Firefox Sync, a good idea or a bad one? I need some input.

[CataclysmicGentleman]

Hello ladies and gentlemen, I would like to have your thoughts on the topic of firefox and signing in across all platforms, such as on my Linux laptop, my macbook, and my windows desktop, is this a good idea to sync and sign in to my account on all of them, or better to keep my Linux firefox separate? is there a security concern with doing so? Or is there a better internet browser for linux then firefox?

 

[f33dm3bits]

I use Firefox Sync to sync all of my bookmarks on all the systems I use, they are just bookmarks nothing more.

 

[kc1di]

I use Sync in FF all the time and have never had a problem with it.

 

[wizardfromoz]

Ditto as with the above two gentlemen.

Wizard

 

[Brickwizard]

And ME

 

[MikeWalsh]

FF has never been my favourite browser. It was my main one, between about 2003-2007 (couldn't get away from Internet Exploder quick enough!), but when Chrome first appeared on the scene I switched immediately, because FF had developed an alarming habit of crashing whenever it felt like it...

I used to use Google's Sync across all my Chrome installs. Then I thought what a very silly idea that was.......installing the same browser, over and over again, in distro after distro. In real terms, it wasted so much disk space; and that was the main, driving factor behind development of the 'portable' browser concept for Puppy. Fredx181 developed the concept first with his portable Firefox, making use of a modified version of a script that had floating around the web for a long time. I then did the same for Pale Moon & Thunderbird.....and then we turned our attention to the Chromium-based browsers. (Which took a wee bit more figuring out, but.....we got there in the end!)

Now, for each different browser, I share ONE browser install across multiple Puppies. The profile remains within the portable directory.....and my data stays LOCAL. I've been with Google too many years to remain blind to what they do with it!

@CataclysmicGentleman :-

If Sync works for you - and you're happy with the results - use it. You certainly don't need to justify yourself to anybody else.

As to which browser? Gawd. How long's a piece of string..?

There's a ton of them out there. There IS no one "best browser"; as with so much of this stuff, it's all down to personal choice.....do you like the way it looks, do you like the available functions, do you like the way it lets you do things....etc, etc.

You have to try them for yourself. It's not the sort of thing you can get an answer for on a forum, because you'll get as many different opinions as there are browsers. And that's the truth.


Mike.

 

[KGIII]

I do the sync and profile thing - that way I can keep my open tabs. None of them transfer open tabs properly for me. I want similar experiences across the various devices I regularly use.

 

[CrazedNerd]

I think its just fine from a security POV, firefox encrypts all you info and doesn't share it for money. However, i don't do it anymore because i prefer novelty and control. I bookmark so many things that it doesn't matter, having a separate history and info for my desktop and phone is better.

Also, i used to prefer chrome but decided i prefer adblockers, also, the firefox app is actually better performance wise for reasons i dont understand.

 

[KGIII]

i used to prefer chrome but decided i prefer adblockers

You can block ads just fine with Chrome. I use uBlock Origin, from the same guy (Ray Hill, I think?) that did uMatrix.

I do whitelist some sites and let their ads make it through. If I use a site regularly and benefit from the site, I let the site show ads and/or I look for another way to reward the site's owner(s).

 

[CrazedNerd]

You can block ads just fine with Chrome. I use uBlock Origin, from the same guy (Ray Hill, I think?) that did uMatrix.

I do whitelist some sites and let their ads make it through. If I use a site regularly and benefit from the site, I let the site show ads and/or I look for another way to reward the site's owner(s).

I also like the firefox bookmarking system better, chrome is basically my backup browser

 

[KGIII]

also like the firefox bookmarking system better, chrome is basically my backup browser

I suck at bookmarking. I cram everything into a dozen or so categories and then never see them again unless I'm really, really hunting for a URL.

This is one of the reasons I have all these open tabs. They're all sites I visit. They're all sites that serve a purpose for me. If I visit at least once a week, it's probably an open tab. Then, there are 'short term' open tabs which are things I want to review but didn't have time for.

I did clean 'em up recently! They're all below 100 open tabs.

I do make a bookmark backup when I move to a new device. I do this when moving the profile doesn't work properly, which does happen from time to time.

By that, I mean I'll pick the option to 'bookmark all tabs' and put all those bookmarks in one folder - usually called 'backup'. I'll then save my bookmarks to disk.

Then, I'll import the bookmarks, right click on the bookmark folder, and opt to open all the bookmarks in their own tab. This gives me a similar experience across all my devices, done either way. Of course, those then drift a bit.

I'll end up with tabs on one device that aren't on the device I'm using... So, once in a while I'll just do the bookmarks thing and refresh the tabs - syncing them with my main device.

 

[ARios Projekt]

I have all my bookmarks as a .html file which I do have as a backup on pCloud, with that I can have 'em handly on Safari and LibreWolf.

 

[CrazedNerd]

I suck at bookmarking. I cram everything into a dozen or so categories and then never see them again unless I'm really, really hunting for a URL.

Lol, i do too...that's why i don't put them into categories, everything is just "other bookmark" and there hundreds of them, i only occasionally refer to them. I don't bother to back them up either.

I have all my bookmarks as a .html file which I do have as a backup on pCloud, with that I can have 'em handly on Safari and LibreWolf.

I've been doing that a bit recently because aministrators/mods are always changing websites, and there are a lot of broken links across the internet. I like it that you can easily access your posts from long ways back on here, but there is a limit, most of my html backups are actually from this site.

 

[KGIII]

Lol, i do too...

I'm too lazy to dig out the page where you said you were interested in learning C. I mentioned that the kernel is moving to Rust. But, if I were to learn a language today, I'd personally start with Python.

And, kinda coincidentally, I just bumped into something that I'd post in that thread, if I were less lazy/apathetic. You might be interested in this bad boy:

https://www.reddit.com/r/learnprogramming/comments/10qydo5
It appears to be very good. Additionally, I'm familiar with the author. (That's also my disclosure. But, in this case, it's perfectly free - with specific directions to ensure you get it for free.)

 

[CataclysmicGentleman]

I think its just fine from a security POV, firefox encrypts all you info and doesn't share it for money. However, i don't do it anymore because i prefer novelty and control. I bookmark so many things that it doesn't matter, having a separate history and info for my desktop and phone is better.

Also, i used to prefer chrome but decided i prefer adblockers, also, the firefox app is actually better performance wise for reasons i dont understand.

thank you, thats the answer I was looking for but didnt know how to ask.

 

[CrazedNerd]

I'm too lazy to dig out the page where you said you were interested in learning C. I mentioned that the kernel is moving to Rust. But, if I were to learn a language today, I'd personally start with Python.

And, kinda coincidentally, I just bumped into something that I'd post in that thread, if I were less lazy/apathetic. You might be interested in this bad boy:

https://www.reddit.com/r/learnprogramming/comments/10qydo5
It appears to be very good. Additionally, I'm familiar with the author. (That's also my disclosure. But, in this case, it's perfectly free - with specific directions to ensure you get it for free.)

Yeah python is very flexible, and is especially favored for science and databases...however, i personally do have a thing for wanting to make machine code type stuff, and everything i've read online indicates you basically have to start with C to make it easier for you. So far it's been coming along nicely, I think learning more than one language at time is fine too since they all have very similar characteristics. To me what's important is just enjoyment and figuring out how to actually design your ideas.

C isn't used as much as bash or python is, but it's still very widely used, it will probably never become obsolete in my lifetime.

 

[CrazedNerd]

thank you, thats the answer I was looking for but didnt know how to ask.

You're welcome, if i help anyone on here it was because i wanted to do it.