FWIW, I got a response from one of the project maintainers on Matrix, and put that in the post above in case you want to check it.

Well, I am switching because of privacy, putting my data on Mozilla's servers would be... counterproductive.

If you use the sync feature, everything will transfer via that method.

There is.

https://librewolf.net/installation/debian/

There are 3 ways to install a native package. Third one being, downloading the .deb file and installing it.

There is no Librewolf system package for my OS (Debian)

Is it possible for you to try the appimage, or the binary built for you OS, like installing the rpm if using fedora?

If this happens there too, maybe there is some issue with your KDE. If it does not, check if the flatpak version has some addon which might be the reason.

In either case, you should file a bug report.

You can also try installing the plasma integration addon which can connect the browser and the KDE system, and see if this problem goes away.

Yes, librewolf is running. I intentionally have it open. But there is no audio playing.

When I kill the process, it does not unblock, even though there is no librewolf process left.

When I reboot the computer and restart librewolf, it does not block.

When I play a video in the browser, it blocks again.

When I close that tab, it is still blocked.

When I close the browser, it is still blocked, even though there is no librewolf process left.

(This is the Flatpak version, if that helps)

Stupid question, is there still a librewolf process running? Have you tried killing it? Does that free up the system suspend state?

My point being that people are misinformed about how much of the important work is being done by who.

The bills have to be paid.

The underlying development exists because the developers at mozilla can put food on the table.

We can't ignore the fact that a project of Firefoxs scale cannot be held together by volunteer work and hopes and prayers.

If people cared as much as they said they did, they should be looking at how the public could buy Mozilla such that the enshitification stopped rather than pretending alternatives would be able to survive the wake of any of the giants they are downstream of sinking.

Web browsers really should have been publicly funded but we have what we have...

I'm glad to hear that!

I still want to just go to the information source myself instead of an extra middleman of AI and what it thinks its sources are. I emailed Ecosia asking for a config switch to get rid of the AI search option at the bottom of my search results. Not a priority/not planning on it (one of them). Valid, it is not like I'm a paying customer, but also I want to reward people not hopping on the AI train. But at least Ecosia is not being as awful about AI as I thought they were. Will be trying LibreWolf instead.

They are apparently trying to do AI as greenly as possible: https://blog.ecosia.org/ecosia-ai/

Reducing AI’s footprint isn’t enough — we’re here to make a positive impact. That’s why we generate more renewable energy than our AI features use, from 100% clean sources like solar and wind.

We’ve invested €18M in renewable energy projects — expanding solar parks and adding clean power to the grid. The energy we generate helps displace fossil fuels and accelerate the transition to renewable energy.

We use tools like the AI Energy Score and Ecologits to select efficient models and track their energy use — keeping our process transparent, and ourselves accountable.

https://support.ecosia.org/article/1006-ai-search#Model-training-and-adjustments-LOaKB

We use OpenAI’s GPT-4.1 mini because it strikes a strong balance between performance and efficiency. By choosing a smaller, mainstream model, we aim to deliver a high-quality experience while keeping our energy and water footprint low. We believe there is a need for greater transparency around AI’s environmental impact and continue to push for change across the tech industry.

Our AI Search is built using smaller, more efficient models less energy than larger ones, according to a recent study. We assessed the model’s impact using tools like EcoLogits, CodeCarbon or Hugging Face AI Energy Score. Additionally, we avoid energy-intensive functionalities like video generation or deep research.

We generate more clean energy from solar and wind than our AI features consume. The surplus goes into the electricity grid, helping to replace fossil fuels. While we can’t yet account for the emissions generated during the AI model’s training, using our AI Search features helps accelerate the energy transition towards renewables.

I thought Ecosia was working on their own index?

Nowhere is anybody complaining about Firefox devs wanting money. That is so far from the issue. Most of us would happily and willingly give Mozilla money if it went to making Firefox a thing we want. If Mozilla had a bounty on features, direct avenues to fund devs, asked for donations every quarter or every semester, called for hardware donations, asked the community how to improve and listened or had community members on the board, I doubt the majority would complain. Mozilla does none of that except maybe asking for donations.

Donations to Mozilla just go into a black box and then you find out its gone to community outreach, AI features, buying an ad company, paying the ex CEO 5 millions per year, firing Servo engineers, and a bunch more crap.

There are many reasons people don't donate to Mozilla. Unwillingness to pay devs is not one of them.

Thankyou.

It has moved its AI search assistant from a separate tab, and now gives frequent responses in the primary view just like Google, Brave and DuckDuckGo, but there's no visible option to disable it in either search or browser settings, aka it's now on by default. I've yet to check browser config flags but that shouldn't be necessary.

You could not use Firefox and move to a different alternative, but even devs in that alternative will start to demand to be paid more.

That's not proof. Proof would be if they weren't using their ad revenue to do what they claim to be doing.

If you think using US tech means you're evil, wait until you find out where your clothes come from, who works to make your food, who is exploited by the amazing cheap deals you profit off of, who profits from the products you buy.

Ecosia, just like you, doesn't exist in a vacuum with endless money. They have to make the changes within their means with the cards they are dealt. You're demanding Ecosia build a competitor to Bing and Google with no money and that they save the world at the same time. Do you demand the same of yourself or do you call yourself a traitor to humanity every time you look in the mirror?

So what is your proposal for now then? We should continue using Firefox and donating to Mozilla? Dont use LibreWolf?

Super helpful man, thank you. I like that librewolf is available if I wanted to be extra locked down, but for my needs I think I'll swap to waterfox. 🙂

Point is, there are still actual workers behind your favourite apps who still have to pay bills and feed their family. We can't keep asking for cake and eat it. I don't agree with the gradual enshitiffication, but I understand. This is why I am in favour of public-funded internet and applications, in the same vein how other countries fund their TV services like BBC or France 24.

Been using this for about two years now and still going strong

I'm feeling dumb, I got confused with Falkon which I was using for a hot second a few weeks ago. Great to know Librewolf supports extensions. Thanks for the clarification!

Proof that Ecosia isn't really about their 'eco' claims when they're getting their search results from the people who are actively killing the world right now instead of indexing stuff independently.

I'm feeling dumb, I got confused with Falkon which I was using for a hot second a few weeks ago. Great to know Librewolf supports extensions. Thanks for the clarification!

https://support.ecosia.org/article/579-search-results-providers

Didn't even take a minute to research