[Oneiric-Topic] Default Browser

[Bilal Akhtar]

On 04/08/2011 01:27 AM, Micah Gersten wrote:
> On 04/07/2011 05:21 PM, Luke Yelavich wrote:
>> On Fri, Apr 08, 2011 at 01:36:01AM EST, Micah Gersten wrote:
>>> Since now both Firefox and Chromium have committed to rapid release
>>> schedules, I think it's time to reevaluate the default browser in
>>> Ubuntu.  I am concerned that some of these upgrades might break system
>>> integration at some point.  While the security team does its best to
>>> prevent regressions, we can't test every case (especially ones we don't
>>> know about :)). Perhaps, if we can find one with sufficient features,
>>> switch to a Webkit based browser with a more normal release schedule (6
>>> months).  We could have an installer like Kubuntu does to install
>>> Firefox or Chromium on demand.  This will also keep the system
>>> documentation current within the release as the screenshots/menus won't
>>> be out of date shortly after release.
>> This raises accessibility concerns, because Chromium is not yet accessible on Linux, and there is not enough manpower upstream to address that, particularly since Firefox is working well with regards to accessibility. If chromium were using libwebkitgtk, then things may be different, since webkitgtk is getting better and better accessibility wise, but I dare say that would be a lot of work.
>>
>> Luke
>>
> 
> Please note, I was suggesting not having Firefox or Chromium as the
> default, but a webkit based browser with a normal release cycle like
> Epiphany (which uses webkitgtk :)).

Well, I am using Epiphany 3.0 at the moment, and I must say its a major
improvement over older Epiphany versions. I find it a faster way to
access the web than Firefox, and use it most of the times nowadays on my
Ubuntu GNOME3 box.

But this introduces other problems. The newcomers to Ubuntu will be
mostly coming from Windows/Mac. They are used to Chrome and Firefox.
Even though shipping Epiphany would not mean that these people can't
install the above mentioned browsers manually, the user may not be able
to find out that his/her favourite browser isn't available for the new
OS he/she just shifted to. They might feel that this is an entirely new
world where there are browsers like Epiphany and Konqueror only, which
isn't true.

Cheers,

Bilal Akhtar.

> 
> Micah
> 


-- 
Bilal Akhtar - Ubuntu Developer <bilalakhtar at ubuntu.com>
IRC nick: cdbs

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