Should you switch from Chrome to Firefox?
Chrome and Firefox have both been at the top of the heap when it comes to browsers. But these days it seems like Chrome has become the king of browsers, with many Firefox users having switched over to it.
But is it time to dump Chrome and go back to Firefox? This topic came up recently in a thread on the Linux subreddit, and it drew some passionate responses.
Ardeaf started the thread with this post:
Switched to Chrome when it first came out because Firefox was imo bloated at the time. On Linux now and it looks like Firefox is more supported by the community for various reasons.
Should I be switching back?
Fellow Linux redditors responded with their thoughts about Chrome versus Firefox:
Theephie: “If you value your privacy, Firefox is probably a better choice. It's also free software. And it's always a good idea to lessen the grip Google has on our lives.
Apart from that, my motivation for using Firefox is better addons (for now at least).”
MahouMaoShoujo: “This is the most important thing. Having a lot of market share in the web space can give a company a lot of power to influence the web platform itself. Google already has way too much just considering its ubiquitous web sites.
The recent snafu about DRM being accepted by the W3C for standardization could have gone a lot different if Firefox was number 1.”
AlabamaPanda777: “Ehhh.....
If you really care about having an open browser, Firefox is better... Support a project of a company dedicated to open-source development, or support a project of a company who has been yanking basic pieces like the SMS app out of Android development to push their own closed-source alternatives. Not really a hard choice.
MeanEye: “I switch between browsers a lot since I am in part web developer. That said, Firefox Developer's edition has won me over. It's fast, stable and significantly more conservative when it comes to resources.”
Mordiken: “Just be aware, though, that by choosing a chormium based browser both you an I are part of an ever growing problem: Chrome is now the new IE. There's a stupid trend of sites starting to pop up that are designed for chromium and friends, which means that other browsers will have a tough time redering them correctly, which sucks. But this trend exists because chrome is, frankly, a great browser, and bot FF and IE/Edge have to play catch up and improve their game.”
Shvchk: “I'd recommend Firefox (see why below), but make sure multi process is enabled, as it makes FF much more responsive. It is enabled by default, but gets turned off if you have some addons which are not explicitly marked as compatible. So go to about:support and check, and if it is disabled create a new boolean pref named browser.tabs.remote.force-enable and set it to true in about:config (browser restart required for this to take effect). You might also want to force enable hardware acceleration. I have both force enabled with ~20 addons and have had no issues.”
Onodera-punpun: “Well yes of course, chrome is a closed source browser, at the very least use chromium.”
TechnicolourSocks: “Given the opportunity Google wouldn't hesitate and turn Android Open Source Project and Chromium into their own equivalent of Darwin/XNU --- barely compilable dump of code that won't remotely function unless you hunt down all the proprietary missing pieces and glue them together yourself.”
Doorknob60: “Honestly, use whatever works for you. I use both browsers and they are both good. But if you haven't tried Firefox in a while, definitely give it a shot. It is a bit more open source friendly which is a plus.”
Linux.com reviews Endless OS
Linux offers an amazing number of distributions to choose from, and now Endless OS is yet another option. A writer at Linux.com has a full review of Endless OS.
Jack Wallen reports for Linux.com:
You may not have heard of Endless OS. It happens to be the platform that powers Endless Computers (which includes the uniquely shaped, Endless One). The operating system is not just limited to Endless hardware, though. In fact, you can install the OS on standard systems (or as a virtual machine) and discover a rather interesting take on Linux.
This is not your traditional, über-flexible, do everything Linux distribution. Endless OS is something different—an operating system that is truly ideal for those wanting to break ties with proprietary systems, but don’t want to face a steep learning curve (or any learning curve, for that matter). Endless OS is likely the easiest operating system platform you’ll ever experience.
Of course, that expanded user-friendliness comes at a cost. And, said cost is that Endless OS isn’t Linux like you’ve come to know and love. Upon installation, what you’ll find is an incredibly streamlined experience with limited power and flexibility. Forked from GNOME 3.8, Endless OS uses its own EOS Shell that is somewhat Android-like in its layout (Figure 1) and behavior.
In the end, Endless OS is a desktop that offers a very mobile-like experience, while retaining a slight Linux flavor. New users can get up to speed without hesitation and seasoned Linux users might quickly grow frustrated with the lack of flexibility. All in all, however, Endless OS should be considered a very unique take on Linux that fills a gap for new users looking for a desktop platform that doesn’t hit them with too many options, offers a familiar desktop metaphor, and makes getting work done easy.
A Microsoft employee combines Linux and surfing
Microsoft has had a…er…controversial history with Linux. But the company has changed in recent years, and has taken a more positive attitude toward Linux.
One Microsoft employee recently shared his experience combining surfing at the beach and Linux on his desktop.
Thomas Stringer writes on Medium:
There are two things you don’t see everyday… A surfer (rider of waves, dancing with the Ocean, long salty hair, lives by the tide) and a Linux user (Linux everywhere, free and open source software)… as the same person. Well, that’s me. And I love it.
Like many Linux users, customizing the desktop experience is fun. So I took the surf approach to that. As a surfer, I’m always keeping an eye on what the Ocean is doing. And I’m awake and programming on my Linux machine really early. Long before the sun is up. Before first light, you have nothing to look at but buoy readings and swell charts.
So I put that info on my desktop!
This was fun. A huge mixture of things I really love: the Ocean, Linux, and Python.
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