Re: [GTALUG] Browsers (and Thorium to be specific)

[Ron / BCLUG via talk]

Evan Leibovitch via talk wrote on 2023-11-24 08:07:

Thorium  is basic Chrome that is compile-time 
optimized for new CPUs.

Still does Chrome sync and plugin store.
Won't run on any system that doesn't have an AVX2-capable CPU.
As a result, it claims a conventional Chrome experience but noticeably 
faster.


Apparently the same dev has done the same to Firefox, called Mercury 



Oh, now that does sound interesting!

I don't think my old box has AVX2 support (nope, just AVX).


I'm usually quite hesitant / skeptical around "boutique" browsers since 
it takes so much skill and talent (quantitatively and qualitatively) to 
implement properly.


Usually someone's trying a browser because it's "not bloated" with 
things that... are web standards. I don't trust my browsing to their 
competence.



This Thorium project (Mercury, actually) does sound very interesting.


If you give it a try, it would be interesting to hear your thoughts.



rb

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Re: [GTALUG] Browsers (and Thorium to be specific)

[Evan Leibovitch via talk]

Thorium  is basic Chrome that is compile-time
optimized for new CPUs.
Still does Chrome sync and plugin store.
Won't run on any system that doesn't have an AVX2-capable CPU.
As a result, it claims a conventional Chrome experience but noticeably
faster.

Apparently the same dev has done the same to Firefox, called Mercury


- Evan

On Fri, Nov 24, 2023 at 10:45 AM ac via talk  wrote:

> On Fri, 24 Nov 2023 10:24:20 -0500
> Evan Leibovitch via talk  wrote:
>
> > So ... nobody uses Thorium?
> >
> i am having a google free black friday... so, Thorium is a web browser?
>
> which natively does not support .js? or supports it?
>
> cool name, Thorium. sounds like something like kryptonite for Thor :)
>
> I can google it 2morrow or you can just tell me today why it is cool?
>
>
> > On Fri, Nov 24, 2023 at 4:21 AM Ron / BCLUG via talk 
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Don Tai via talk wrote on 2023-11-23 15:46:
> > >
> 
> ---
> Post to this mailing list talk@gtalug.org
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-- 
Evan Leibovitch, Toronto Canada
@evanleibovitch / @el56
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Re: [GTALUG] Browsers (and Thorium to be specific)

[ac via talk]

On Fri, 24 Nov 2023 10:24:20 -0500
Evan Leibovitch via talk  wrote:

> So ... nobody uses Thorium?
> 
i am having a google free black friday... so, Thorium is a web browser? 

which natively does not support .js? or supports it? 

cool name, Thorium. sounds like something like kryptonite for Thor :)

I can google it 2morrow or you can just tell me today why it is cool?


> On Fri, Nov 24, 2023 at 4:21 AM Ron / BCLUG via talk 
> wrote:
> 
> > Don Tai via talk wrote on 2023-11-23 15:46:
> >  

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Re: [GTALUG] Browsers (and Thorium to be specific)

[Evan Leibovitch via talk]

So ... nobody uses Thorium?

On Fri, Nov 24, 2023 at 4:21 AM Ron / BCLUG via talk 
wrote:

> Don Tai via talk wrote on 2023-11-23 15:46:
>
> > I by default don't run JS, and then with the Noscript plugin, grant js
> > access. Many sites will block you without JS running. Though I depend on
> > FF, which usually works, I don't mind if web sites crack and don't
> > render well.
>
> I ran with default no JS for years and years, then I just stopped.
>
> Wasn't worth the breakage, and for a good decade or so now many of the
> best & brightest developers have been hired by big tech to implement
> safer, more sand-boxed JS environments.
>
>
> I think I have U-Block set to disable 3rd party scripts, all the rest
> allowed by default, blocked if problematic.
>
>
> A much more pleasant web experience.
>
>
> I like to point out that if it weren't for the capabilities that modern
> JS has, we'd be trying to have monthly meetings with Win32 apps in WINE,
> faffing about constantly with tech issues, probably having to resort to
> mobile devices, ...
>
> Linux would be largely unusable for a lot of modern web usage.
>
> I've become kinda fond of poor ol' JavaScript, it doesn't deserve the
> reputation it has.
>
>
> rb
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-- 
Evan Leibovitch, Toronto Canada
@evanleibovitch / @el56
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Re: [GTALUG] Browsers (and Thorium to be specific)

[Ron / BCLUG via talk]

Don Tai via talk wrote on 2023-11-23 15:46:

I by default don't run JS, and then with the Noscript plugin, grant js 
access. Many sites will block you without JS running. Though I depend on 
FF, which usually works, I don't mind if web sites crack and don't 
render well.


I ran with default no JS for years and years, then I just stopped.

Wasn't worth the breakage, and for a good decade or so now many of the 
best & brightest developers have been hired by big tech to implement 
safer, more sand-boxed JS environments.



I think I have U-Block set to disable 3rd party scripts, all the rest 
allowed by default, blocked if problematic.



A much more pleasant web experience.


I like to point out that if it weren't for the capabilities that modern 
JS has, we'd be trying to have monthly meetings with Win32 apps in WINE, 
faffing about constantly with tech issues, probably having to resort to 
mobile devices, ...


Linux would be largely unusable for a lot of modern web usage.

I've become kinda fond of poor ol' JavaScript, it doesn't deserve the 
reputation it has.



rb
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Re: [GTALUG] Browsers (and Thorium to be specific)

[Don Tai via talk]

I by default don't run JS, and then with the Noscript plugin, grant js
access. Many sites will block you without JS running. Though I depend on
FF, which usually works, I don't mind if web sites crack and don't render
well. I also regularly run Tor. I haven't had an issue with Chrome, other
than that my version is no longer supported and they want me to upgrade my
Linux version.

