Slashdot Mirror
Chromium-Based Spinoffs Worth Trying
snydeq writes "InfoWorld's Serdar Yegulalp takes an in-depth look at six Chromium-based spinoffs that bring privacy, security, social networking, and other interesting twists to Google's Chrome browser. 'When is it worth ditching Chrome for a Chromium-based remix? Some of the spinoffs are little better than novelties. Some have good ideas implemented in an iffy way. But a few point toward some genuinely new directions for both Chrome and other browsers.'"
Extra crap like a bundled closed-source Flash plugin?
"Sufferin' succotash."
6 more goofy names that mean nothing (internet explorer? ok, Netscape Navigator? ok, SRWare Iron, Comodo Dragon, Iceweasel? wtf)
ps here is the print version, so you dont have to wade through 6 ad infested pages
http://www.infoworld.com/print/184923
Well, this is as good a place to put this as any. Both of you Windows Phone users need to stay away from the Chrome browser for Windows Phone. It's a scam.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
The interface is what ruins Chrome, how come no one bothers to fix it? A good interface is consistent, internally and externally: the app must belong with the operating system around it. Chrome is alien in any system, it does not have the same window borders, menu bar, or anything else as every other app. That's tolerable from a tiny indie team, like jDownloader, but from a megacorporation like Google this is simply cringeworthy.
Circumcision is child abuse.
Is Iron a Scam? Yes
Wow, people are still falling for the SRWare scam???
And what's wrong with the many adblock extensions available for Chrome??
The one thing that keeps me from switching to Chrome is the lack of customization. With Firefox I have the wonderful about:config, but Chrome has no such feature. Even basic settings like moving where the tabs are or fine-grained privacy settings are missing from Chrome and most Chrome derived browsers.
Until Firefox somehow becomes totally unusable or Chrome actually lets me change basic settings, I'm sticking with Firefox.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
I would love Chrome if it had a status bar instead of a status popup that covers page elements and a URL bar that either shows the http or doesn't include it when you copy and paste the URL (what kind of moronic...).
So, basically a browser that doesn't go out of its way to annoy me. Is there a version of Chrome like THAT?
Page 3 reviews Comodo Dragon. What it doesn't mention is that if an HTTPS site uses a certificate that's domain validated, Dragon raises a warning "that the organization operating it may not have undergone trusted third-party validation that it is a legitimate business." Might this just be a way to threaten small-time webmasters, especially those who only started offering HTTPS to join EFF's HTTPS Everywhere initiative or to offer user accounts without running the risk of getting Firesheeped, into buying pricier EV certificates?
Define "extra crap".
Chrome, includes Flash and PDF plugins, no extra functionality, 82M installed.
Mozilla, no Flash, no PDF, no extra functionality, 38M.
Opera, no Flash, no PDF, built-in news reader/mail, URL-based adblocker and a bunch of other stuff commonly installed as extensions on FF/Chrome - fits it all in 35M
Can you spell "b-l-o-a-t"?
Iron is a known scam. If there is a reason to use Iron, it is not for its privacy related offerings. You're better off just using Chromium.
Any site that I trust enough to visit, I trust enough to use their certs.
How do you know whether you trust a site enough to visit it? The cert could be for PayPaI.com (capital i looks like lowercase L) or xn--itibank-xjg.com (appears as citibank.com, though using a C-shaped Cyrillic s). Comodo could explain this away as part of Dragon's phishing filter.
"bizarre perversions of the once innocent C language"
You mean C++?
Perhaps the closest comparison to Opera might be SeaMonkey because it has the built-in mail and news client. How big is SeaMonkey installed?
42M. Unless I'm missing something, it doesn't include anything like AdBlock/FlashBlock/NoScript (Opera has URL filter and "load plugins on demand"/"enable Javascript" configurable on site-per-site basis out of the box)
On the other hand, with Google Groups, Facebook, and the like, who uses NNTP for text newsgroups anymore? And with the shutdown of Usenet providers due to rampant copyright infringement in binary groups, who uses binary newsgroups anymore?
Not me, for sure. So much "not me", in fact, that I forgot about NNTP (which Opera handles as well) and referred to RSS reader as "news reader".
Facebook and Gmail have even been eating into the SMTP/IMAP market.
Sure, that's question of preference. Some keep separate program, some are happy with browser tab, I find it convenient to have RSS and mail in browser's sidebar.
... more then just a browser to get people to change. I've often wondered why TOR developers don't integrate something like bit-torrent like protocol combined with an anonymity service like onion routing and a browser all in one, anyone who is using the browser and wants to keep their privacy automatically becomes part of an anonymity swarm instead of having separate packages just have it all integrated and take the end user out of the loop. For most people that will do. For the power users they can download custom stuff like what is available now.
With all the bs going on with corporations owning the governments of the world and trying to take away peoples rights it's about time someone actually did something about it in terms of combining all the features into one complete package that grows more powerful/useful as people use it.
First point:
Just because there were only minor changes, doesn't make it a scam.
Second point:
This is based on some blog back when it was based on vers 5 of chrome sources. It is currently based on vers 16.. This is wildly out of date.
I use Iron Portable ver 16 as a backup browser and it does exactly what it should. Installs nothing in your system, except in the install directory, doesn't call home like Googles version and is a perfectly good alternative browser.
It is not a scam, because some outdated blog says so.
Define "extra crap".
Chrome, includes Flash and PDF plugins, no extra functionality, 82M installed. Mozilla, no Flash, no PDF, no extra functionality, 38M. Opera, no Flash, no PDF, built-in news reader/mail, URL-based adblocker and a bunch of other stuff commonly installed as extensions on FF/Chrome - fits it all in 35M
Can you spell "b-l-o-a-t"?
