Proposed: Chromium as Ubuntu's default browser

[Copper Bezel]

No, I don't think it would, and I don't think that users would choose not to use a distro because of the default browser - though I suppose that there are smaller complaints I've heard as reasons I've heard for switching from Ubuntu to Mint, say - but Ubuntu is marketed as a first-time-user's Linux, and I really do think that there would be a tiny, tiny effect on new Linux users' experience seeing at least one familiar icon on the Launcher, even if it's an app that they don't personally use on their own machines. I'm not so worried about things that might cause a user to consciously decide that the system wasn't for them so much as things that have a subconscious effect of welcoming or distancing.

And maybe I am looking at it too much from the POV of a picky Linux user - seeing Iceweasel as a default browser would be a sign to me that a distro probably isn't intended for my purposes.

[malspa]

And maybe I am looking at it too much from the POV of a picky Linux user - seeing Iceweasel as a default browser would be a sign to me that a distro probably isn't intended for my purposes.

Interesting, because Iceweasel in Debian is another one that came to mind here. When I install Debian, I might use Iceweasel once, but then I kinda forget that it's there.

With most distros, I tend to have more than one web browser installed anyway, usually with more than one on the panel or whatever. I'm (obviously, perhaps) biased towards Chromium, and that's what I prefer to use, but I'll use something else if the situation calls for it.

[Copper Bezel]

Sure. I'm not arguing that - I never bother to uninstall Firefox, and I do use it on occasion. Chrome still has a bug on downloading files from Google Drive, and Firefox's user agent string switcher is still simpler than Chrome's, so if I'm doing anything to do with those, I pull up Firefox. And I use Epiphany / Web when I want to play with Epiphany / Web. = ) I was looking at those first impressions rather than daily use.

[malspa]

One nice thing about the conversations on this subject, got me to finally go back and spend some time using Firefox after some years of not using it. I can't say that I actually like it better than Chromium, but I feel good enough about it that I think I might use it a lot more often than I have over the last few years. Always good to have options!

If Ubuntu does go with Chromium, should be fun to see how riled up people get about it.

[vasa1]

... Always good to have options! ....

I wonder if it's possible to have another thread with actual examples of what one browser can do that the other can't (excluding things like being faster, using less RAM, etc).

For example: With the pdf.js PDF Viewer in Firefox, it's possible to customize the appearance of the PDF page. So if one doesn't like the common white background (of the actual pdf page), it's possible to tweak the white to something milder like #aaa. This can't be done in Chrome's PDF Viewer. And so I now have Firefox as my default PDF Viewer rather than Chrome or Evince. Evince can only totally invert colors so one gets white text on a black background.

[monkeybrain2012]

For example: With the pdf.js PDF Viewer in Firefox, it's possible to customize the appearance of the PDF page. So if one doesn't like the common white background (of the actual pdf page), it's possible to tweak the white to something milder like #aaa. This can't be done in Chrome's PDF Viewer. And so I now have Firefox as my default PDF Viewer rather than Chrome or Evince. Evince can only totally invert colors so one gets white text on a black background.

But this is not about Chrome. Chromium doesn't even have a PDF viewer.

[vasa1]

But this is not about Chrome. Chromium doesn't even have a PDF viewer.

Very true. In my defense I did suggest "another thread"

[craig10x]

I've always viewed Chromium as a "stripped down Chrome" (which it is actually)...I'm not an open source purist...I'm a features purist

Chrome adds "smart search" (my name not theirs...lol) in the url search, very nice pdf reader in browser (with option to download file of course) up-to-date adobe flash (pepper) and ppa added to your software sources for the latest Chrome version as soon as it arrives, through the software updater...

I'll take the one that comes with all the features out the door, thank you very much

[malspa]

I'm not an open source purist

I don't think I am, either, but... if Chromium in Ubuntu was kept more up-to-date, I'd use it instead of Chrome, anyway. Even without the .pdf viewer.

[monkeybrain2012]

I've always viewed Chromium as a "stripped down Chrome" (which it is actually)...I'm not an open source purist...I'm a features purist

Chrome adds "smart search" (my name not theirs...lol) in the url search, very nice pdf reader in browser (with option to download file of course) up-to-date adobe flash (pepper) and ppa added to your software sources for the latest Chrome version as soon as it arrives, through the software updater...

I'll take the one that comes with all the features out the door, thank you very much

You can be both an open source purist and a feature purist by using Firefox.

Seriously Ubuntu is supposed to showcase free software, at least Mark Shuttleworth says so. It would be against Ubuntu's professed philosophy to distribute proprietary software as default while there is a better FOSS solution,--the current default.

Chromium is neither here nor there. It has few features and it doesn't have Firefox's open source credentials.