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I downloaded tor for linux, named "tor-browser-linux64-10.0.7_en-US.tar.xz" from its official site, which I believe is called the browser bundle. I started tor by runnning ./start-tor-browser.desktop and tor is up and running.

But I found a folder named "chrome" within the tor browser main folder. My question is why is that? Also a shell script named "firefox" can be seen too. Previously I used tor on windows, tor showed in my operating system as firefox that time. Why is that? Does tor use the already existing browser? If so, how do I change the default browser for tor?

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The software you downloaded ("tor-browser-linux64-10.0.7_en-US.tar.xz") is called Tor Browser, a browser derived from Firefox. This browser is intended not just to route your traffic through the Tor network, but also to provide extra protection from proxy-bypass bugs, browser fingerprinting, etc. The "chrome" folder is a standard Firefox folder and is used for customizing the Firefox UI, or in this case the Tor Browser UI. This browser is an all-in-one solution for people who want to easily use a web browser with the Tor network.

Tor Browser is the most popular way of web browsing through the Tor network, but you can also download only the Tor client and use it with any application that supports a SOCKS proxy. On Windows this tor client is called the "Windows Expert Bundle" which you can download here. On Linux this is called just "tor" and can typically be downloaded through a package manager (for example apt install tor) using the Tor Project's deb repository. This gives you the tor daemon without any browser or application.

You might also find this helpful: What is the difference between Tor, Tor Browser and torbrowser-launcher?

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  • That clarifies it, thank you.
    – User
    Commented Jan 15, 2021 at 15:59

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