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Switching to DuckDuckGo and Firefox

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Re: Switching to DuckDuckGo and Firefox

#41

Post by Wilya »

Hilyin wrote: post #7

My biggest problems with Firefox after using Chrome for so long is stability. I find that web pages can lock up the entire browser rather than just a tab, and this isn't just a rare occurrence, when I tried to give it a chance a week ago, it happened several times. I am amazed they still haven't picked up the separate process per tab feature yet.

The separate process per tabs feature has different drawbacks. Notably, it means Chrome uses more memory and can handle way less simultaneous open tabs than Firefox.

I'm glad both approaches exist.

Re: Switching to DuckDuckGo and Firefox

#42

Post by area51org »

epmatsw wrote: post #29
area51org wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... and, as I mention above, the Mac version has been pretty bad over the last few months, enough to drive users away (including me).

Really? I've been using Nightly exclusively on my laptop and haven't noticed any problems. Maybe just lucky. Edit: Oh, the mac version of Chrome. Gotcha.

Yeah, I'm still on Chrome on various Windows VMs and PCs with no problem.

Re: Switching to DuckDuckGo and Firefox

#43

Post by mnemonik »

cupcake-unicorn wrote: post #20

I actually never ended up switching to Chrome from Firefox in the first place, but those are still good tips. I guess I did the right thing :) Yes, it has a terrible memory leak issue, but all of my computers have enough ram as to not notice. I'm still not ready to make the switch to DuckDuckGo. I figure that if I'm going to stick with Gmail no matter what, if Google already has that information, collecting a few sea…

> terrible memory leak issue

I don't think this is as terrible as you think anymore (or if it is really even an issue anymore). The MemShrink[0] project has made huge progress. See also: https://areweslimyet.com/

[0] https://wiki.mozilla.org/Performance/MemShrink

Re: Switching to DuckDuckGo and Firefox

#44

Post by anthemcg »

"Chrome Inspector is nice and all, but Firebug is clearly superior. I no longer recall why I hold this opinion. I'm looking forward to finding out."

For some reason, I also think this exact thing.I also know other people who share this sentiment. I wonder if it comes from Firebug just being the first to the scene?

Re: Switching to DuckDuckGo and Firefox

#45

Post by andrasokros »

I tried Chrome last week, but I still think the FF has a better UX, so I switched back. My biggest problems was that, out of the box, Chrome's address bar is just plain bad. It only shows 5 possible targets, while in FF I can go through my whole history, and the most used page comes up first. I didn't really noticed that I used it that much, until I tried Chrome.

This goes for the Android versions as well. If I click the address bar there in Chrome, it will go to the edit mode, which I rarely use. In contrast FF goes into edit mode + it shows relevant possibles from history underneath.

Re: Switching to DuckDuckGo and Firefox

#46

Post by rc4algorithm »

Another particular nagging problem with Firefox is that "full screen doesn't even hide the tabs or address bar (just the OS X bar, assuming you're using OS X). It would be nice if you can add a way to change Firefox's settings so that, in full screen, the only thing visible is the web page.

Re: Switching to DuckDuckGo and Firefox

#47

Post by gnosis »

jlgaddis wrote: post #31

> But the keyboard shortcuts mean I can ... without reaching for the mouse, and using a very limited set of shortcuts. This is why I love vimperator[0]. I actually preferred pentadactyl[1] but development apparently stalled so I switched back. [0]: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/vimperator/ [1]: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/pentadactyl/

As a long-time user of Pentadactyl, Firefox, and vim, I'd like to make the heretical suggestion to try w3m in emacs.

Having a web browser fully integrated in to a powerful editor like that is fantastic. It's far more powerful than what you'd get from the Pentadactyl/Firefox combination, with the disadvantage that w3m can't handle Javascript.[1]

w3m's also far faster and a lot less bloated than Firefox. For sites that work without Javascript and where I only care about getting information in text format (which is probalby 99% of the sites I use), it's just about perfect for me. For the rest, I have Firefox, Opera, and Chromium as backups.

[1] This is not a big loss on most sites, as they can usually be used just fine without it. In fact, it's often good to have Javascript turned off so as to avoid Javascript exploits, tracking and advertising.

Re: Switching to DuckDuckGo and Firefox

#48

Post by gnosis »

I've been using DDG and Firefox for years now, and don't miss Google at all.

The main thing I'm really annoyed with DDG about is that they don't (no longer?) treat double-quoted search terms as literal. I'll often get results that are close to but not exactly what I asked for.

This is really frustrating, as my entire intention in double quoting search terms is to ask for exactly those search terms and nothing else.

As far as DDG's privacy boasts go, I'd love to see them confirmed by frequent audits from a trusted and respected entity like the EFF. For all we know, DDG might be lying (or being forced to lie) about not tracking or spying on its users and not handing over the data it collects on us to others.

My motto is: trust but verify. So far, there's no way to do that in the case of DDG. Still, I'd much rather use a service that at least pays (pretty convincing) lip service to respecting its users' privacy than services where there's clear evidence of abuse and contempt for its users' privacy, such as Google or Facebook.

Re: Switching to DuckDuckGo and Firefox

#49

Post by abrowne »

binarymax wrote: post #21
epmatsw wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this not default behavior? I've never had an addon installed, but just typing in a query and pressing enter in the URL routes it to Google... Edit: Ah, I suppose the auto-complete is different.

Also Sometimes for some non URL queries it defaults to what feels like an 'I'm feeling lucky' search.

It doesn't do that anymore, since at least last fall when I switched to Firefox full time. I remember running into this previously -- maybe Fx 3.5 days? -- when I tried to do a unit conversion google search and it would send me to a horrible unit conversion site.

Re: Switching to DuckDuckGo and Firefox

#50

Post by eCa »

ashmud wrote: post #22

As a long time Opera+FF user, I'm surprised I never came across the Custom Tab Width add-on, or even bothered to look for such an add-on. Made my day. :)

Tab Mix Plus is another option, with plenty of settings for everything concerning tabs:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/tab-mix-plus/

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