alternate web browser

[svtfmook]

recommend me a browser. i've been using firefox, and have been for years, i love the interface. however, after the past few upgrades, firefox/swiftfox has become rather buggy for me, not starting, crashing, etc.

anyhow, i installed flock last night, but didn't have much time to mess around with it. not sure if i like everything it has going on (like, a baziilion tabs of useless junk). but again, i haven't really used it yet, so i haven't had time to arrange it how i would like it.

anyhow, knowing that i love(d) firefox, what would others recommend?

[aerotheexiled]

Have you tried Opera?

[svtfmook]

i've tried opera on my mobile device, but didn't like it. haven't tried it in ubuntu yet.

[ticopelp]

I agree, Opera is good. Also, if you like Firefox, you might try Epiphany. It's lighter and faster.


sudo aptitude install epiphany-browser

[bruce89]

Also, if you like Firefox, you might try Epiphany. It's lighter and faster.


sudo aptitude install epiphany-browser

Even better, click here (apt:epiphany-browser) and here (apt:epiphany-extensions).

[FuturePilot]

Epiphany is very nice.
If you're using KDE Konqueror is an awesome web browser.
Opera is also nice, but watch out for the plugins. I still can't get that Mplayer plugin to work in Opera.:(

[ticopelp]

Even better, click here (apt:epiphany-browser) and here (apt:epiphany-extensions).

Good on ya.

[santiagoward2000]

Another vote for Opera! It's really good and lighter than Firefox.

[bruce89]

To be honest, Epiphany is no faster, but at least it uses a GTK+ interface.

See my signature for my hopes.

[Mithrilhall]

Lynx
Opera

[vexorian]

Another vote for Opera! It's really good and lighter than Firefox.
Using opera does no good, it is closed source.

[ticopelp]

Lynx

Oh dear lord. :lolflag:

[bruce89]

Using opera does no good, it is closed source.

Indeed, I'm suprised at the number of Ubuntuers that use it.

Incidentally, at the UDS, all of the developers used Epiphany. http://ubuntu-tutorials.com/2007/11/07/how-to-install-the-epiphany-browser/

[santiagoward2000]

Using opera does no good, it is closed source.
Yes, I know. I try to use Firefox as much as I can, but it can get really sluggish in my laptop, and freezes constantly. I should try other options. Perhaps SwiftFox? What would you recommend?


Lynx
Opera

:lolflag: How's Lynx like? I use w3m. It's so cool!!

[aysiu]

I'd recommend Galeon.

[fuscia]

i tried iceape the other day. it's kind of old fashioned in that it's like driving a tank up a hill. you know it's going to get there...eventually.

[perlluver]

I also recommend Galeon!

[fuscia]

isn't galeon last year's epiphany?

[bruce89]

isn't galeon last year's epiphany?

Epiphany is technically a fork of Galeon. Epiphany's main goal was HIG compliance.

I heard that Galeon's functionality was to be merged somewhat into Epiphany, but this hasn't happened. Epiphany has had no rather interesting new features since 2.14, when it got tagged bookmarks.

[fuscia]

and speaking of webkit and epiphany....when's that going to be available to normal people?

[smartboyathome]

and speaking of webkit and epiphany....when's that going to be available to normal people?

It says it will be available on GNOME's 2.22 roadmap, so expect it from Hardy. :)

[bruce89]

and speaking of webkit and epiphany....when's that going to be available to normal people?

Sort of now, if you look at my PPA. It's early days though, and extensions/plugins don't work.

Installing libwebkitgdk0d (apt:libwebkitgdk0d) and running ./usr/lib/WebKit/GdkLauncher is probably the best (rudimentary) way to use it just now.

[fuscia]

Sort of now, if you look at my PPA. It's early days though, and extensions/plugins don't work.

thanks. i need the plugins, though. should be fun when it's ready to go.

[bruce89]

thanks. i need the plugins, though. should be fun when it's ready to go.

Plug-ins in WebKit (http://wayofthemonkey.com/?date=2007-10-19) are on the way though.

[svtfmook]

well, i didn't like epiphany or galeon. i'm undecided on flock, waay too much stuff going on in flock, it's like someone vomited the internet all over my browser. i don't need the whole myplace thing, i don't do flickr or youtube, myspace or any of that garbage that's littered all over flock. then when i remove it all, i end up with firefox with IE icons, lol.