Opera has Unite built in, which includes a web server, file sharing service, chat and other sharing collaboration tools. Opera has always been a excellent browser that is doomed to be forever underrated.
Frankly I'm waiting for a browser with something like Diaspora built in.
After logging in slashdot still does not take you back to the page you were on. It's been that way for 20 years.
Sadly, RockMelt is the most significant entrant on the list. #1 is Chromium, #2 is SRWare Iron (the legitimacy of which remains under debate), #6 is just Chrome itself (brilliant list-padding idea guys; include the official branch not once but twice to pad your pitifully short list), #3 is Comodo Dragon (dumb new UI + hardcoded DNS), and #5 is a Chinese thing that throws in the same old IE Mode and mouse gestures that we've seen a billion times everywhere else. There aren't six Chrome "remixes" out there, there are two.
From now on I think all stories that start with a quantity of items being reviewed, or the fragment "top n", are going to be purged vehemently from my system with a bit of JS. Sad, sad, sad.
Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
Well as someone who uses Comodo Dragon what extra crap are you referring to? The " send everything to Google" stuff being removed, or the completely optional Comodo Secure DNS (which i've found blocks most phishing and malware sites) which is not only changeable at install but can be toggled on and off with a checkbox? Or the single button that lets you use Comodo site inspector to check a site's malware history, again a single checkbox to remove? that extra?
if you care about security and privacy i urge to to read TFA and give the Dragon a try, its fast, has some really nice completely optional security features, can be installed standalone or on a thumbstick, and with each release frankly its gotten better both in performance and security. With the Dragon and Avast free just for shits and giggles i tried to get a machine i was gonna wipe anyway infected, threw every 'look at teh tittiez!" and 'get a free iPad!" topsite and crapsite i could find at it and between the two everything was stopped cold. i did a half a dozen offline and online scans and nothing, zero zip nada squat, which is good enough of a result i've switched my entire family to the Dragon with Avast and haven't had a single call, it all 'just works" smooth as butter. give it a try, its free and the standalone won't even mess with Chrome if that is your main browser so what have you got to lose?
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
IE9. Microsoft has matured with its browser from the medieval times of IE5.
Speaking as an end-user; no, it hasn't.
Speaking as a web developer; no, it hasn't.
Use Firefox, Opera, Safari or Chrome. Not IE in any version.
Not yet anyway, IE9 is far better than previous IE's, so I've got some hope for IE10.
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
They don't work like AdBlock on Firefox. Ads aren't displayed, but the servers are still contacted.
I pipe all my browsing through Privoxy. Regardless of browser, I don't see any adverts.
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
And some browsers also include pack-in:
It doesn't seem unreasonable browsers require 30-50MB footprint to supply all this and I'm not sure why anyone be splitting hairs over the difference.
Obvious bullshit is obvious. I take it you've never actually TRIED dragon because there ain't jack shit "hard coded', not the DNS or anything else. not only can you simply uncheck a box at install (or if you are placing it as a standalone or thumbdrive install) but at ANY time turning off the DNS is as easy as options>under the hood> uncheck the little box. Rockmelt is just a Chromium ripoff of Flock which also bombed hard, its not like one needs a special browser to visit FB. Oh if you like that sort of thing there is the option to have a FB button in dragon but again like everything else its one checkbox away from going bye bye.
Now as for SWIron its okay but personally if i wanted a standalone and wasn't gonna use Comodo i'd use QTWeb as its Webkit engine seems to play nicer with thumbdrives and it has tons of privacy features which help to leave no traces or read/write to the stick a lot. Chrome just has too much phone home for my taste, if i want to let Google have my search that's one thing but they shouldn't get squat when i'm using Yahoo.
Personally though i frankly don't see why you're bitching, never before have we had so many GOOD browsers to choose from, we literally have a feast of choices for our browsing. We have Gecko, webkit, chromium, presto and trident, and variations galore to fit every little niche. I like Dragon, my mom likes Seamonkey, my oldest has been a die hard Opera user for years, my youngest was FF for ages but decided that he liked the speed of the Dragon better, on my netbook I have a Webkit based in expressgate and QTWeb and dragon, man having choices is good, having all these free browsers that run well is good. So instead of bitching why don't you actually try the ones on TFA? They're free and who knows, you might find yourself a new browser.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Well I've always thought Comodo made some really solid products. While i prefer avast for my home users for businesses you really can't beat Comodo Internet Security, they let small businesses use it free and it has really top notch AV and firewall controls. Frankly i soured on Google when they started spamming first the toolbar and then Chrome with freeware, i feel if you make a good product you shouldn't HAVE to spam and the fact Google has become far worse than Sun and MSFT ever were when it comes to spamming freeware with Chrome makes me leery of going anywhere near it and their recent announcement of tying everything together just makes me more so.
Comodo has made a few mistakes in the past but were quick to announce them and send out revocations for the affected certs and in every test I've seen Comodo security software is always in the top 5 so that's good enough for me and my customers. Plus they love the speed, I put Comodo Secure DNS on as default in the browser and frankly their DNS is fast fast fast, much faster than the local ISPs. Every customer i give the Dragon to always ends up telling me how much faster their browsing is now and want me to send them links so they can send their friends the links to Comodo and ABP. so far knock on plastic every customer I've given Comodo dragon along with Comodo IS or Avast free has been 100% malware free so that is all i need to know, its really good at killing phishing sites and stopping malware sites from loading and when you are talking about home users every extra bit of protection helps.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
The world can ding Firefox all it wants. Yes. I too have the endless memory leakage.
Nothing else can be as ng.significantly customised for my utility and privacy. Nothing.
Nor does anything else manage tabs as elegantly. Yes, I'm the person with 30-80 in a session, and cull them over weeks. It beats any "bookmarks". :-)
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."