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Comment by hanniabu | Hacker News Reader

Mullvad browser

That is quite literally Firefox + UBO. Like it's literally a fork of the tor browser (which is downstream firefox) with a custom config and preconfigured addons.

I don't mean this as a dig or anything but it's literally what they described.

> Like it's literally a fork of the tor browser (which is downstream firefox) with a custom config and preconfigured addons.

Yes, which is not Firefox with default settings

Yes for the GP but UBO on firefox isn't defaults either. The bulk of the benefits you get from mullvad browser past what you get with default firefox + the same extensions are easy config changes. Things you can accomplish by just scrolling through the settings and flipping on a few settings with "more secure more better" worded descriptions.

For the average user there's not really a particularly good reason to jump for a downstream browser unless you are specifically using their main features (tor or VPN). It's easy enough to get 95% of the way there with 30 seconds of config tweaks off stock upstream.

The mullvad browser defaults would get it chucked in the bin very quickly by the average web user.

The extreme bent towards privacy and not retaining any identifiable or fingerprint-able behaviors is exactly what its target audience wants, of course. But it leads to a markedly more inconvenient experience than Chrome or default Firefox or Safari.

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