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Helium Browser

helium.computer

211–220 of 561 posts

Re: Helium Browser

#211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The real problems with Gecko is just that it’s harder to fork That goes contrary to my experience. I'm a maintainer of a Firefox fork (with rather extensive changes to a lot of the internals), and it is pretty manageable to maintain. We manage to keep it roughly up to date and add new features without financial backing or folks working full-time on it. If all you do is change the branding and apply some superficial…

Thats interesting. Thanks for sharing. Why do you think that very few projects adopt Gecko then?

I'm somewhat uncertain personally about the future of Mozilla myself, as well as compatibility issues and a lack of mindshare.

Also, I feel working with the Chromium codebase is easier if you only apply superficial changes, e.g., the linked browser. The patch files are all very simple, so the fact that Chrome is generally less crufty (Mozilla is working on cleaning up a lot of ancient stuff, which causes us a lot of pain but is probably great in the long term), simply due to being newer, might make it easier to get started. Although I always felt the most significant hurdle (if you know C++ and JavaScript sufficiently well to patch a Browser) is getting the stuff to build, Mozilla is doing reasonably well on that front. Building Firefox always felt less annoying than building Chromium.

Re: Helium Browser

#212
post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hopefully the Ladybird browser will become a viable choice soon

I hope that not. Or at least, get out of the control of the controversial person behind it. If I would put all the eggs on a basket, I will prefer Servo.

> the controversial person behind

Did I miss a controversy somewhere?

Re: Helium Browser

#213
post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hopefully the Ladybird browser will become a viable choice soon

I hope that not. Or at least, get out of the control of the controversial person behind it. If I would put all the eggs on a basket, I will prefer Servo.

What are you talking about? You’re referring to Andreas Kling, right? All I’m finding is he used to work at Nokia, then on WebKit at Apple, then founded SerenityOS, and now works on Ladybird full time. He says he was a drug addict, but is now many years clean, surely that’s not what you’re taking issue with?

Re: Helium Browser

#214

> Helium is based on Chromium > Best privacy by default Sorry, pass... Even with un-googled Chromium I do not think these statements are self-consistent. We need browsers that do not allow Google to control the ecosystem. We need legitimate competition. So what, our choices are Firefox (Gecko), Safari (WebKit), and Ladybird? Personally I go with Firefox on most devices and Orion (WebKit) on my iPhone and iPad. > Heli…

A browser being based on Chromium has nothing to do with how private it is. Yes you are furthering an internet monopoly by using chromium. But there is noncorrelation between being based of Chromium and Privacy.

Re: Helium Browser

#215

> Helium is based on Chromium > Best privacy by default Sorry, pass... Even with un-googled Chromium I do not think these statements are self-consistent. We need browsers that do not allow Google to control the ecosystem. We need legitimate competition. So what, our choices are Firefox (Gecko), Safari (WebKit), and Ladybird? Personally I go with Firefox on most devices and Orion (WebKit) on my iPhone and iPad. > Heli…

The answer is to get rid of the web, JS, and HTTP. I’m working on it.

Okay, what's the plan?

Re: Helium Browser

#216

> Helium is based on Chromium > Best privacy by default Sorry, pass... Even with un-googled Chromium I do not think these statements are self-consistent. We need browsers that do not allow Google to control the ecosystem. We need legitimate competition. So what, our choices are Firefox (Gecko), Safari (WebKit), and Ladybird? Personally I go with Firefox on most devices and Orion (WebKit) on my iPhone and iPad. > Heli…

> Even with un-googled Chromium I do not think these statements are self-consistent. We need browsers that do not allow Google to control the ecosystem. We need legitimate competition. If you fork Chromium, Google doesn't control the ecosystem, it controls a large part of it. But you're able to build on top of that ecosystem. So you can have the best of both worlds, all the extensions and ecosystem from Chrome but wi…

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Re: Helium Browser

#217

In the "choose a default search engine" page, it has a slightly amusing summary for each. > Google > Your personal data fuels its monopoly. Market-dominant due to anti-competitive and anti-consumer practices. > Qwant > Based in Europe. Uses Bing results. Sends tracking data to Microsoft. > DuckDuckGo > Privacy-focused. Relies on Bing results but never tracks or profiles you. > Ecosia > May plant trees for clicking ad…

Please review your opinion about Qwant, the overwhelming majority of search results are produced internally and they are very clear about what isn't: https://betterweb.qwant.com/en/2023/09/18/web-indexing-where... In Europe they are still IMHO the best option for an independent search engine.

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Re: Helium Browser

#218
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not OP, but I use vertical tabs with Vivaldi. Pretty happy with it; I tried basically all browsers out there, fully switching to them for some time even if I didn't even like them, and after all that time I found Vivaldi the best overall browser right now (for me).

+1 for Vivaldi, so many options

tried vivaldi and it felt really bloated and clunky to me, atleast compared to zen, is that just how it is or is it much better after configuration?

Re: Helium Browser

#219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope that not. Or at least, get out of the control of the controversial person behind it. If I would put all the eggs on a basket, I will prefer Servo.

> the controversial person behind Did I miss a controversy somewhere?

The "controversy" is probably referring to this: https://lunduke.locals.com/post/5823666/ladybird-web-browser...

Re: Helium Browser

#220

I just can't go back to horizontal tabs anymore.

What are you using instead?

Edge for me, since it has the single best implementation of vertical tabs on the market, with smooth expand on hover. Every time I try other browsers, I am immediately put off by how lacking in polish vertical tabs feel in comparison and go back.
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