Firefox★★★★☆I still have a soft spot for Firefox. At times it’s been the best web browser on Windows and Linux. It’s still good, has a solid extension ecosystem, and serves as an important bulwark against one company dominating browser tech.
GNU IceCat★★★☆☆Firefox minus all branding and connections to Mozilla services, plus add-ons to block non-FSF-approved JavaScript.
IronFox★★★★☆A privacy-hardened Firefox variation for Android, comparable to LibreWolf on desktops. Removes Mozilla tracking and services like Pocket. Locks down features that can leak data, but those changes can break some sites.
LibreWolf★★★★☆Customized Firefox, with an eye toward security and privacy. Follows the stable release channel. Works well most of the time, but privacy features can break some sites.
Regarding Mozilla and BraveOn Brendan Eich’s brief promotion to CEO at Mozilla, the fallout for Mozilla and the creation of Brave.
SeaMonkey (Internet Suite)★★★☆☆The old Mozilla Suite lives on! Featuring web, email, news, an HTML editor, IRC client and more. Recent work has mostly been to keep it working and backport security fixes, so web app compatibility lags way behind even the ESR Firefox.
Thunderbird (Email and Calendar)★★★★★Stable, capable desktop email application, works well with multiple accounts including Gmail, Nextcloud, easy to set up and use but with advanced settings when you need them. FLOSS.
Waterfox★★★★☆A Firefox fork aimed at improved performance and privacy, without sacrificing usability. Also available on Android.
Zen Browser★★★★☆Similar to Arc, Zen has a non-cluttered design that stays out of your way. Unlike Arc, it’s built on Firefox, runs on more platforms, and doesn’t require you to log in just to use it!
Don’t Hide Version NumbersIt breaks user expectations with no real benefit, and makes it hard to tell if you’ve actually gotten the latest security fix.
Gmail on SeaMonkeyYes, you can still connect it after the switch to OAuth2. You need to create a placeholder account first, and find the right settings, which Gmail doesn’t seem to tell you anymore.
How Thunderbird’s Scam Detection Works (2005) (Obsolete)
Tracking down what causes Mozilla Thunderbird to label a message as suspicious, as well as how to train it to ignore emails that you know are legit.
Move Email Archives to a New AccountThunderbird, Vivaldi, Apple Mail and Outlook can move messages from one IMAP account to another. Just drag and drop! But Gmail makes it a bit more complicated.
On Broken HTMLFrom time to time the idea is put forth that less common browsers need to start dealing with bad code. There are two problems with that view.
Pure CSS ButtonsAs part of a minor site optimizing kick, I replaced the validation labels with something smaller, less obtrusive, and directly on the page. I tried to duplicate the look of the classic antipixel-style buttons in CSS.
Reverse the Colors when Viewing a Web PageNot as good as a real dark mode, but you can easily reverse the colors on any website you’re viewing, turning light pages dark and dark pages light.
Simple Browser Categorization (Obsolete)
Sometimes you want to know exactly what software people (or bots) are using to view your website. Sometimes all you want to know is which rendering engine’s quirks you need to cater to.
User-Agent Spoofing ExplainedLet’s say someone decides that they’ll only allow blondes into an event. Depending on how its done, UA spoofing can be like wearing a blonde wig, or it can be like a brunette wearing a badge that says “Blonde.”
Web Design is Like PizzaA lot of pages aren’t as specific as the authors think they are. When you write code and test it on only one browser, you’re not testing that the code is correct, you’re testing that that browser makes the same assumptions you do.
Webslices and Microsummaries (Obsolete)
Both features have since been removed, but they offered and interesting way to let visitors know when a site had been updated.