[K.Mandla]

In relatively decreasing order of "weight" ...

Kazehakase (http://packages.ubuntu.com/kazehakase)
Midori (http://software.twotoasts.de/?page=midori)
NetSurf (http://www.netsurf-browser.org/)
hv3 (http://tkhtml.tcl.tk/hv3.html)
Dillo (http://packages.ubuntu.com)
links2 -g (http://packages.ubuntu.com/links2)
elinks (http://packages.ubuntu.com/elinks)

Some are still in alpha, but quite usable. Midori looks promising. NetSurf works for me, but seems a little scant.

And some will require you to use the dreaded CLI to compile them! :shock:

[RAV TUX]

recommend me a browser. i've been using firefox, and have been for years, i love the interface. however, after the past few upgrades, firefox/swiftfox has become rather buggy for me, not starting, crashing, etc.

anyhow, i installed flock last night, but didn't have much time to mess around with it. not sure if i like everything it has going on (like, a baziilion tabs of useless junk). but again, i haven't really used it yet, so i haven't had time to arrange it how i would like it.

anyhow, knowing that i love(d) firefox, what would others recommend?

apt: opera9.50b (http://www.opera.com/download/get.pl?distro=ubuntu&id=30253%2C30252&location=210&sub=++++&x=105&y=11)

apt:konqueror

apt:kazehakase

[racoq]

To be honest, Epiphany is no faster, but at least it uses a GTK+ interface.

See my signature for my hopes.

Agreed.. people usually say that epiphany is faster than Firefox, i don't iknow where they base their benchmarchs since it seens as fast as Firefox, and since it uses the gecko engine, and doesn't have as many features as as extensible as firefox, for me is nothing more than a "crippled" Firefox.



Using opera does no good, it is closed source.

So what? I've test it either on Linux and Windows (and is in fact the default browser for me in windows), and it beats the hell of any browser that exist. If it's a good product and it is free (although not open source), i don't see why we have to be "extremist" about a software, and not use it It doesn't make sense to me and to the majority of users.

[svtfmook]

what do i do with:

apt:kazehakase

anyhow, flock seems to take up a little more memory than swiftfox. but it's been going ok for me since i stripped it of all that was supposed to make it so good.

[racoq]

what do i do with:

apt:kazehakase

anyhow, flock seems to take up a little more memory than swiftfox. but it's been going ok for me since i stripped it of all that was supposed to make it so good.

Really svtfmook, try to adjust to Opera, it is really your best chance. I know that the tab behavior is a little different but you can in some cases override its behavior using shortcuts. Besides that, it is the faster browser in existence in web rendering, and for me the lighter browser of the leading browsers,

[bruce89]

Agreed.. people usually say that epiphany is faster than Firefox, i don't iknow where they base their benchmarchs since it seens as fast as Firefox, and since it uses the gecko engine, and doesn't have as many features as as extensible as firefox, for me is nothing more than a "crippled" Firefox.

That's not what I was getting at. I like it because it has no non-free stuff, and is a real part of GNOME. Once WebKit is up and running, it will beat Opera in terms of speed I think.

[Darkhack]

In my opinion, all browsers suck. It's a matter of finding the lesser of the evils. WebKit is the superior rendering engine but the problem is that the GTK+ port is still very immature. I wouldn't expect it to be implemented in Epiphany by 2.22. The Epiphany team is still dedicated to Gecko and I doubt that that WebKit GTK+ port will be mature enough by then. If you've ever tried to compile SVN builds of Epiphany against WebKit, you'll know what I am talking about. It's barely usable. That's not the fault of the Epiphany people of course.

Personally I'm fed up with all the options that are out there. Sorry to make a shameless plug, but I'm actually working on my own browser which I hope to release around April with Hardy Heron; or at the very least, get something usable out. Epiphany's source code is old and has gotten far too large for what it is and the extensions interface isn't adequate, in my opinion.

Until then (because I know you'll all be anxiously awaiting my awesome browser *ego boost*), I recommend Firefox if you can't live without extensions, Konqueror for KDE people, and Epiphany for GNOME.

