Why Iceweasel?
Dec 26, 2010 (about 2 years ago)
The question was posted on the CrunchBang forums:
Why Iceweasel?
I don’t understand why all Debian based distros choose Iceweasel as the browser…
It is a valid question. Iceweasel/Firefox is fantastic software, but when compared to some of the newer WebKit based browsers, it begins to look somewhat stale. This lack of freshness is often compounded on Debian systems where the Iceweasel packages can lag some way behind Mozilla’s official Firefox releases.
Enter Google Chrome. I have been wanting to switch to using Chrome for a while. I have tried it on numerous occasions in the past, but rendering problems and a lack of extensions meant that I did not use it for very long. However, when I did use it, I was super impressed by how quick it started up and by the speed at which it rendered pages.
Last week, I installed Chrome again and I have been using it constantly since. I have not experienced any rendering issues and I have been able to install the extensions I need. At this point in time, I cannot think of any reason why I would want to start using Iceweasel again.
This makes me feel a little sad. I have been using Mozilla’s browsers for many years and even though I know it is illogical, I do feel somewhat emotionally attached to them. I hope Firefox 4 is a huge success and it tempts me back, but meanwhile I will be browsing the web with Google Chrome.
14 responses to “Why Iceweasel?”
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Dec 26, 2010 (about 2 years ago)
Usually use Chromium or Midori on my weaker systems (netbook, older desktops). I agree that Chrome/Chromium has come along rather nicely in the past year. Still might not be as customizable as Firefox/Iceweasel, but the speed benefits more than make up for it.
On a related note, I’ve seen CPU load spike wildly when viewing flash videos on Chromium, much more than it would on Firefox. Anything similar on your end?
Also, I like the new #000000 & #D8D8D8 vibe you’ve got going here. :)
Merry X’mas, Papanominal (make sure you wish Mamanominal for me as well), and a Happy New Year.
Dec 26, 2010 (about 2 years ago)
I have seen the same in Chromium, yes, but the stable Chrome version does not seem to suffer from it. :/
Back to black, prompted in part by your comment about CrunchBang’s grub splash and the brown tinges. I figure black is black is black! ;)
Merry Christmas to you too and thank you for helping to make 2010 a great year — your contributions to the forums and helpful/insightful comments have been really appreciated! :)
Dec 26, 2010 (about 2 years ago)
I read in this month’s Linux Format (albeit in an interview with the head of Mozilla’s European operations) that Chromium uses more memory than does Firefox because it uses statically compiled libraries rather than the system’s libraries.
As for CPU usage, I believe the problem is that flash on linux does not yet use hardware acceleration. I don’t think it is a browser-specific issue; I think it is the version of flash plugin.
Dec 26, 2010 (about 2 years ago)
You’re not alone. I felt the exact same way. I too can no longer rationally justify my preference for Mozilla Firefox, but I feel like I owe it something in return for it delivering me from the horrors of Microsoft’s IE.
Dec 27, 2010 (about 2 years ago)
The problem is that for some strange reason, debian is unable to keep up with Firefox development. The Iceweasel version for stable, testing, and unstable is 3.5.x while to get the 3.6.x (current) version, one would have to pull it from experimental (and it would break things which is why it is still in experimental.) It is a little embarrassing for debian to be releasing 3.5.x with Squeeze due to be released shortly.
Dec 27, 2010 (about 2 years ago)
Why is it that Iceweasel from experimental would break things if installed?
I have several experimental packages installed on my unstable system at work and have not had a single crash (apart from some rare and random KDE stuff) in months! How would you explain that?
Go get the experimental stuff — or, even better, the Firefox 4 beta, which is quite good too!
