Firefox

Firefox
MozillaFirefox
Free and open source web browser that implements current and anticipated web standards
Developer:
Mozilla Foundation, Mozilla Corporation and other contributors
License:
MPLv2
Website:
http://www.firefox.com/

Mozilla Firefox is a standalone web browser, designed for privacy, security, standards compliance and performance. Its functionality can be enhanced via a plethora of extensions.

Firefox makes your daily web browsing fun and easy with a number of features, including:

Tabbed browsing
Private browsing including do-not-track enabled by default
Advanced phishing and malware protection
Spell checking
Incremental find within pages
Live bookmarking and Smart Bookmarks
Download manager
Location-aware browsing
Compliant with modern web standards
Modern web development tools
Available in a wide number of locales
A thriving ecosystem of themes and extensions at https://addons.mozilla.org

Installation

In all openSUSE desktop installation, Firefox is installed by default. So usually you don't need to install it manually.

(Click the button to install)

Via GNOME Software

Start Software. Search for package "MozillaFirefox". Click the ideal package to open detail page. Click Install button.

Via KDE Discover

Start Discover. Search for package "MozillaFirefox". Click the ideal package to open detail page. Click Install button.

Via YaST

Start YaST --> Software Management. Search for package "MozillaFirefox". Check the checkbox for installation (green check). Click Accept button to start installation.

Via Zypper

sudo zypper in MozillaFirefox

Configuration

Don't trust extensions

Be Careful!

Mozilla is NOT responsible for security auditing of extensions at https://addons.mozilla.org which gives malware chances. Even some "featured" extensions are proven to be malware. You should not install extensions or themes without knowing who the author is and whether the code has been hijacked. And Mozilla will never tell you this!

Some famous examples:

The following guidelines can keep you away from bad extensions:

The extension must only come from https://addons.mozilla.org
The extension must be "recommended" by Mozilla, which means it has been audited for security and privacy by Mozilla engineers. Note: not all of them are open source.
The extension must be open source and you can get the source code on GitHub or somewhere else. For example, uBlock Origin has its source code on GitHub and it is actively developed by many contributors. This makes sure enough people are watching it for you.
The extension must have a long enough history and large enough user base. Never install an extension that is uploaded just one month ago.
The extension must be developed by trusted individuals or organizations. For example, extensions from Mozilla and EFF can be trusted.
Be careful with "free" services. Most of them are selling only one product: your data.

Adblock and privacy extensions

Extensions for everyone, no mandatory configuration needed:

Facebook Container by Mozilla (built in), GitHub
uBlock Origin by Raymond Hill, GitHub
HTTPS Everywhere by EFF, GitHub
Privacy Badger by EFF, GitHub

Do NOT install multiple ad blockers because they conflict with each other and make ad blocking effect worse. If you already installed uBlock Origin, then don't install Adblock Plus.

Extensions for experts, with total control:

NoScript by Giorgio Maone, GitHub
Cookie AutoDelete by CAD Team, GitHub

Even with protection of extensions, you can still be tracked and identified by IP address or your browser fingerprint. If you want to hide your identity better, use Tor Browser instead.

Latest version

The Mozilla Project on the Build Service provides you the latest version of Firefox. This project offers relatively stable and tested, albeit unofficial, packages from Mozilla.

The repository can be found in the Mozilla repository

Tips and tricks

User Interface

Firefox has bad font smoothing. Ubuntu patches for better Microsoft style hinting have been made available by Muzlocker through this forum thread. Mind that you might infringe Microsoft patents! For Firefox versions prior to 4, this guide will help you to enable freetype font smoothing.
The Linux edition looks quite different from its Windows counterpart. There are some tweaks that can be made:
- For the best visual style, I can recommend Strata RELOADED by Martin Meissnitzer. Other recommendations are welcome, edit this post!
- Right click on the menubar and uncheck menubar from the list. This will let the new Firefox 4 button appear.
- You can also move the Settings menu entry from Edit to Tools by changing a certain key in about:config (I don't remember which one!) or by installing the Tools > Options… for Linux add-on by Daniel Dawson.

Speedup

SDB:Clean Firefox Database This works only from Firefox 3.0 on.
Disable IPv6
SDB:Enable HTTP Pipelining
Extremely slow startup? YaST Network Settings -> Hostname/DNS tab -> Assign Hostname to Loopback IP

Reduce Disk Writes

Increase browser.sessionstore.interval in about:config

Privacy

A list of features that actively leak data to third-party services

Miscellaneous

External links

http://www.mozilla.org/firefox