LibreWolf

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LibreWolf is a fork of Firefox which focuses on privacy and security. LibreWolf aims to be a private, secure, and freedom-expanding alternative browser. All telemetry, data collection, and annoyances of Firefox are removed.

Installation

Prerequisites

Overlay

LibreWolf is not packaged in the main Gentoo repository, but an official overlay is available.

eselect

Using eselect repository, run this command to add the overlay:

root #eselect repository add librewolf git https://gitlab.com/librewolf-community/browser/gentoo.git

And then synchronize the repository:

root #emaint -r librewolf sync

Manual

Create a new repository file in /etc/portage/repos.conf:

FILE /etc/portage/repos.conf/librewolf.conf

[librewolf]
priority = 50
location = /var/db/repos/librewolf
sync-type = git
sync-uri = https://gitlab.com/librewolf-community/browser/gentoo.git
auto-sync = Yes

And then synchronize the repository:

root #emaint -r librewolf sync

USE flags

The Gentoo www-client/firefox USE flags are listed below, but still apply to www-client/librewolf:

USE flags for www-client/firefox Firefox Web Browser

X	Add support for X11
clang	Use Clang compiler instead of GCC
dbus	Enable dbus support for anything that needs it (gpsd, gnomemeeting, etc)
debug	Enable extra debug codepaths, like asserts and extra output. If you want to get meaningful backtraces see https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Project:Quality_Assurance/Backtraces
eme-free	Disable EME (DRM plugin) capability at build time
geckodriver	Enable WebDriver support
gmp-autoupdate	Allow Gecko Media Plugins (binary blobs) to be automatically downloaded and kept up-to-date in user profiles
hardened	Activate default security enhancements for toolchain (gcc, glibc, binutils)
hwaccel	Force-enable hardware-accelerated rendering (Mozilla bug 594876)
jack	Add support for the JACK Audio Connection Kit
libproxy	Enable libproxy support
lto	Enable Link Time Optimization (LTO)
openh264	Use media-libs/openh264 for H264 support instead of downloading binary blob from Mozilla at runtime
pgo	Add support for profile-guided optimization for faster binariesthis option will double the compile time
pulseaudio	Add support for PulseAudio sound server
screencast	Enable support for remote desktop and screen cast using PipeWire
selinux	!!internal use only!! Security Enhanced Linux support, this must be set by the selinux profile or breakage will occur
sndio	Enable support for the media-sound/sndio backend
system-av1	Use the system-wide media-libs/dav1d and media-libs/libaom library instead of bundled
system-harfbuzz	Use the system-wide media-libs/harfbuzz and media-gfx/graphite2 instead of bundled
system-icu	Use the system-wide dev-libs/icu instead of bundled
system-jpeg	Use the system-wide media-libs/libjpeg-turbo instead of bundled
system-libevent	Use the system-wide dev-libs/libevent instead of bundled
system-libvpx	Use the system-wide media-libs/libvpx instead of bundled
system-png	Use the system-wide media-libs/libpng instead of bundled (requires APNG patches)
system-python-libs	Use system's python site instead of bundled python libraries
system-webp	Use the system-wide media-libs/libwebp instead of bundled
wayland	Enable dev-libs/wayland backend
wifi	Enable wireless network functions

Data provided by the Gentoo Package Database · Last update: 2022-11-29 08:24 More information about USE flags

Emerge

Important
For localization support, review Localization before emerging. Changing the localization requires a full recompilation of the package, so it's important to get it right the first time.

Assuming the overlay is properly installed, use emerge to install www-client/librewolf:

root #emerge --ask www-client/librewolf

Flatpak

LibreWolf is also available on Flathub. If you prefer to install LibreWolf as a Flatpak, follow the install instructions from the Flatpak wiki article including adding the Flathub repository. Then run this command:

user $flatpak install --user io.gitlab.librewolf-community

Configuration

Since LibreWolf is based on Firefox, most of the configuration options in Firefox#Configuration apply.

Files

• $HOME/.librewolf - Main configuration directory.

Running under Wayland

Recent versions of LibreWolf run on Wayland by default if the wayland USE flag is set. To verify this, see the Window Support field under about:support.

In the case that this doesn't work, see Firefox#Running_under_Wayland for forcing Wayland support.

Localization

www-client/librewolf respects the L10N variable. See the L10N in the localization guide.

Security

LibreWolf is hardened by default and includes uBlock Origin. See the LibreWolf Documentation for a recommended list of add-ons and which ones to avoid.

Troubleshooting

See the official LibreWolf FAQ for LibreWolf-specific issues.

The LibreWolf Gentoo overlay is based off of the official Firefox overlay, and will inherit any issues that also affect www-firefox. Check out Firefox#Troubleshooting for details.

See also

• Firefox — Mozilla's web browser.

External resources

• LibreWolf Website - The LibreWolf main site.
• LibreWolf FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions about LibreWolf.
• LibreWolf Gentoo installation - The LibreWolf installation for Gentoo Linux.
• LibreWolf Gentoo overlay - The official LibreWolf overlay for Gentoo Linux.