Is there a simple, non-tracking web browser out there? Open source??

beancounterx · 05-09-2018, 05:52 PM

I'm tired of Firefox tracking and making suggestions for my web browsing pleasure! I understand the need for advertising revenue, but you can do that without watching me. I'm a big boy now and can find my information from more reputable sites than NY times and wpost.
I'm just looking for a simple, hopefully non tracking, plain vanilla web browser. And no, I no longer trust Firefox or Google, so I don't won't to know how to turn off these services.

Thanks

syg00 · 05-09-2018, 06:10 PM

w3m ?.
I use slimjet, but if your paranoia extends to it having a Chromium base, I guess you'll bypass it.

Mill J · 05-09-2018, 10:31 PM

Short answer YES lots! This is fun though. Go into your package manager and search web browser. There are many small lightweight browsers out there. Some I've tried:

* Midori.
* Uzbl(run uzbl-browser https://duckduckgo.com) Its gui.
* Falkon(or Qupzilla is the older versions name)
* Otter
* PaleMoon and Seamonkey (striped down Firefox)
* many, many others.

My point is: start installing and testing

Let us know what you come up with.

beancounterx · 05-10-2018, 04:47 PM

Thank you gentlemen. W3M sounds interesting. I think a lot of the new software is getting too smart. KISS principle is the best way.

beancounterx · 05-10-2018, 05:06 PM

You know, for those of us who were around when dirt was young, there was a dial up service called Netzero. It was free, but you had a small window that streamed ads continuously. There was no tracking of your browsing and the company got revenue.
What would be so bad with a similar arrangement today!

Mill J · 05-10-2018, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beancounterx

KISS principle is the best way.

Surf and UZBL follow that pretty closely. Maybe too close

https://surf.suckless.org

https://www.uzbl.org

ondoho · 05-11-2018, 03:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beancounterx

What would be so bad with a similar arrangement today!

online advertising just doesn't work that way anymore.
it's all about (google) analytics, simple passive ads are rare.
sad, but that's how it is: the advertising business itself has gotten so out of hand...

m_yates · 05-11-2018, 09:59 AM

I like Qupzilla/Falkon. It offers a lot more features for general purpose browsing than w3m.

However, I mostly use Firefox that has been de-googled. I agree withe the OP that Google has a horrible business model. I'd rather pay for a product than get something for free in exchange for unlimited spying.

ondoho · 05-11-2018, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m_yates

I mostly use Firefox that has been de-googled.

how did you de-google firefox?

teckk · 05-11-2018, 03:22 PM

From the Arch wiki
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php...s#Web_browsers

Recommend dillo and xlinks for simplicity.

m_yates · 05-11-2018, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho

how did you de-google firefox?

I open "about:config" in the address bar. Then I search for the word "google". I delete every single setting that has anything to do with Google. It is mostly "safe" browsing that needs to be disabled, but I just delete every setting related to Google. Firefox works fine without it.

Also, I delete the integrated Google search engine and replace it with Startpage or DuckDuckGo.

ondoho · 05-12-2018, 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m_yates

I open "about:config" in the address bar. Then I search for the word "google". I delete every single setting that has anything to do with Google.

i suppose you set the value field to an empty string?
i'm not sure if FF won't fall back on default values then...

m_yates · 05-12-2018, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho

i suppose you set the value field to an empty string?
i'm not sure if FF won't fall back on default values then...

I leave the value fields empty, and they stay empty after using the browser for months (I just checked). I suppose the Google safe search addresses could be hard coded somewhere, but I doubt it.