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Desktop Linux has a Firefox problem

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Re: Desktop Linux has a Firefox problem

#11

Post by bobnamob »

hsbauauvhabzb wrote: post #8
midasuni wrote: post #2

As a firefox and desktop linux user I don’t see any problem

Open a new tab and you’ll see advertisements in your homepage (which afaict you cannot change to a non default page) Open a 1080p YouTube video and watch your processor get slammed. No, I do not want to install an unvetted third party plug-in. If nothing else, flag that the browser doesn’t support hardware acceleration when playing videos, in easy to understand terminology so I, and thousands of others don’t have to…

You can turn off suggested links on the new tab page through the cog in the top right corner. That’s been the case for years

Re: Desktop Linux has a Firefox problem

#12

Post by sillywalk »

Mozilla has a revenue problem, sort of like Netscape. It's main product is free and doesn't directly generate revenue except through Google ads. Using Firefox to get the people who use Firefox to use Mozilla's revenue generators - Pocket or VPN through ads in the browser won't work.

Google pays it to select it as the default browser, but Firefox' tiny declining market probably makes Google want to not to continue this except perhaps as a way to avoid monopoly stuff.

Re: Desktop Linux has a Firefox problem

#13

Post by lastgeniusua »

hsbauauvhabzb wrote: post #8
midasuni wrote: post #2

As a firefox and desktop linux user I don’t see any problem

Open a new tab and you’ll see advertisements in your homepage (which afaict you cannot change to a non default page) Open a 1080p YouTube video and watch your processor get slammed. No, I do not want to install an unvetted third party plug-in. If nothing else, flag that the browser doesn’t support hardware acceleration when playing videos, in easy to understand terminology so I, and thousands of others don’t have to…

not only can you easily turn off any ads or suggestions, but you can set custom urls in easily-accessible settings at about:preferences#home

Re: Desktop Linux has a Firefox problem

#14

Post by geophile »

Can someone knowledgeable comment on the possibility of VivLdi becoming the de facto standard browser for Linux? I played with it a little, thought it worked well, and most notably, it worked well for websites that gave Firefox trouble.

Re: Desktop Linux has a Firefox problem

#15

Post by marcodiego »

Together, Linux + ChromeOS (much closer to standard GNU+Linux than Android) have something between 6% and 7% of the desktop. I don't remember people saying the same about MacOS when it was around that mark.

Of course, we must be realistic. Linux around 6% is very different from MacOS at 6%. In that case, they already had support from items people complain to this day about Linux not having; main examĺes are msoffice and photoshop.

Nevertheless, Linux on the desktop has never been so good. Flatpak (or even AppImages and snaps) allow me to have a "stable core" with recently updated software. Support for most hardware is much better now (looks like most vendors make sure the hardware supports Linux, even though they themselves don't announce it). Pipewire and Wayland matured to the point where you can finally stream your desktop on Wayland using Pipewire. GNOME is snappier today then it was and cleaner and more elegant; of course we still need some consistency but windows suffers from that too; and, look, it even has thumbnails on the file picker! The kernel evolved to a point where desktop is just another well supported system: MGLRU and other improvements made latency on the desktop even under memory pressure just ideal.

The environment around it also evolved a lot. Many FLOSS software are on a quality level today that mostly only professional on almost niche areas can't use Linux on the desktop. Consider Blender, Godot, Audacity, Inkscape, Firefox, OBS... these things are refined, stable, elegant and don't try to steal your attention, require periodic payments or throw ads on your face. Actually a Linux desktop user feels very sorry when they see a "standard" windows user. And I'm not even talking about proton or areas where Linux leads or is well established.

So yes, it improved. Nevertheless, I'd love to, but I don't think I'll see Linux on the desktop beat windows or MacOS. But, know one thing: I don't care. Linux on the desktop has been good enough for me for a very long time and it will only get better. I just hope someday its market share will be big enough for it to no longer be ignored by so many vendors. Watching current growth, I don't think that is too far anymore now.

Re: Desktop Linux has a Firefox problem

#17

Post by nine_k »

midasuni wrote: post #2

As a firefox and desktop linux user I don’t see any problem

As a Firefox and Linux user, I do see that problem.

Hardware video acceleration is fine now, and apparently has been for some time.

But e.g. Google Meet plainly refuses to blur the video call background when run on Firefox. It happily does that when running in Chromium.

Re: Desktop Linux has a Firefox problem

#18

Post by SushiHippie »

> In an ideal world, the major stakeholders of the Linux desktop – KDE, GNOME, the various major distributions – would get together and seriously consider a plan of action. The best possible solution, in my view, would be to fork one of the major browser engines (or pick one and significantly invest in it), and modify this engine and tailor it specifically for the Linux desktop.

Is it really the best solution to create a fork?

Why not invest in people to directly work on Firefox?

The author even mentions a few paragraphs before that sentence that maintaining a browser is hard:

> The problem here is that making a capable browser is actually incredibly hard, as the browser has become a hugely capable platform all of its own. Undertaking the mammoth task of building a browser from scratch is not something a lot of people are interested in [...]

And who guarantees that the fork will further exist without weird funding?

EDIT: sorry, after reading my comment again, I think it sounds a bit snarky. English is not my native language, and I don't know how to phrase these questions better, so they don't sound that way.

Re: Desktop Linux has a Firefox problem

#19

Post by clumsysmurf »

To be fair, its still got plenty of warts on OS X too. After all this time, putting Firefox in full screen mode results in seriously wonky & intolerable behavior. Its the only app I have that shifts all its chrome (toolbars, tabs) when you bang the top of the screen. Compare this to Safari (only the menu shifts). No, hiding all of it is not the solution.

Re: Desktop Linux has a Firefox problem

#20

Post by Beached »

marcodiego wrote: post #15

Together, Linux + ChromeOS (much closer to standard GNU+Linux than Android) have something between 6% and 7% of the desktop. I don't remember people saying the same about MacOS when it was around that mark. Of course, we must be realistic. Linux around 6% is very different from MacOS at 6%. In that case, they already had support from items people complain to this day about Linux not having; main examĺes are msoffice…

I use kubuntu as my daily driver for work for a little over 2 years now. I still run into daily issues that just make me not want to use it for my personal desktop os.

I fret Everytime I update, yet I must update due to work. but I have to schedule and plan those updates so that when the whole thing takes a shit, I can spend 2 or 3 hours fixing it. Just using the built in update utility, or apt upgrade, or really anything runs about a 10-20% chance of shit breaking. (I didn't do the math)

audio experience is terrible all around, and Bluetooth and wifi use out the box, is meh at best for range and stability.

I've tried a dozen distros to see if the grass is greener somewhere else, it isn't, and I have to work, I don't have an hour every day to fiddle, I have to bill clients.

good support is almost non existent, IF you get help, it's from some greater than thou righteous asshole who suggests you just rewrite the drivers yourself and create a pull request.

while I agree it is close, there is a still a LOT of 'polish' that needs to come where I will feel confident that hitting update doesn't ruin my day, and that when I'm done with a stress filled day of work, I'll be able to boot up and play my games without having to troubleshoot for an hour first.

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