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Min – A smarter web browser

minbrowser.github.io

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Re: Min – A smarter web browser

#61

Post by netzone »

Traubenfuchs wrote: post #44
SwellJoe wrote: post #10

YC commenters are brutal. Not a single positive comment, so far. That feels a little unnecessarily mean, given that it's a free software project.

It doesn't add any value, compared to Chrome and does a very bad job at selling itself. Find anything instantly -> Chrome does this already. Effortless tab management -> Someone's favorite plugin gone native, I don't need or want this. Does CERTAINLY not belong in a raw browser. Built-in ad blocking -> A very little bit useful. Does not belong in a raw browser though. Fast and efficient -> Dubious claim. How did you…

Who are you to judge what belongs in a raw browser? What belongs in a browser is simply what the developers want. A "raw" browser as you say, would just be the HTML and JS engine? No need for any navigation!

Re: Min – A smarter web browser

#63

Post by chriswarbo »

bananicorn wrote: post #38
cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #16

I think the main reason people are hating on this is because it's selling itself as something it's not: A smarter browser. Should stick with its original goal. I think they created it as a "minimal" browser, hence the name.

If you're going for minimal, it won't get much more minimal than this: https://surf.suckless.org/ But at least the smart part may be of merit. And we all know what HN thinks of electron, but at least bundling chrome with a browser seems reasonable. Not for a minimalistic browser though, I think hence the branding as "a smarter browser". Oh boy, I actually set out to defend the project, but now I realize while there's…

> If you're going for minimal, it won't get much more minimal than this:

> https://surf.suckless.org

Minimal UI maybe (or maybe not; is there still a truckload of stuff when right-clicking, or pressing hotkeys, or visiting `about:something`?)

I'd say lynx, w3m, links, dillo, netsurf, etc. are all more minimal in general.

Re: Min – A smarter web browser

#64

Post by anthk »

chriswarbo wrote: post #63
bananicorn wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're going for minimal, it won't get much more minimal than this: https://surf.suckless.org/ But at least the smart part may be of merit. And we all know what HN thinks of electron, but at least bundling chrome with a browser seems reasonable. Not for a minimalistic browser though, I think hence the branding as "a smarter browser". Oh boy, I actually set out to defend the project, but now I realize while there's…

> If you're going for minimal, it won't get much more minimal than this: > https://surf.suckless.org Minimal UI maybe (or maybe not; is there still a truckload of stuff when right-clicking, or pressing hotkeys, or visiting `about:something`?) I'd say lynx, w3m, links, dillo, netsurf, etc. are all more minimal in general .

Ahem, no.

Links has right click, even Netsurf has that.

About general minimalism, dillo is perfect.

For cli, w3m and links are NOT minimal. That is netrik.

Re: Min – A smarter web browser

#65

Post by darklajid »

icebraining wrote: post #35
darklajid wrote: post #6

Ignoring the general 'Electron seems a waste of resources' (with which I partially agree with) comments: Requires 'Ubuntu' or 'macOS'? I seem to know a lot of Electron based apps that run on other Linux distributions or - gasp - even Windows. Clicking on the 'Download anyway' link brings up the GitHub release tab. With, among others, a file called 'Min-v1.6.3-win32-x64.zip'.

> With, among others, a file called 'Min-v1.6.3-win32-x64.zip' "If it compiles, it is good; if it boots up, it is perfect"? Just because the build has a Windows target doesn't mean it's a supported platform.

That ignores the "We target one random Linux distribution" thing and kinda doesn't address the point that Electron is cross-platform already. I would expect an Electron app to work where Electron works, but admit that I haven't targeted it. Any input on why that might not be the case would be appreciated.

Re: Min – A smarter web browser

#66

Post by andriesm »

This is actually Inspiring me to consider making my own visions of browsing can be improved come to fruition!

Thanks very much for the implementation idea and the source. I'm certainly gonna play with both the product and the code.

Re: Min – A smarter web browser

#68

Post by fenwick67 »

Kesty wrote: post #59
another35 wrote: post #39

> and get suggestions before you even start typing I really don't want that!

I think there is a dissonance between smart personalized suggestion and being against tracking. Which is the main downfall of DuckDuckGo they use as the smart bar search engine. If you want good suggestions and smart personalization you need to track your user. If you don't want to track your user for privacy concern, it's all good but then don't give user a product like suggestions that will always be subpar compare…

I think it's very telling that you don't consider what the user might want.

As a user I don't want to be tracked, but I want suggestions, and I'm willing to give up a little accuracy. Example: on DuckDuckGo, if I search for "int ball", it includes results for "int-ball". It doesn't need to know anything about me personally to do this.

Re: Min – A smarter web browser

#69

Post by masukomi »

pvdebbe wrote: post #23
SwellJoe wrote: post #10

YC commenters are brutal. Not a single positive comment, so far. That feels a little unnecessarily mean, given that it's a free software project.

Isn't it great, though, that we hold FLOSS projects to the same standards as the big-bucks closed software?

Why shouldn't they be? If scoped correctly to the resources of the maintainers there is no reason that open source software can't be just as good as "big-bucks closed software".

Yes, this means more focused product, that doesn't do ALL THE THINGS!!! but does a few things really well. That type of software is exactly why I use the Mac. There's a ton of indy developers out there making absolutely kick-ass focused software for it, and they do so on incredibly tight budgets. There's no reason OS software can't or shouldn't be held to high standards.

There's literally no reason the quality of the core functionality of any project can't be as good. In fact it's probably easier for an open source dev to guarantee high quality stuff if they only get off their asses and write tests. This is their passion project after all. They _should_ care about the quality of the code more because it's their baby, not just a paycheck.

Most of the open source projects out there have crap UI & UX but it's not like it's terribly hard for a geek to find a friend with decent UI skills (UX is a bit harder) and ask them to mock some stuff up for them, and then implement it. Or you know, use the $$ programmers get paid (relative to most everyone else) to hire a professional to design it.

Note: to be clear, there are many OS things out there that are just some quickie tool someone threw together and are being kind enough to share. I've got a pile of these and I have NO problem with stuff like that being somewhat rough. There's a difference between quick and dirty scripts and things that are trying come across as, and be treated as a polished product.

Re: Min – A smarter web browser

#70

Post by earenndil »

nkkollaw wrote: post #34
earenndil wrote: post #9

> Find anything instantly Aside from fuzzy search, all of this is already possible. > Effortless tab management All the things in here are already possible in firefox using addons. > Built-in ad blocking I honestly don't care if ad-blocking is built in. It's not like it's a chore that affects my day-to-day use of a browser to install an addon once for adblocking. > Fast and efficient It literally uses the same engine…

So..? What's your point? It's just as good as any other browser

But it's not. Because it's not extensible, like many other browsers.
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