[racoq]

That's not what I was getting at. I like it because it has no non-free stuff, and is a real part of GNOME. Once WebKit is up and running, it will beat Opera in terms of speed I think.

I doubt that, opera beats the living crap of the other browsers, and the next version will be even faster.

The following link is one of the few reliable benchmarks i have ever seen about browser speed, and it compares with safary (who uses webkit), guess who wins ;)


http://nontroppo.org/timer/kestrel_tests/ (http://nontroppo.org/timer/kestrel_tests/)

[bruce89]

I doubt that, opera beats the living crap of the other browsers, and the next version will be even faster.

The following link is one of the few reliable benchmarks i have ever seen about browser speed, and it compares with safary (who uses webkit), guess who wins ;)


I don't care for speed, I want something light and free. Gecko is hopeless as it is memory hungry and doesn't render widgets natively (yet).

Also, tests are unfair, as they are completely fake, and don't deal with real world performance.

[racoq]

I don't care for speed, I want something light and free.

Also, tests are unfair, as they are completely fake, and don't deal with real world performance.

Opera is light and it is free, although not open source. Personally i don't care about this last point, since i'm no programmer i care about speed and stability.

Perhaps you can provide me with more "real" benchmarks?

[bruce89]

Opera is light and it is free, although not open source. Personally i don't care about this last point, since i'm no programmer i care about speed and stability.

Perhaps you can provide me with more "real" benchmarks?

There are no such things.

See http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=3584224&postcount=19 anyway. It suggests Epiphany/Webkit is about 2, Opera 8.50 is about 5 seconds.

Anyway, I'd rather have a GTK+ browser than a non-free QT one.

[racoq]

Glad you edited your post to provide me with a benckmark ;)

Epiphany with webkit in terms of speed its interesting, However epiphany with or without webkit, is not as extensible as Firefox, or even Opera.

I don't like "crippled" browsers

[Seisen]

I have to say try out Kazahakase like K. Mandla and RavTux recommended. I like it better than Firefox myself.

[smartboyathome]

Glad you edited your post to provide me with a benckmark ;)

Epiphany with webkit in terms of speed its interesting, However epiphany with or without webkit, is not as extensible as Firefox, or even Opera.

I don't like "crippled" browsers

Epiphany is already is extensible, it just doesn't have the big audiences like Opera and Firefox. :(

[lisc998]

It seems that nothing is perfect, and everything is always going to be better. How many times have I rebuilt my PC with different distro, switched to Dillo or Lynx or Konqueror or iceape. I just want the PC to be a tool, so I've moved all three of my systems to Ubuntu, and I will just use Firefox, I'm sure I would have got around to using it again anyway!

[undine]

Glad you edited your post to provide me with a benckmark ;)

Epiphany with webkit in terms of speed its interesting, However epiphany with or without webkit, is not as extensible as Firefox, or even Opera.

I don't like "crippled" browsers

1. On my system at least, Epiphany is always ahead on the benchmarks over FF2 -- FF3 has an edge, though.

2. It is far, far more stable than Firefox for me. I could set my watch by the regularity with which Firefox crashes.

3. Like many applications in the GNOME suite, Epiphany might not have all the features of some of its more bloated cousins, but I would submit that it has all the needful ones. Minimalist? Yes. Cripped? No. Although I can fully appreciate why some people might prefer Firefox because of certain features it has available through add-ons and whatnot (I myself, am rather fond of download helper and Flashblock).

[koleoptero]

Am I the only person whose firefox never crashes? :confused:

[Mazza558]

It's a real shame in terms of Linux browsers - they all crash! The one that crashes least is probably Opera, which is only every half hour, and that's not bad. Firefox crashes (with no addons) after opening 3 or more tabs, or if I try and scroll the page before it's loaded. This is on both my PCs, and I have no crashes at all XP. I suspect it's the grahpics drivers for both ATi and Nvidia.

[Takmadeus]

I reommend you use links2

fastest strongest uncluttered browser around

[bruce89]

Am I the only person whose firefox never crashes? :confused:

Yes. (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/firefox/) 646 opened bugs.

