

GNUzilla and IceCat - rouma7
http://www.gnu.org/software/gnuzilla/

======
Zikes
> Other sites rewrite the host name in links redirecting the user to another
> site, mainly to "spy" on clicks. When this behavior is detected, IceCat
> shows a message alerting the user.

Easily one of the most annoying "features" I deal with on a daily basis. I
almost wish the a.href property were read-only in the DOM.

~~~
glass-
In some cases it's not to spy on clicks but to hide data in the URL by
obscuring the HTTP referer header, eg. DuckDuckGo does this so sites can't see
your search terms.

~~~
Zikes
That's a pretty respectable and legitimate use. It's a shame it can't happen
on the browser side, though, by tagging the links with something like
rel="noreferer".

------
quidam
Hi, current maintainer here!

That documentation is pretty old, I'll be updating it pretty soon.

Current .deb development packages can be tested from
[http://devel.trisquel.info/icecat/](http://devel.trisquel.info/icecat/) The
"toutatis" repo should work on Trisquel 6, Debian Stable and Ubuntu Precise,
while the "belenos" one should work on Trisquel 7 (beta), Debian Testing and
Ubuntu Trusty.

Main changes from the previous version focus on providing better privacy, in
particular protecting the user against fingerprinting. The settings have been
tweaked to prevent the browser from leaking information through referrers,
cookies, useragent and other methods.

The current version comes with this main extensions enabled:

* LibreJS to check for the freedom of the javascript you run * HTTPS-Everywhere redirects you to secure versions of the sites you browse * A customized Adblockplus blocks known privacy trackers, and when in private browsing mode it blocks all third party content. * A custom homepage lists this and other features with links to documentation and the possibility to disable them quickly if needed.

I'll be publishing a more complete list of features through the bug-gnuzilla
mailing list soon, along with a beta release. Stay tuned!

------
ryan-c
> GNUzilla runs its own plugin finder service at gnuzilla.gnu.org. To specify
> this at runtime, visit the url about:config in your browser, find the
> pfs.datasource.url attribute, and change the host to gnuzilla.gnu.org. Also
> change the protocol from https to http, if necessary.

I hope they sign packages...

~~~
kentonv
> I hope they sign packages...

And defend against attacks that trick you into installing a known-vulnerable
version of the plugin (which of course has a valid signature, since it was
believed to be good at the time of release).

And avoid using error-prone package signature algorithms, like the one Android
uses that originates from Java and has had several vulnerabilities.

And don't send any personally-identifiable or private user information to the
server when checking for updates.

And... actually, no, just don't distribute software over HTTP, even if signed.

------
Igglyboo
Doesn't IceWeasel already exist? Are there license differences here?

~~~
Malus
IceWeasel was created to work around trademark restrictions; Mozilla
Corporation would not allow to Debian to use the trademarked names as long as
Debian was distributing the software with unapproved patches. So, Debian
created their own branding in order to comply. See
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Corporation_software_re...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Corporation_software_rebranded_by_the_Debian_project)
for more details.

------
seba_dos1
Uhm...

> Updated: $Date: 2012/08/22 01:51:19 $

~~~
davexunit
Yeah, this page hasn't been updated in awhile. However, IceCat's maintainer
(who is also the Trisquel GNU/Linux maintainer) has builds of IceCat 31 (maybe
32 now, not sure) for Trisquel 7. The source tarball should be officially
released sometime soon.

------
keithpeter
[http://gnewsense.org/Documentation/3/MiscellaneousGuides/Com...](http://gnewsense.org/Documentation/3/MiscellaneousGuides/CompileGnuIcecatSeventeen)

I compiled IceCat 17 for 32bit gnewsense some months ago. V24 needs
dependencies outside what can be provided on gnewsense 3.1 (based on Debian
Squeeze). The maintainer compiles the 64bit binaries against fairly recent
libraries.

Firefox put out a generic 32bit binary that will work on linuxen of some
vintage when unpacked somewhere like ~/home.

I did spend some time scratching my head and reading their mozconfig files to
see how they manage to produce one binary that will work on Centos 5.10 up to
Debian Sid. Didn't get anywhere.

Anyone got any ideas? Static build? Anyone got a mozconfig or mozbuild method
to share?

------
monokrome
As a bonus, these tools are also consistently outdated. :/

------
edwintorok
what does this mean for Debian's icedove? Could it just be replaced by IceCat?

~~~
aruggirello
icedove is the unbranded version of thunderbird; you probably meant iceweasel
:)

I think Debian's reasons for forking Firefox & Thunderbird is more related to
trademarks and licensing issues, while it seems IceCat is more focused on
privacy concerns. All in all I'm sure Debian will consider IceCat though.

~~~
edwintorok
Hmm I must've read the announcement too fast because I thought: GNUzilla = web
browser = Firefox/Iceweasel Icecat = email client = Thunderbird/Icedove

So ... looking forward for thunderbird/icedove's equivalent from GNU :)

~~~
LukeShu
That was originally the plan, but I don't believe that's been true since Loic
Duros replaced Giuseppe Scrivano as the maintainer.

------
WoodenChair
This has been around for years; the title is misleading, making it sound like
something new.

~~~
rouma7
my mistake, the 'news' is that it's being shipped on Fedora updates-testing
repos

[http://fedoraos.wordpress.com/2014/09/02/gnu-icecat-
browser-...](http://fedoraos.wordpress.com/2014/09/02/gnu-icecat-browser-is-
finally-on-fedora/)

~~~
hsivonen
Will it get security updates in sync with Firefox ESR point releases ? I can't
find security updates for IceCat on ftp.gnu.org.

------
oscargrouch
My two cents for mozilla, and im sure they will be sort of offended by this,
but the best strategy, one that should be pursuit years ago, is to get the
chrome engine, and replace the webkit/blink layer with the mozilla web
rendering engine..

That way, they would have the multi-process architecture, they need badly, but
with their core, the web layer intact..

The chrome architecture is good enough, that you can replace the webkit layer
without mess with other core parts

Dont know why they are procrastinating with servo instead, and doing the same
mistakes netscape did years ago, to rewrite the whole engine, while IE was
capable to take the lead in the browser wars back than.. the same mistake!!

Theres a good Joel Spolsky article about this (from 2000):

Things You Should Never Do
[[http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000069.html](http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000069.html)]

~~~
kryptiskt
They have multiprocess in the nightlies
([https://wiki.mozilla.org/Electrolysis](https://wiki.mozilla.org/Electrolysis)),
but it is only used in FirefoxOS releases currently.

~~~
doublec
If you have a nightly desktop build you should see a "New E10s Window" in the
menu. This starts up a multiprocess browser window allowing you to test the
feature.

