Please improve the Mint customized FF Google search page!

[irieken]

Hello Linux Mint team,

I would really appreciate an improved Mint Google results page in Firefox (one that is more like the vanilla Google search results page).

I like Linux Mint, and I try to support it by using the Mint search, but not having the regular Google search refinement options and other features irritated me enough that I installed upstream Firefox today. Now that I'm not using the Mint Firefox, I would really need to go out of my way to use the Mint customized search.

I'll keep an eye on things; if they're improved, I'll switch back to using the Mint Firefox package:)

[sdibaja]

Hello Linux Mint team,

I would really appreciate an improved Mint Google results page in Firefox (one that is more like the vanilla Google search results page).

I like Linux Mint, and I try to support it by using the Mint search, but not having the regular Google search refinement options and other features irritated me enough that I installed upstream Firefox today. Now that I'm not using the Mint Firefox, I would really need to go out of my way to use the Mint customized search.

I'll keep an eye on things; if they're improved, I'll switch back to using the Mint Firefox package:)

How did you Install upstream Firefox? I am getting ready to bail on Mint if I have to keep fighting this.

When I have to boot to Windows to search with Google, something is wrong.

[rich_roast]

Off the top of my head you could probably download the tarball they distribute and unpack it into opt, then change your path so that it points to /opt/firefox or whatever first.

[sdibaja]

Someone, somewhere said that I should
1. go to the search window in the upper right corner of Firefox
2. use the pull down and select Manage Search Engines
3. remove all of the Google items (there were several)
4. select Get More Search Engines

.... that brought me to a massive Search Tool page.

some how I was tenacious enough to search thru 2,183 add-on Search Tools and find "Google.com (in English)"
That search theme gave me back the tools I need...

Good Luck!
Peter

[irieken]

How did you Install upstream Firefox? I am getting ready to bail on Mint if I have to keep fighting this.

When I have to boot to Windows to search with Google, something is wrong.

Code: Select all

## Install Mozilla Firefox 4 (64-bit)
cd ~/Downloads
wget http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/latest-4.0/linux-x86_64/en-US/firefox-4.0.1.tar.bz2
tar -jxvf firefox-4.0.1.tar.bz2
sudo mv /opt/firefox /opt/firefox.original
sudo mv firefox /opt/
sudo rm /usr/local/bin/firefox
sudo ln -s /opt/firefox/firefox /usr/local/bin/firefox
rm firefox-4.0.1.tar.bz2

## The 32-bit binary is available here: http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/latest-4.0/linux-i686/en-US/firefox-4.0.1.tar.bz2

[Habitual]

When I have to boot to Windows to search with Google, something is wrong.

BS Alarm just went "ding".

[rivenathos]

It is an extremely simple matter to change the search engine. I am concerned for the original poster, so I have helped him/her out:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=change+mint+search+engine

There is no need to download a whole new Firefox or boot into Windows. Why would anyone want to do that? It makes no sense.

For all the forum newbies, please take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with how and why Linux Mint is set up the way it is. If you wish to adjust anything from the default behavior, searching the forums or using Google for answers is really not that hard - even for beginners or those upgrading from Windows.

[irieken]

It is an extremely simple matter to change the search engine. I am concerned for the original poster, so I have helped him/her out:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=change+mint+search+engine

Not cute, not helpful;) --That's where I went the first time around, only to find instructions on adding search addons NOT officially endorsed by Google. If I wanted to go that route, I would have just said "screw this Google thing" and installed the DuckDuckGo addon.

There is no need to download a whole new Firefox or boot into Windows. Why would anyone want to do that? It makes no sense.

Honestly, installing upstream Firefox was easier for me than dicking around with finding a Google search plugin; I couldn't find the official Google Search Tool Addon when I looked, and there were a few other behavior changes in the Mint Firefox package that I wasn't happy with.

It felt like the Linux Mint team went out of their way to make it difficult to get the normal Google search, and the other tweaks to Firefox annoyed me. I understand why they did it, but I wish that they made the changes less jarring. Hence, I'm running the plain-Jane version of Firefox, out of laziness.

For all the forum newbies, please take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with how and why Linux Mint is set up the way it is. If you wish to adjust anything from the default behavior, searching the forums or using Google for answers is really not that hard - even for beginners or those upgrading from Windows.