[Whiffle]

I happen to be a fan of konqueror as a browser. The only thing I miss from firefox are some of the extensions, but konqueror has everything i need and more. The adblock feature works nice, web shortcuts are awesome, and its fast as hell. Not to mention, it does way more than just browse. Right now I have 3 web pages, 3 pdf files (one tab of which is doing a split view...nothing like looking at the answer key and the questions at the same time), I'm ftp'd into my school webspace and my home folder has its own tab. It also controls Amarok from the sidebar. Did I mention its freakishly fast too?

[Rotarychainsaw]

Woah, Galeon needs a better marketing department. I thought it just switched names to epiphany. I'm trying out Galeon and I like it a lot, seems to fix the little problems I felt were there with Epiphany. Epiphany feels a little faster though.

Also it looks like Galeon and Epiphany handle colors a little differently. Interesting.

Oh wait, wikipedia says development stopped around 2005? Maybe Galeon is using an older gecko and thats why it feels slower.

[bruce89]

Woah, Galeon needs a better marketing department. I thought it just switched names to epiphany. I'm trying out Galeon and I like it a lot, seems to fix the little problems I felt were there with Epiphany. Epiphany feels a little faster though.

Also it looks like Galeon and Epiphany handle colors a little differently. Interesting.

Epiphany is essentially a fork of Galeon. The Epiphany people wanted something more GNOMEy, but the other Galeon people didn't.

I thought Galeon was supposed to merge back with Epiphany.

[koleoptero]

Yes. (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/firefox/) 646 opened bugs.

Well it's probably because of that, that firefox works fine with me. If it was stable I wouldn't be able to even run it :lolflag:

Opera is the best of all browsers imho, but it looks like s*** in gnome.

[silviur]

Am I the only person whose firefox never crashes? :confused:

Mine never crashed so far on Ubuntu, but it did a lot on XP! :)

[SomeGuyDude]

Swiftweasel has been just delicious for me. I like Opera, but until I can figure out how to get some of my Greasemonkey scripts to work in it (I'm looking at you Homestar Runner script...), I just can't make the switch.

[Incense]

Am I the only person whose firefox never crashes? :confused:

On Ubuntu my firefox crashed all the time, but it's stable and fast on openSUSE. Don't really know why.

Konqueror has my vote for an alternative.Does everything I need.

[bruce89]

On Ubuntu my firefox crashed all the time, but it's stable and fast on openSUSE. Don't really know why.


All these crashes are most like due to bad extensions.


Opera is the best of all browsers imho, but it looks like s*** in gnome.

What do you expect of a QT browser in a GTK+ environment.

Konqueror's engine is very good, and was forked to become WebKit. People are preparing WebKit to be the GNOME engine.

[sports fan Matt]

is there a fast and easy way to install swiftweasel? Im not sure what package i need but I do know i have between 382-384 memory and a celeron processor..just want to try it out..Thanks

[Scruffynerf]

Kazahakase ++
ELynx +
Epiphany

[Takmadeus]

Links2 is the best browser... when you load iut in graphics mode it looks so good, and runs so fast....

Tabbed browsing and extensions did not exist in the past, and still everyone was happy... we are growing accustomed to things that bloat the browsers...

Just my 2 cents

[yatt]

and speaking of webkit and epiphany....when's that going to be available to normal people?Long time. Debian has it in its repos (experimental IIRC, but it may be sid).It is not ready yet. At all. You need to render the page in epiphany-gecko in order to get it to render in epiphany-webkit. Otherwise, it will just display the text on the page. I must admit, I have not used it in a bit as it is broken right now. It is looking in a library for a symbol that does not exist.

It is on the Gnome 2.22 release wishlist, I hope it is ready, but doubt it will be.

[yatt]

On Ubuntu my firefox crashed all the time, but it's stable and fast on openSUSE. Don't really know why.

Konqueror has my vote for an alternative.Does everything I need.Really? Ubuntu has had one of the best Firefoxes I have tried. Debian's is decent, but memleaks quicker. Most others are bad.

[TeaSwigger]

I've been trying Opera and find it the fastest full featured browser I've ever used (I'm running Kubuntu and suppose things may be different in Gnome). However I'm not completely comfortable with the closed source point, so will eventually give the other open source options another shake. Konqueror is an easy second to me (again, on Kubuntu).


