational as it may sound, the author / site is something I usually trust and I feel is highly trustable overall.

 

As for Firefox itself. These days I'm seeing a lot people switch to it whom I thought had forgotten that such browser even exists - they are telling me about it's good things, whereas it used to be other way around previously. Not only that, I'm even seeing a lot of people online saying that they are switching back it from Chrome. I for one am not yet taking any calls on it.

[trufpal]

13 minutes ago, DKT27 said:

Some posts removed.

 

 

Fully agree. This is a community, not some fighting ring.

 

 

As for the article, as sensational as it may sound, the author / site is something I usually trust and I feel is highly trustable overall.

 

As for Firefox itself. These days I'm seeing a lot people switch to it whom I thought had forgotten that such browser even exists - they are telling me about it's good things, whereas it used to be other way around previously. Not only that, I'm even seeing a lot of people online saying that they are switching back it from Chrome. I for one am not yet taking any calls on it.

I myself have been using Firefox as my main browser in my whole life. It does have it flaws. Well, truth to be told any software does have flaws.

But I feel comfortable using it. And that's all what matters to me. But I also have Cent browser and Chrome as backup.

I really like Cent which have some really nice features out of the box.

[MassZERO]

I rather stick with CentBrowser its always updated and Fast combined with Firemin to minimize the Ram consumptions!