Waterfox

Waterfox is a privacy-focused web browser based on Mozilla's Firefox, tailored for users seeking greater control. It supports legacy Firefox extensions and plugins, making it a choice for those reliant on older add-ons. Waterfox Classic offers compatibility with deprecated web technologies, while Waterfox Current emphasizes modern standards. Though it claims minimal telemetry, scrutiny reveals reliance on some Mozilla services, which may raise concerns for privacy purists. Development is slower than mainstream browsers, occasionally lagging in security updates, requiring vigilance from users prioritizing privacy and performance.

A web browser that works great until one day the built in auto updater breaks it.

troubleshooting

after update 6.5.2 - libmozsqlite3.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

Happens right after update to version 6.5.2. The update fails on Ubuntu/Mint Linux. The waterfox browser updater breaks the web browser.

error while loading shared libraries: libmozsqlite3.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

Even though libmozsqlite3.so is present in the waterfox directory because it is part of waterfox and firefox for that matter.

The issue has been reported on github as issue #3635. Your bookmarks and data are in ~/.waterfox so back all that up before proceeding. Then rm -rf your waterfox directory and reinstall from the latest bz2 file they offer. After you have extracted waterfox the browser should find your ~/.waterfox preferences and bookmarks and things will continue as normal, however, the backup is just in case something goes wrong.

1. back up ~/.waterfox (preferences and bookmarks) just in case
2. delete ~/watefox (or wherever you installed the binary)
3. download latest bz2 (waterfox-6.5.2.tar.bz2 in this case) and extract to ~/ so you end up with ~/waterfox
4. launch waterfox and your bookmarks and preferences should be utilized without intervention. The dumb thing will act like it updated successfully.