Discussion · bonfire.cafe

@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org · 2 months ago

The Mozilla Firefox configuration settings are utterly polluted with AI crap, with no simple way to turn them all off easily. However, there are three that seem to kill most of the AI activity at the UI level, but what's going on in the background I of course can't see. By the way, Firefox is also hiding http: and https:, a terrible decision that Google tried and reversed years ago. You can disable this in Firefox about:config as well. To cripple Firefox AI:

Go to URL about:config

Set these to "false":

browser.ml.chat.enabled
extensions.ml.enabled

These stop Firefox from attempting to create link preview "key points" AI garbage from reading your page. Also:

Setting to false:

browser.ml.linkPreview.enabled

Will turn off the annoying link preview behavior entirely.

I will note that this behavior by Mozilla is actually far more invasive than what Chrome currently does.

Hey Mozilla: Take your damned AI and shove it where the sun doesn't shine.

Chre 🧅

@Chre@pouet.chapril.org replied · last month

@lauren
Thx of AI settings.

« [...] Firefox is also hiding http: and https:, a terrible decision [...]. You can disable this in Firefox about:config as well. »

How can I do that? Thx!

EDIT: ow, ok, it is
browser.urlbar.trimURLs=false

Cacq

@cacq@mastodon.art replied · 2 months ago

@lauren Do you know Waterfox ? There is no AI bullshit, like they say. https://www.waterfox.net/

Cristin Pescosolido

@rocketdyke@mastodon.social replied · 2 months ago

@lauren

what about "browser.ml.enable"

that sounds like a good one to nix

Lauren Weinstein

@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org replied · 2 months ago

@rocketdyke Yes, it's on my list in subsequent posts on the thread.

Total Sonic Media

@TotalSonic@mastodon.social replied · 2 months ago

@lauren - LibreWolf is the solution - https://librewolf.net

Lauren Weinstein

@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org replied · 2 months ago

@TotalSonic Has too many problems with too many sites. Not a general form solution for most people. THAT'S what I am concerned about, not niche browsers.

Rodrigo Dias

@rgo@masto.pt replied · 2 months ago

Thanks for the config tips. I’ll disable those AI annoyances right away.

Nemo_bis 🌈

@nemobis@mamot.fr replied · 2 months ago

@lauren Thanks. FWIW, as of #Firefox 141.0 built by #Fedora (firefox-141.0.3-1.fc42.x86_64), that `browser.ml.linkPreview.enabled` is set to false by default.

Lauren Weinstein

@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org replied · 2 months ago

@nemobis Well, for the record, in my flatpak 142, it was enabled by default.

"Mutant Rob" Robert Rothenberg

@rrwo@infosec.exchange replied · 2 months ago

@lauren

In about:config there is a browser.urlbar.trimURLs setting.

Lauren Weinstein

@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org replied · 2 months ago

@rrwo Yes, I noted that capability above.

"Mutant Rob" Robert Rothenberg

@rrwo@infosec.exchange replied · 2 months ago

@lauren

I seem to have missed that, sorry.

Thanks for the post, I didn't realise there were other aspects of their AI to disable.

Kerplunk

@Kerplunk@mastodon.scot replied · 2 months ago

@lauren

The Mozilla Firefox configuration settings are utterly polluted is more to the point.

Please people demand better of the Bullshit foundation that has made people like Mitchell Baker multi millionaires while ruining what was once a good browser.

Sacking capable developers

Purchasing an advertising company

LibreWolf shows what forefox should be like.

It can be further hardened but is pretty good as delivered.

A very good alternative is UngoogledChromium

Matthew Kenworthy

@mattkenworthy@mastodon.social replied · 2 months ago

@lauren many many thanks for these!

Wildebest

@wildebest@mastodon.online replied · 2 months ago

@lauren
Firefox is dead to me since the CEO laid off a good amounts of devs a few years back.

slash

@agreeable_landfall@mastodon.social replied · 2 months ago

@lauren Thanks! My company force-feeds Firefox settings. And they have a _strict_ policy on any sort of AI, since they're worried it'll leak plans and intentions. But only the "chat" setting was disabled here. Not sure if they don't know, or if the others are on to enable the internal AI system to work.