I’m running back to FF/Iceweasel when 4 reaches stable. It is still not as fast as Chrome(ium), but it is definitely fast enough — and it is Firefox! :)
Dec 27, 2010 (about 2 years ago)
I am writing this in Firefox 4 Beta 8. It certainly is quick, comparable to Chrome on this little Eee PC. I also really like the new tab positioning. Good stuff! :)
Dec 30, 2010 (about 2 years ago)
I prefer chromium to chrome,due to the privacy issues of chrome. chromium does seem a lot faster on my netbook than ff, I must say. The relatively meager array of extensions is an issue for me, as well as the lack of proper tab overflow handling.
I asked on IRC and one of the devs said tab overflow handling is an upcoming feature, which is a plus. Extension, I guess, would eventually pick up, as chrome/chromium gain wider adoption.
Haven’t yet given ff4 a try, but I think I just might, now.
Jan 5, 2011 (about 2 years ago)
A bit late to the party, but I’ll blame my exams and lack of planet-reading. I felt compelled to reply to your post, because I am in the exact same position, and had I not seen ‘corenomial’ as the author, and checked the url, i would have sworn this could have been an article i wrote.
For the longest time i stayed away from chrome because it simply didn’t offer the addons/extensions which firefox did. I could forgive some sluggishness in firefox because of all the added features. But chrome has been growing, and now has about equal addons in my mind, in that whatever I want to install is available.
So i am in the same situation. I loved firefox for so long, it feels really weird using something else, like you said, you become attached, brand loyalty etc. But its hard to justify using firefox when chrome is a faster, more stable browser. Which also takes up less screen space on my laptop.
I’m hoping Firefox 4 really gives me a reason to come back to it / stick with it on linux.
Jan 5, 2011 (about 2 years ago)
As am I, I just hope it is not too little, too late — when Linux users start adopting Chrome, Mozilla should be concerned. :/
Jan 6, 2011 (about 2 years ago)
I had installed chromium a while ago. The only reason was (sic!) its out-of-the-box integration with Gnome’s keyring manager in storing/retrieving passwords. Later on what kept me on using it was its incredible speed and visual appearance.
Most of the times I wasn’t really paying attention, but I eventually noticed that when typing URLs related and unseen keywords popped up in the location bar. After a short research I promptly added “127.0.0.1 clients1.google.com” to my host file, to avoid chromium sending my keystrokes to google.
But then I can’t tell others or myself I’m concerned with privacy if I keep on staying on a browser like that and at the same time take cover with paranoid actions like disabling avahi’s or dhclient’s broadcast of my hostname, or randomized MAC addresses.
Firefox may be slower, but I’m better off with nobody watching me over my shoulder as I type (or whatever they may add to enhance my browsing experience).
Jan 8, 2011 (about 2 years ago)
I’m also very much concerned with the privacy issues in Chrome(ium). How about SRWare Iron? Would it be conceivable to include it by default in the distro rather than Chromium?
Jan 12, 2011 (about 2 years ago)
i was wondering if any chrunchbang users chose opera as their default. i’ve been using it forever and it hasn’t disappointed me yet. however, its closed-source approach might offend some people, i’ll take this as a valid argument (opera being one of two guisofts on my netbook that are closed-source apps). for me, it’s still worth it, quick (even with about 20 tabs open at all times, who am i kidding, i have 31 open right now), highly(!) configurable, quite secure, innovative, no fuss and only game. deb-repos and more make this my browser of choice, closed-source, wah… it’s ok for what i get i guess and in 13 years use i’ve had no apparent data leakage.
yay :-)
Jan 30, 2011 (about 2 years ago)
I’ve had Chrome 9 Beta and FF 4 installed for a while now - I don’t notice a difference in speed, but haven’t done a head-to-head comparison. I definitely prefer Firefox 4’s features, especially with the new tab groups. And I suspect Chrome uses more RAM when a lot of tabs or windows are open, as it runs each as a separate process.
Chrome is interesting, and definitely a very competent browser - but it’s not enticing me away from Firefox.
The great work that the Mozilla Foundation does for the open web, and the projects it supports, means I was really happy to try version 4 and find that Firefox is still a great browser.