Mine never crashed so far on Ubuntu, but it did a lot on XP! :)

+1. Firefox (Swiftfox, to be precise) hasn't once crashed on me in Linux yet, but did crash on me with some regularity in XP. Unfortunately it seems to be riddled with memory leaks and tends to be a bit sluggish on my system, rather more like what I'd expect from the big Mozilla suite, not what its initial premise asserted.

[TeaSwigger]

is there a fast and easy way to install swiftweasel? Im not sure what package i need but I do know i have between 382-384 memory and a celeron processor..just want to try it out..Thanks

Swiftfox or IceWeasel? ;) Assuming Swiftfox. Which Celeron; PC or laptop, and if PC how old is the PC? Yeah doesn't everything get complicated... but once that's figured it's easy. Grab the right .deb here:
http://getswiftfox.com/debian.htm
and install as they describe. Then you can remove it with Synaptic if you want to later.

[SomeGuyDude]

Links2 is the best browser... when you load iut in graphics mode it looks so good, and runs so fast....

Tabbed browsing and extensions did not exist in the past, and still everyone was happy... we are growing accustomed to things that bloat the browsers...

Just my 2 cents

GUI's and such bloat OS's yet you're not gonna find too many of us scrapping those. There's a reason Ubuntu is the most popular Linux distro.

I did a little experiment. I installed Epiphany and only used one tab at a time. I was quickly reminded why I leapt at Firefox and why IE7 was forced to have tabs: I sometimes look at more than one thing. You know how we avoided tabs in the past? We opened up new instances. I'd have six or seven browser windows open and that was just HELL to organize. It's why I used Neoplanet back in ~1999.

Everyone has a threshold of responsiveness to functionality. Firefox is reaching that point for me, but then... it's customizable. I only put on as many as I want. So I try to limit myself to <10 tabs and only have a handful of extensions.

[gh23l]

I use the epiphany-gecko package form debian-sid and it works really well. Furthermore you don't need to have firefox installed. There's also an epihany-webkit available, but unfortunately it's kind of buggy, crushes very often, doesn't support back and forward moves and doesn't support Return/Enter-key (at least on my ubuntu-gutsy-system). On the other side the speed is impressive and I'm sure it will win every benchmark-test. And the font-rendering looks beautiful as well. So, I can't wait for further improvements on the epiphany-webkit-package!

[RAV TUX]

recommend me a browser. i've been using firefox, and have been for years, i love the interface. however, after the past few upgrades, firefox/swiftfox has become rather buggy for me, not starting, crashing, etc.

anyhow, i installed flock last night, but didn't have much time to mess around with it. not sure if i like everything it has going on (like, a baziilion tabs of useless junk). but again, i haven't really used it yet, so i haven't had time to arrange it how i would like it.

anyhow, knowing that i love(d) firefox, what would others recommend?



apt: opera9.50b (http://www.opera.com/download/get.pl?distro=ubuntu&id=30253%2C30252&location=210&sub=++++&x=105&y=11)

apt:konqueror

apt:kazehakase

Did you try any of the 3 I suggested?...if so what did you think of them?

[n3tfury]

another vote for opera.

[SM0k3]

I using Opera right now it's definitely faster than firefox, but the flash plugin is really unstable in this broswer for some reason. I had the same problem with Firefox causing me to have to force kill the process like every 10 minutes.

[John_5]

Opera is possibly the best internet browser. Ever.

[artvds2708]

IceApe

[Malcolm]

Ever since I moved to Epiphany I haven't looked back. Every time I try a different browser, I really miss the bookmarks system (including "smart bookmarks") I use in Epiphany, it's really great.
It has its defects, and I wish it was a little more configurable; but its interface is very clean and polished, and it integrates perfectly in Gnome.

[Mateo]

Ever since I moved to Epiphany I haven't looked back. Every time I try a different browser, I really miss the bookmarks system (including "smart bookmarks") I use in Epiphany, it's really great.
It has its defects, and I wish it was a little more configurable; but its interface is very clean and polished, and it integrates perfectly in Gnome.

same opinion here (although i wish bookmarks could be arranged to your liking).

[crimesaucer]

I keep trying to give Epiphany a chance, but I like Swiftfox so much better.