On Thu, 23 Nov 2023 at 17:36, o1bigtenor via talk  wrote:

> On Thu, Nov 23, 2023 at 2:56 PM Ron / BCLUG via talk 
> wrote:
> >
> > Lennart Sorensen via talk wrote on 2023-11-23 11:38:
> >
> > > It is pretty annoying that chrome has become the new IE. Lots of web
> > > developers only use chrome and don't care that their javascript or html
> > > doesn't work on other browsers anymore.
> >
> > I too find it annoying.
> >
> > Especially since the standards are so well implemented by all (both) the
> > major browsers, and the cutting edge features should gracefully degrade
> > but not break the site.
> >
> >
> > Any examples of a site that doesn't work with Firefox?
> >
> >
> > I might give one a try; it's beautiful and sunny outside and I'm not
> > just not feeling angry enough.  Need something to fix that.
> >
> >
> Chuckling
>
> I can really empathize!!
>
> I use FF as my main browser it usually seems to work - - - - its the
> only browser that
> doesn't barf at my using more than 1 virtual desktop (I use a lot!!!).
>
> To get some chromium connection - - - well I have Brave, Vivaldi,
> Opera, as well as
> Links 2 and Min which I only use sporadically.
>
> I am starting to think of using a non-javascript browser - - - I'm
> just so tired of the
> bloated number of linked in domains I've found to almost 350 at times - -
> - now
> that's nuts!!!
>
> HTH
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Re: [GTALUG] Browsers (and Thorium to be specific)

[o1bigtenor via talk]

On Thu, Nov 23, 2023 at 2:56 PM Ron / BCLUG via talk  wrote:
>
> Lennart Sorensen via talk wrote on 2023-11-23 11:38:
>
> > It is pretty annoying that chrome has become the new IE. Lots of web
> > developers only use chrome and don't care that their javascript or html
> > doesn't work on other browsers anymore.
>
> I too find it annoying.
>
> Especially since the standards are so well implemented by all (both) the
> major browsers, and the cutting edge features should gracefully degrade
> but not break the site.
>
>
> Any examples of a site that doesn't work with Firefox?
>
>
> I might give one a try; it's beautiful and sunny outside and I'm not
> just not feeling angry enough.  Need something to fix that.
>
>
Chuckling

I can really empathize!!

I use FF as my main browser it usually seems to work - - - - its the
only browser that
doesn't barf at my using more than 1 virtual desktop (I use a lot!!!).

To get some chromium connection - - - well I have Brave, Vivaldi,
Opera, as well as
Links 2 and Min which I only use sporadically.

I am starting to think of using a non-javascript browser - - - I'm
just so tired of the
bloated number of linked in domains I've found to almost 350 at times - - - now
that's nuts!!!

HTH
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Re: [GTALUG] Browsers (and Thorium to be specific)

[Ron / BCLUG via talk]

Lennart Sorensen via talk wrote on 2023-11-23 11:38:

It is pretty annoying that chrome has become the new IE. Lots of web 
developers only use chrome and don't care that their javascript or html 
doesn't work on other browsers anymore.


I too find it annoying.

Especially since the standards are so well implemented by all (both) the 
major browsers, and the cutting edge features should gracefully degrade 
but not break the site.



Any examples of a site that doesn't work with Firefox?


I might give one a try; it's beautiful and sunny outside and I'm not 
just not feeling angry enough.  Need something to fix that.




rb
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Re: [GTALUG] Browsers (and Thorium to be specific)

[Lennart Sorensen via talk]

On Thu, Nov 23, 2023 at 02:07:36PM -0500, Evan Leibovitch via talk wrote:
> I've been a happy (sorta) user of Firefox for a long long time but I found
> I have needed a Chromium-based backup because there are some sites that
> Just Won't Work under FF. Blank white screens, hanging, missing frames, the
> problem varies but it never exists on Chrome or Edge. (Sorry, Brave, just
> couldn't get into it.)
> 
> Now The YouTube recommendation algorithms have been of late feeding me with
> quite a few reviews of the Thorium browser, some of which come from
> channels I have watched before.
> 
> Is it worth the hype? At very least, is it a better alternative to Chrome
> or Edge? I would like to sync bookmarks, plugins and logins between devices
> and have some sense of stability (is that it will be around for a while).
> Is there something else even better?

It is pretty annoying that chrome has become the new IE.  Lots of web
developers only use chrome and don't care that their javascript or html
doesn't work on other browsers anymore.

I use chrome as little as possible, but yes a few sites are so badly
made that they don't work on anything else.

-- 
Len Sorensen
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[GTALUG] Browsers (and Thorium to be specific)

[Evan Leibovitch via talk]

Hi all.

I've been a happy (sorta) user of Firefox for a long long time but I found
I have needed a Chromium-based backup because there are some sites that
Just Won't Work under FF. Blank white screens, hanging, missing frames, the
problem varies but it never exists on Chrome or Edge. (Sorry, Brave, just
couldn't get into it.)

Now The YouTube recommendation algorithms have been of late feeding me with
quite a few reviews of the Thorium browser, some of which come from
channels I have watched before.

Is it worth the hype? At very least, is it a better alternative to Chrome
or Edge? I would like to sync bookmarks, plugins and logins between devices
and have some sense of stability (is that it will be around for a while).
Is there something else even better?

Thanks for any feedback.


-- 
Evan Leibovitch, Toronto Canada
@evanleibovitch / @el56
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