Run Your Computer Using Linux

8 hours
Easy

License

Free online content available in this course.

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Last updated on 3/7/22

Browse the Internet

In this chapter, we’re going to look at browsers for surfing internet.

Discover the Range of Browsers Available in Linux

We’re going to look at which browsers are available in Linux and how to install them onto the distribution.

Ok, but how do I choose the right one?

Through an overview of privacy protection and the points to consider about browsers!

The main Linux browsers are:

Firefox
Brave
Opera
Chromium

Screen capture from Mozilla site comparing security and privacy options of seven different browsers — Security and privacy options

Install Internet Browsers in Linux

You’re about to see a video on how to install the following browsers:

Opera via the Ubuntu store application.
Chromium via the command terminal.
Brave, which has an atypical installation process and a good example to see.

Added bonus feature: Brave tells you how many advertisements it’s blocked on websites to improve your browsing experience.

Brave browser screen with tracker/ad blocker highlighted showing the count of items blocked — Tracker blocking in Brave

Did you enjoy this demonstration? Feel free to experiment with installing other browsers!

Great! And then I’ll be able to surf the internet using my preferred browser?

Yes! But first, let’s look at the main configuration options.

Set Firefox Configuration Options

Let's look at the Firefox configuration options in more detail, in particular, those concerning your personal data protection. You can use this to configure your own personal version of Firefox or compare it with other browsers' options.

Where can I find these configuration options?

You’ll find them in the browser menu, in Preferences.

Firefox menu with Preferences highlighted for mouse-click — Firefox preferences location

But that’s enough talk – watch a video instead:

It’s important to go through all of these privacy protection and security options, as Firefox has many different ones.

If there’s one main thing to remember when configuring your Firefox browser securely, it’s to deselect two of the default options:

Option 1: Saving your usernames and passwords.

Privacy and Security settings in Firefox showing Logins and Passwords unchecked — Username/password saving disabled

Option 2: The authorization of collection and data usage.

Firefox Data Collection and Use settings screen showing all options unchecked — Data collection in Firefox

Let's Recap!

You can choose your browser in Linux.
It's just as easy to install browsers in Linux as it is in Windows.
It's important to configure the main options in your browser regularly, particularly personal data ones.

OK, we’ve dealt with browsers, what about email?