[daynah]

It's a real shame in terms of Linux browsers - they all crash! The one that crashes least is probably Opera, which is only every half hour, and that's not bad. Firefox crashes (with no addons) after opening 3 or more tabs, or if I try and scroll the page before it's loaded. This is on both my PCs, and I have no crashes at all XP. I suspect it's the grahpics drivers for both ATi and Nvidia.

Yeah... I would suspect that's a problem with your computer. When "we" are talking about browers crashing, I don't think any of us mean that ALL of them crash and the best times we get is 30 minutes. How... How are you surfing the internet?

About Opera: I live and die by Opera. But this new beta just aint ready for the linux world yet. Under Construction. Let them work on it, the Opera Devs always put out finished, professional products. But this beta crashes on me maybe every two hours. Grr.

[Onyros]

Yeah... I would suspect that's a problem with your computer. When "we" are talking about browers crashing, I don't think any of us mean that ALL of them crash and the best times we get is 30 minutes. How... How are you surfing the internet?

About Opera: I live and die by Opera. But this new beta just aint ready for the linux world yet. Under Construction. Let them work on it, the Opera Devs always put out finished, professional products. But this beta crashes on me maybe every two hours. Grr.Couldn't agree more, Daynah. I had wondered if I was the only one having problems with the 9.5 beta, which to me is still unusable.

But this one's supposed to take a little longer to come out, at least according to Opera's (incredible) quality standards, what with the new rendering engine and all.

And if one's going to believe reports regarding Kestrel and the improvements on performance, it's gonna be one helluva release. Imagine the good old Opera we love... but even better. It's gonna take a lot for Firefox to catch up with it, if it ever does.

[Mateo]

why do people use Lynx instead of Elinks? They are essentially the same, except Elinks has a few better features (like tabbed browsing). The only advantage that Lynx has is a GUI browser, but if you really want a low-memory GUI browser you'd use Dillo.

[bruce89]

same opinion here (although i wish bookmarks could be arranged to your liking).

That's the point in it. You don't have to customise the layout if you choose the correct topics.



Il semble que la perfection soit atteinte non quand il n'y a plus rien à
ajouter, mais quand il n'y a plus rien à retrancher.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

[Mateo]

That's the point in it. You don't have to customise the layout if you choose the correct topics.

No, I meant arrange the order. I have a folder "Links" that i use on my toolbar. However, the links inside that folder aren't in the order I'd like them to be. And there's no way to control that.

[bruce89]

No, I meant arrange the order. I have a folder "Links" that i use on my toolbar. However, the links inside that folder aren't in the order I'd like them to be. And there's no way to control that.

I see, it's alphabetical I assume, and you want something else.

[EmilyRose]

Another Opera fan here... been usinf it for years... Firefox and the rest are just SO slow... I know it doesnt show up on broadband near as much but you can really tell on dial up!!

And I love, love, love the cpntent blocker! I always forget how many ads there are generally on the web untill I go somewhere and ise IE/ /firefox...

[kodak]

Epiphany plans to use the Webkit engine in Gnome 2.22. March 2008 release.

[crimesaucer]

I'm brand new to Netscape 9.0.0.3 and so far it's been really nice.


I had been using Swiftfox on Archlinux xfce4 and it was very fast, I also had Swiftfox and Swiftweasel on xubuntu before that and it was very fast, plus I've tried Opera and Epiphany on xubuntu.


Then, recently on Arch, I've been giving Epiphany more of a try because I want to see if I could get used to it, but I still can't get over some of the things I miss from Firefox/Swiftfox. Then I tested the Firefox 3 alphas and beta 1 some, but it's not ready yet.


But last night I installed Netscape 9.0.0.3, and I have found that it is faster than Swiftfox was, has enough of my important Firefox add-ons available, and is as easy to customize with userChrome.css as Firefox is.


I also think the pages load faster than Opera and Epiphany, with that same solid, stable feeling that Opera and Epiphany have when opening and loading pages. Java, adobe-reader, and Flash, as well as all mplayer plug-ins worked directly after install. So far, Netscape feels like my new browser until the stable Firefox/Swiftfox 3 versions are ready.

[tehkain]

Epiphany plans to use the Webkit engine in Gnome 2.22. March 2008 release.

I cant wait a working beta/alpha. I have it on my debian box and its nice but very early(no working buttons). Webkit really is a very fine platform.