FireDragon 13: Garuda Linux's Browser Gets a Complete Rebuild

FireDragon 13: Garuda Linux's Browser Gets a Complete Rebuild

Table of contents:-

A New Foundation, A New Welcome

Faster Browsing, By Design

Getting Hold of FireDragon 13

 

Garuda Linux has never been shy about giving its users a bit of flair alongside their functionality, and FireDragon has long been the browser that carries that spirit forward. With the arrival of version 13, the team hasn't just tweaked a few settings or refreshed an icon set; they've rebuilt FireDragon from the ground up on a completely new code base. For anyone who has followed the project's earlier releases, this is the biggest shift yet, and it's well worth unpacking what's actually changed. 

FireDragon, for the uninitiated, is Garuda Linux's own take on a privacy-respecting browser. Built on Firefox and drawing on the hardening work already done by LibreWolf, it layers in opinionated defaults meant to make privacy-conscious browsing feel natural rather than fiddly. Version 13 keeps that foundation but reworks a huge amount of what sits on top of it.

 

A New Foundation, A New Welcome

The headline change in FireDragon 13 is the switch to an entirely new code base, and that shift has knock-on effects throughout the browser. Support for XDG Base Directories has been added, which brings FireDragon's file and configuration handling into line with the standard most modern Linux desktop software now follows, making things tidier for anyone who likes a clean home folder.

 

New users, and returning ones alike, will notice the new Welcome dialog straight away. It's a proper setup wizard rather than a single splash screen, walking through search engine selection and configuration in a much friendlier way than before. Tucked inside are quick-toggle settings that used to require digging through about:config, including the option to hide the built-in Firefox password manager for those who prefer a dedicated password tool, a one-click switch for Resist Fingerprinting for users who want maximum anti-tracking protection, and toggles for prefetching to trade a little bandwidth for noticeably snappier page loads. 

Search has also had attention. DuckDuckGo is now the default search engine, replacing the previous choice, and the list of alternative engines on offer has been extended considerably. WebGL and DRM content are now governed through the browser's site permissions system rather than blanket settings, giving users finer control over which sites get access to either. Dark Reader, previously bundled in, is no longer installed out of the box, so anyone relying on it for automatic dark theming across websites will need to add it back manually. 

It's also worth flagging two changes that affect long-time FireDragon users directly: Workspaces and Notes have both been rebuilt from scratch as native FireDragon features, and because the old data formats aren't compatible with the new system, existing Floorp-style Workspaces and Notes cannot be migrated automatically. Anyone with a lot of tab groups organised into workspaces will want to note this before updating.

 

Faster Browsing, By Design

Garuda Linux has been candid about the balancing act behind FireDragon: privacy and security measures often work against raw speed, and version 13 tries to find a sensible middle ground rather than sacrificing one for the other entirely. 

Two settings sit at the heart of this. The first, enabling 0-RTT TLS data, is switched on by default in the configuration file and mainly benefits reconnections to sites already visited, shaving a modest amount of round-trip latency off each repeat visit. The second and third settings are left off by default because they carry a bandwidth cost, but both are available as simple toggles in the Welcome dialog and browser settings. Raising the speculative connection limit means FireDragon can start connecting to a link's destination the moment your cursor hovers over it, so by the time you actually click, much of the handshake is already done. Enabling next-page prefetching goes further still, downloading an entire linked page in the background when a site marks it as the likely next destination, which can make browsing feel instant at the cost of using more data.

 

Together, these choices reflect a browser that wants to feel quick without quietly compromising the privacy protections that set FireDragon apart in the first place.

 

Getting Hold of FireDragon 13

FireDragon 13 is available through several channels, reflecting its cross-platform ambitions beyond Garuda Linux itself. Garuda Linux users can install it directly through the distribution's own repositories and the Chaotic AUR, with both standard and Catppuccin-themed variants on offer, plus precompiled binary packages for quicker installs.

 

For Flatpak users, the Dr460nized edition is published on Flathub, packaged as a cross-platform, privacy-focused browser that bundles uBlock Origin and Flagfox by default and ships with Firefox Sync configured to use Garuda Linux's own sync server rather than Mozilla's. The Flathub listing shows the package sitting at a modest download size and confirms support for both x86_64 and aarch64 architectures, alongside desktop-only availability. 

Beyond Linux, the project's GitLab release page hosts Flatpak bundles, AppImages, Linux tarballs, Windows installers and macOS packages, making version 13 the first release to formally extend FireDragon's reach to Windows and Mac users too. 

Anyone updating from a previous version is strongly encouraged to create a fresh, separate profile before diving in, which can be done with a simple command-line switch. Given the scale of the rebuild, this small precaution goes a long way towards a smooth transition, and the project's own release notes recommend backing up bookmarks and noting down installed extensions beforehand, since these will need reinstalling into the new profile.

 

A brief word to close: FireDragon 13 represents a genuine ground-up effort rather than an incremental patch, and the Garuda Linux team deserve real credit for the scope of the undertaking. Early feedback from the community has been largely positive, with most reporting a noticeably snappier browser, though as with any major rebuild, a few rough edges around workspace migration and default application handling are still being ironed out.

 

Disclaimer: FireDragon, Firefox, LibreWolf, Garuda Linux and all other product and company names mentioned in this article are trademarks of their respective owners. This piece is published for informational purposes only, drawing exclusively on official project sources, and The Distrowrite Project makes every reasonable effort to ensure accuracy at the time of writing. We do not endorse, encourage or promote any use of this or any other software that involves malware, viruses or activity intended to compromise the security, integrity or availability of networks, devices or other infrastructure.

 

References:

• FireDragon v13 Official Release (Garuda Linux Forum)

• FireDragon 13 repository (GitLab)

• FireDragon on Flathub

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