Firefox

Firefox is Mozilla's solution to the web browser.

Aurora is the "unbranded" version of Mozilla's Firefox.

USE flags
The above list of USE flag is not comprehensive. Use equery (part of ) for a full list:

Emerge
To compile the source version of Firefox, issue:

Emerging the source version of Firefox can be a long process; a pre-compiled (binary) version does exist in the Portage tree, however users of the pre-built package should note the warning below. To emerge the Firefox binary, issue:

Disable percent-encoding
Problem: URL copied from address bar is percent-encoded, so if URL contains non-Latin symbols (for example, Cyrillic) it is unreadable for humans.

Solution: To disable percent-encoding when URL coping from address bar, set   option to.

Possible pitfalls: Non-Latin letter symbols is not supported by standard for HTTP(S) URLs, but virtually fine for all modern browsers. Space symbol (%20) stay percent-encoding, so copied URL don’t “breaks”.

Special URLs
Firefox includes a few dozen special URLs that can be helpful in determining more information about various Firefox settings. These URLs can be entered into the Super Bar (via copy and paste) to view the special pages. A few of the more significant ones include:



A full list of special pages can be viewed on the Mozilla Zine wiki.

XDG integration
In order to make Firefox use XDG file associations set Content Type's Action to

To ensure Firefox is being used by other applications for handling HTTP and HTTPS links, run the following commands:

Running in sandbox
The Simple sandbox article explains why »Sandboxing Firefox is mandatory«.

Safer browsing with Add-ons
Firefox has a massive community behind it and a result many Add-ons have been created to aid with specific interests of users. Many users are concerned about their privacy (tracking, bubbling, targeting, etc) while web browsing. Installing Add-ons can aid in adding an extra level of privacy to their browsing.

The Add-on menu can be accessed by navigating the following menus:

Adblock
To block annoying ads use Adblock. Adblock does include an "acceptable ads" list (advertisers pay for that), so some advertisements are still displayed. For an Add-on that blocks all ads, see Adblock Edge.

Mozilla Add-ons page: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/adblock-plus/

Homepage: https://adblockplus.org/en/

Adblock Edge
Adblock Edge is a fork of Adblock. Its purpose is to follow the "keep it simple sir" philosophy by blocking all ads. It is now discontinued and can be replaced by uBlock Origin.

Mozilla Add-ons page: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/adblock-edge/

Homepage: http://adstomper.bitbucket.org/

uBlock Origin
A new ads blocker with lower resource usage, using same lists as Adblock Edge. Very versatile and configurable.

Mozilla Add-ons page: https://addons.mozilla.org/en/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/

GitHub: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UBlock

NoScript
NoScript blocks JavaScript that is normally enabled by default. It can keep users safe and speed up web browsing.

Mozilla Add-ons page: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/noscript/

Homepage: https://noscript.net/

RefControl
RefControl control the HTTP Referer sending on a per-site basis. When user go from webpage A to webpage B by a link, it assist user to hide from webserver hosted page B information about going from page A.

Mozilla Add-ons page: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/refcontrol/

Homepage: http://www.stardrifter.org/refcontrol/

Known problems:


 * LiveJournal: commenting post via OpenID lead to CAPTHA form, that didn’t work with “wrong” HTTP Referer (or maybe problem in commenting form itself).

Mostly it works well and don’t broke everything :)

RequestPolicy
RequestPolicy help a user control cross-site requests by user maintained whitelists.

Mozilla Add-ons page: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/requestpolicy/

Homepage: https://www.requestpolicy.com/

External resources

 * The official Firefox wiki (out-of-date)
 * Firefox on Mozilla's Forums
 * Firefox on Mozilla's Buglist
 * Change the interface language (LINGUAS)
 * Creating a new profile