Browsers in Lite

[smhardesty]

I just finished doing some searching for discussions about web browsers in Lite. I found a few, but none were exactly what I was looking for, and several of them were pretty dated. I hope this is the correct place to post this. If not, somebody tell me and I'll try and do better.

I have seen more than one comment on the forum about problems with Firefox and a few of you have expressed discontent with how big and bloated Firefox has become. I hold that thought myself. I went through it with Netscape, Firefox, and several Linux distros. Each of them became bigger and more bloated with every update.

So what I'd like to see is which browsers some of you are using and why you chose that specific browser over others. I know that what I'd really like to find is a browser that is lightweight, is fast, offers Flash and Java, and also a few extensions like an ad blocker and a really good download manager. Right now I have Adblock Plus, DownThemAll, and Password Exporter extensions on Firefox.

So, what's your favorite, and why?

[elelme]

Steve,
  I started, of course, with Firefox, and may go back to the improved version that is coming, or
so I have heard. Meanwhile, having used ChromeOS, I avoided the Chromium browser and instead
went to Vivaldi, which has been a pleasant experience. Have used Midori, but now it seems out of
date. Also used Qupzilla, but it, too, seems out of date. What about SeaMonkey? Can't seem to find
it in Synaptic.
  Note that I have only been weeks with Linux Lite and have a lot to learn....

[bayoubooger]

have used them all and I use chrome for convenience and don't worry about them tracking me. I don't use subversive websites, Liked seamonkey and comodo dragon. Firefox got to bloated for me.

[smhardesty]

Thanks for your reply, elelme. I don't see that the fact you've only been with Lite a few weeks is a problem. I'm just wondering what others have tried and/or are using. Vivaldi and Midori are two that I found doing 'Net research. I read as much as I could on each one. Vivaldi seemed to be a more popular alternative than Midori.

I also found and read a bit on SlimJet. While it's not real popular at this point, it seems to be garnering more attention all the time. At least that's what I was able to gather. I saw some advantages I liked with the SlimJet browser.

As for Seamonkey, that is an option I already had in the back of my head. I've used Seamonkey in the past and don't have any real problems with it. I don't think it's as fast a browser as maybe Vivaldi or SlimJet. Installing it isn't a problem. You just have to download the latest release, then decompress the tarball, and run using the ./seamonkey command. You can easily setup a launcher using the directory name followed by "seamonkey", without the quotes.

Seamonkey is actually pretty high on my list of possibles due to it also having a mail client and WYSIWYG website creator. My days of coding are over. Any website I happen to create in the future will be via some type of WYSIWYG editor. I might add a couple lines of code here or there, but all out coding is a thing of the past for me.

Thanks for offering your input!

[smhardesty]

There is another of the "too bloated" comments about Firefox. Thanks, bayoubooger. I noticed you said you "liked Seamonkey". Would you say Seamonkey is a better and faster browser than Firefox?

[bayoubooger]

Hi Steve,

Haven't tried seamonkey in many years, at least 5.

[Artim]

OMYGOSH YES!  Seamonkey has thousands fewer lines of code than Firefox!  PLUS it has a simple, Thunderbird-like e-mail client. And yet it is faster and more nimble.  Most Firefox add-ons work in Seamonkey too.  Seamonkey is the default on other lightweight distros because of it's speed, low demand on resources, and "Firefox-like" interface.  It would be an awesome first choice for Linux Lite, and in keeping with it's philosophy.

Wanna try it?


Clicky add it to Linux Lite by adding the Ubuntuzilla repository.


Open a terminal and type

Code:

sudo apt-key adv –recv-keys –keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com C1289A29

Then add the repository:

Code:

echo -e “ndeb http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/ubuntuzilla/mozilla/apt all main” | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list > /dev/null

Now you can close the terminal and open Synaptic Package Manager for a nice friendly graphical way to install Seamonkey.  Refresh Synaptic, and Seamonkey should appear among the choices now.  Simply find it and click and Mark for Installation -> Apply.

[smhardesty]

I went ahead and added an entry to my software sources and then installed Seamonkey via Synaptic. I figured I'd give it a tryout and see how well I really like it. I've used it off and on over the past few years. There is really nothing about it I don't like. I use lots less addons and extensions than I did in the past so that wasn't a big concern.

[smhardesty]

Hah! RandomBoy, you snuck your comment in JUST before I posted. Yep. That's just exactly what I did. I probably should have posted how I did that, but since you have everybody can follow your directions to install Seamonkey in an easier way. Kudos, my friend. Well played!

[Edit] If Seamonkey has that many fewer lines of code, I might have to second that motion of using Seamonkey as the default browser and mail client in Lite. And you get the WYSIWYG editor as a bonus for anyone wanting to do a little website creating.

[gold_finger]

@ smhardesty,


Don't know if you already stumbled on this, but here's a link to thread started by Jerry last year about a browser poll conducted by DistroWatch:  https://www.freecinema2022.gq/forums/on-to...atch-poll/.


Since time of that thread I've been using Vivaldi as main, full-featured browser on all computers.  I use it with uBlock Origin and uMatrix addons to block ads and all unwanted content/connections.  (Used to use Firefox and/or PaleMoon with Adblock Plus, NoScript and a couple of other addons.)  Vivaldi is faster, very customizable and I like the interface better.  All of my computers also have Firefox, Qupzilla and Dillo on them as well (and Slimjet on some of them), mainly for occasional use on sites I temporarily want access to without blocking elements that I have set-up in Vivaldi.