SpaceLifeForm

@SpaceLifeForm@infosec.exchange replied · 2 months ago

@lauren

What platform are you seeing this on?

I have not noticed on #Debian #Bookworm

Samuel Santaella

@samuelsantaella@masto.nyc replied · 2 months ago

@SpaceLifeForm @lauren If you use the firefox that came pre-installed in #Debian, they prefer to stick to ESR versions of Firefox, which is still on 128 right now.

They *just* released version 142 and yeah, there's been a ton of focus on AI with these latest versions.

SpaceLifeForm

@SpaceLifeForm@infosec.exchange replied · 2 months ago

@samuelsantaella @lauren

This tells me that my decision to delay upgrading to Trixie is probably wise.

#Debian #Bookworm #Trixie

Lauren Weinstein

@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org replied · 2 months ago

@SpaceLifeForm Ubuntu. Started with the update that came through today.

The Noble Quran

@ReflectsLight@mastodon.social replied · 2 months ago

@lauren @SpaceLifeForm Yes, I'm wondering this too. I have seen a lot of talk about this so far, but on OpenBSD, as of last week, no update includes AI. I guess I have something to look forward to ;D

MegatronicThronBanks

@megatronicthronbanks@mastodon.social replied · 2 months ago

@lauren

Well, they are a Google subsidiary, effectively.

But thank you - if I ever upgrade (sic) Firefox I'll be referring straight back to this!

KevinOnEarth

@Quantillion@mstdn.io replied · 2 months ago

@lauren
browser.ml.linkPreview.enabled in LibreWolf gives me 3 options: Boolean, Number, String.
(Set to Boolean.)

KevinOnEarth

@Quantillion@mstdn.io replied · 2 months ago

@lauren
And #LibreWolf?
I had it recommended but it regularly crashes, especially with Private Windows open.

Mina

@mina@berlin.social replied · 2 months ago

@lauren

Mozilla: Hey Firefox users - what do you want from your browser?

Users: Privacy and ad blocking. Best by default.

Mozilla: Have some "ai" instead.

Dave

@Laird_Dave@chaos.social replied · 2 months ago

@mina @lauren if you haven't seen it already you might be interested in @librewolf 😁

nothacking

@nothacking@infosec.exchange replied · 2 months ago

@lauren Also, if you have a web server, blocking requests that have the "X-Firefox-AI" header set (or sending them unrelated content like the bee movie script) will break the feature on your site.

Earthling

@earthlingusa@mas.to replied · 2 months ago

@lauren Thanks!

Rachel Rawlings

@LinuxAndYarn@mastodon.social replied · 2 months ago

@lauren Thanks. I hadn't noticed extensions.ml.enabled so I've disabled that now too. And for the heck of it, I added CA,UK,US to browser.ml.linkPreview.noKeyPointsRegions

felipe.perry

@felipeperry@social.vivaldi.net replied · 2 months ago

@lauren
simple, don't use Firefox anymore, with the fall of Mozilla as a benchmark for an egalitarian website, Firefox has also been falling, which has gone from being the best browser to one of the worst these days

Chad McCullough

@cmccullough@polymaths.social replied · 2 months ago

@lauren Remember when Mozilla was the savior of the internet and Firefox was the Open Source shining star? What the hell happened?

Irenes (many)

@ireneista@adhd.irenes.space replied · 2 months ago

@cmccullough @lauren institutionalism as a theory of change is self-defeating. the highest incentive of any power structure is to perpetuate its own existence, over and above whatever purpose it was nominally created for. on average, over time, that self-perpetuation will become the only thing it does. the larger it is, the more disconnected from human purpose it is and the more often the purposes come into conflict and the faster it all happens.

Shauna GM

@shauna@social.coop replied · 2 months ago

@ireneista @cmccullough @lauren

I don't think all organizations are inherently self serving but I do think the vast majority of those in our society are, due to both internal and external processes and internal and external culture

Lauren Weinstein

@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org replied · 2 months ago

One more AI garbage setting to disable in Firefox:

Set to false:

browser.ml.enable

Dimimore "spicy falafel"🧪🚲😷

@DimitriFayolle@piaille.fr replied · last month

@lauren any hint on how to so that with the android app? When typing about:config in the URL bar I either get a blank page or a duck search. Definitively not the expected config page as on a computer web browser.