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Otter Browser

otter-browser.org

21–30 of 98 posts

Re: Otter Browser

#21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd love to go back to 1999 and see everyone's reaction when I tell them that almost everyone in the 2020s uses a browser derived from Konqueror, and that you have your choice of Konqueror derivatives from Apple, Google, or Microsoft. Whoever named it was more prescient than they realized.

There’s an old turn of phrase, first comes the Navigator, then comes the Explorer, then…

I guess we’ll all have the browser engines run on Kubernetes in a few years huh?

Re: Otter Browser

#22

I'm not well versed enough in the Browser Wars to say one thing or another about except this: I like the name. It lends it self to saying "I use the Otter browser" which is not just a great pun but the pun on 'other' defines what Otter is, the "other" browser. The web needs independent browsers. We need to get rid of the idea that websites are designed to work on any one technology. They should work on any browser th…

They should work on any browser that supports the standards.

10-15 years ago I would agree, but now I feel I must add something to that sentence: any browser that supports the standards before they became Google-ified because it is churning the standards so much that its weapon of monopoly is effectively change --- Firefox can barely keep up, and Microsoft already surrendered.

What we really need to get rid of is the idea that websites are designed to work only on the very latest version of Google's browser or one derived from it. Text-and-images "formatted document" pages should absolutely not require JS just to show their content, and readable with a text-based browser too.

Even webapps, which are more sensitive to browser environments due to their heavy use of JS, should not stop working on an older browser just because a newer version appeared --- after all, it did work before. I really don't understand the rabid trendchasing and forced deprecation the webdev community seems to love so much. All I see are webapps getting slower and ceasing to work, namely doing almost the same thing they could be doing decades ago.

Re: Otter Browser

#23
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The web needs independent browsers...[websites] should work on any browser Unfortunately, independence ends with the choice between WebKit (QtWebKit) or Blink (QtWebEngine), albeit with a faithful Opera 12-like interface that's less resource hungry than Vivaldi. Otter is still in development and it shows in some rough spots and occasional crashes.

There’s also the Gecko engine, Firefox does still exist.

And it's quite good. I switched over a little over a year ago, and I have no regrets.

Re: Otter Browser

#24
post #20

It's in the Homebrew repo, so installing is as easy as $ brew install otter-browser What's also interesting, is that the tab-close button is on the left of the tab, like every other macOS application. Other browsers (Chrome, Firefox) put it stubbornly on the right.

Here's a Firefox userChrome.css workaround that moves the close button to the left side of the tab:

https://github.com/MrOtherGuy/firefox-csshacks/blob/master/c...

Re: Otter Browser

#25
post #8

I'm not well versed enough in the Browser Wars to say one thing or another about except this: I like the name. It lends it self to saying "I use the Otter browser" which is not just a great pun but the pun on 'other' defines what Otter is, the "other" browser. The web needs independent browsers. We need to get rid of the idea that websites are designed to work on any one technology. They should work on any browser th…

> The web needs independent browsers...[websites] should work on any browser Unfortunately, independence ends with the choice between WebKit (QtWebKit) or Blink (QtWebEngine), albeit with a faithful Opera 12-like interface that's less resource hungry than Vivaldi. Otter is still in development and it shows in some rough spots and occasional crashes.

QtWebkit has been deprecated for a long time, and removed from Qt6. If you use it, you'll run into 'not supported' messages on most Google websites.

Re: Otter Browser

#26
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The web needs independent browsers...[websites] should work on any browser Unfortunately, independence ends with the choice between WebKit (QtWebKit) or Blink (QtWebEngine), albeit with a faithful Opera 12-like interface that's less resource hungry than Vivaldi. Otter is still in development and it shows in some rough spots and occasional crashes.

There’s also the Gecko engine, Firefox does still exist.

I was referring to a choice between WebKit and Chromium/Blink in Otter, not the web in general, though the sheer resources required to keep up with the Web(R) from other players may be leading us that way (hopefully not).

For example, after switching the preferred engine in about:config, it's even possible to leave Otter in a transitional state, having one tab load a web page in WebKit, and another in Blink, in the same running application.

Re: Otter Browser

#27
post #20

It's in the Homebrew repo, so installing is as easy as $ brew install otter-browser What's also interesting, is that the tab-close button is on the left of the tab, like every other macOS application. Other browsers (Chrome, Firefox) put it stubbornly on the right.

Here's a Firefox userChrome.css workaround that moves the close button to the left side of the tab: https://github.com/MrOtherGuy/firefox-csshacks/blob/master/c...

I have something like it, but this one looks better maintained. Thanks!

Re: Otter Browser

#28
Really disappointed by the marketing of these projects. No information whatsoever regarding why I should both download and use the browser. I understand that's something related to Opera revamping, but I just don't understand why such projects don't invest 5 minutes of time explaining features in plain English, and relegate everything to a niche. What a pity.

Re: Otter Browser

#29

I'm not well versed enough in the Browser Wars to say one thing or another about except this: I like the name. It lends it self to saying "I use the Otter browser" which is not just a great pun but the pun on 'other' defines what Otter is, the "other" browser. The web needs independent browsers. We need to get rid of the idea that websites are designed to work on any one technology. They should work on any browser th…

They should work on any browser that supports the standards. 10-15 years ago I would agree, but now I feel I must add something to that sentence: any browser that supports the standards before they became Google-ified because it is churning the standards so much that its weapon of monopoly is effectively change --- Firefox can barely keep up, and Microsoft already surrendered. What we really need to get rid of is the…

And, let's be clear, Google's ability to enact change is a result of their pervasive influence over the internet.

It took _years_ for XMLHTTPRequest to become a dominant influence on site design. Google can push new standard changes in fraction of the time because _their services demand it_.

> Even webapps, which are more sensitive to browser environments due to their heavy use of JS, should not stop working on an older browser just because a newer version appeared

Those are vendor-bound apps.

They're Google Chrome Apps, not web apps.

Re: Otter Browser

#30
post #8

I'm not well versed enough in the Browser Wars to say one thing or another about except this: I like the name. It lends it self to saying "I use the Otter browser" which is not just a great pun but the pun on 'other' defines what Otter is, the "other" browser. The web needs independent browsers. We need to get rid of the idea that websites are designed to work on any one technology. They should work on any browser th…

> The web needs independent browsers...[websites] should work on any browser Unfortunately, independence ends with the choice between WebKit (QtWebKit) or Blink (QtWebEngine), albeit with a faithful Opera 12-like interface that's less resource hungry than Vivaldi. Otter is still in development and it shows in some rough spots and occasional crashes.

it would be cool if just one of those smaller browser projects was based on firefox/gecko
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