In the first article of this series on using Ansible to configure a workstation, we set up a repository and configured a few basic things. In the second part, we automated Ansible to apply settings automatically when changes are made to our repository. In this third (and final) article, we'll use Ansible to configure GNOME desktop settings.

This configuration will work only on newer distributions (such as Ubuntu 18.04, which I'll use in my examples). Older versions of Ubuntu will not work, as they ship with a version of python-psutils that is too old for Ansible's dconf module to work properly. If you're using a newer version of your Linux distribution, you should have no issues.

Type in the address bar about:config (press Enter)
(promise to be careful, if asked)

Type in the search bar and look for the preference :

browser.fixup.alternate.prefix

And set its value to false

A role for configuring Firefox, including addons, preferences and css styles.

Notes:

A Firefox profile named 'default' will be created if it doesn't already exist.
If any addon being installed is a 'complete theme' addon, it will be set as the selected theme (this is the default behaviour of the firefox-addon role dependency).

Requirements

Currently the role has only been tested against Fedora (23) hosts, but in theory should work for all Linux variants.

An Ansible Role that installs Firefox, the firefox addons mentioned in Firefox Kompendium, the user.js from Ghacks, some offline fonts so remote fonts are not required and some search keywords for the Url-Bar. The role is compatible with RHEL/CentOS, Fedora, Debian and Ubuntu. Be aware that while this config blocks a lot of tracking, which helps bot with privacy and security it give the user a very unique fingerprint aswell. Thats why it´s still recommended to use the TOR Browser for normal surfing and this firefox config for functions that websites that require a login (e.g. forums, social media, online banking or online shopping).

user_pref("accessibility.force_disabled", 1);
user_pref("accessibility.typeaheadfind.flashBar", 0);
user_pref("app.normandy.first_run", false);
user_pref("app.shield.optoutstudies.enabled", false);
user_pref("app.update.auto", false);
user_pref("app.update.checkInstallTime", false);
user_pref("app.update.doorhanger", false);
user_pref("browser.feeds.showFirstRunUI", false);
...

in thunderbird user profile folder in "chrome/userContent.css" I have this:

/ quote colors for message display / blockquote[type=cite] { color: PowderBlue ! important; } blockquote[type=cite] blockquote { color: LightBlue ! important; } blockquote[type=cite] blockquote blockquote { color: SkyBlue ! important; } blockquote[type=cite] blockquote blockquote blockquote { color: LightSkyBlue ! important; } blockquote[type=cite] blockquote blockquote blockquote blockquote { color: DeepSkyBlue ! important; }

/ quote color for message composing / span[_moz_quote=true] { color: PowderBlue ! important; }