I agree with this sentiment, in general, but I was bothered enough by this particular behavior to reach out to the devs and request a change in how Linux Mint is set up. In the meantime, I want what I want, so I made changes that required the least personal effort.

[irieken]

When I have to boot to Windows to search with Google, something is wrong.

BS Alarm just went "ding".

Hehehe:D I guess that there are only so many threats that end-users can make when complaining about an operating system that they didn't have to pay for;)

[Habitual]

Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself.

[MALsPa]

Honestly, installing upstream Firefox was easier for me than dicking around with finding a Google search plugin

Might not be all that much easier, but that's exactly what I did with my last few Mint installations, almost immediately after installing.

[rivenathos]

Not cute, not helpful;) --

Ha, ha, ha... I am always cute and helpful. Shame on you for thinking otherwise. If you knew me and read back through my hundreds of postings, you would see exactly that. I have been using Linux Mint since version 3.0. This is not my first rodeo with newbies to the forum in general, nor newbies with postings in the single digits ranting about a standard Mint feature. Once you are here for a while, you will understand how often we see people show up in the forum and automatically request changes to the whole distro to suit themselves. As with any GNU/Linux distro, you can easily change it to suit yourself. Months or years from now, you will look back on your original posting and wonder what in the world you were thinking when you keyed all that in.

From Clem himself: http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=142

By the way, I agree with your choice of DuckDuckGo. I use DuckDuckGo more than Google anyway. Easy change there, as well.

Oh yeah, welcome to Linux Mint.

[dsmurl]

Hey rivenathos. I may be fairly new to the forums, but I have been with Mint since 5 and I was Debian before that. Mint is an amazing operating system that boasts both high performance/functionality and low barrier to entry for new users to the Linux environment. One of Mint's main focuses is maintaining a welcoming door for Windows/Mac/inexperienced users to come to Linux. I think that calling out new comers for lack of your opinion and giving self righteous speeches about "newbies" is counter productive and counter to the direction of Mint. Your posts have a demeaning tone and in the end no one cares if you have been in Mint since 3. Your experience and knowledge becomes less valuable if the spirit of exploration is hindered.

[MALsPa]

This is not my first rodeo with newbies to the forum in general, nor newbies with postings in the single digits ranting about a standard Mint feature. Once you are here for a while, you will understand how often we see people show up in the forum and automatically request changes to the whole distro to suit themselves.

Yeah, that search page gets complained about at these forums quite frequently. As long as things remain the same, I'm sure the complaints will keep coming. Oh, well, folks can either change it or move on, no big deal, I guess.

[Nexus]

Honestly, installing upstream Firefox was easier for me than dicking around with finding a Google search plugin

Might not be all that much easier, but that's exactly what I did with my last few Mint installations, almost immediately after installing.

Especially if you have the sense to search for Google.com when you go to browse the list of search engines brings it right up near the top of the list it does...

[sdibaja]

My temporary solution that I posted above only worked until I rebooted and updated, it is quite frustrating.

http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=142 is quite helpful and informative, written like a gentleman and trying to be truly helpful. Thanks for that link, I would never have dug that deep.

many responses are simply snide and arrogant, you really have to have a thick skin to ask for help here.

[rivenathos]

@ sdibaja, I am glad Clem's solution worked for you. Yes, many new people ask the same questions over and over again. And you are correct that many newbies do not dig very far to find the answer to his or her problem. I agree that many of the exact answers are uncovered with a little bit of digging/effort.

@ dsmurl, I stand by my posts above. Once you have helped as many people in this forum as I have, posted as many helpful guides for newbies on blogs and websites, and answered private messages on a daily basis asking for personal assistance, I shall then consider YOUR experience and knowledge to be more valuable. It is my time spent using Linux Mint and Debian that has led me to the conclusion that the old saying of "Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day, but teach a man to fish, and he eats for a lifetime" rings very true in Linux, as well. That is why I help by pointing out how to find the information needed to fix the problem, not just spoon-feeding someone. If you are inclined, please read about Help Vampires: http://slash7.com/2006/12/22/vampires/

A little bit of effort on the part of the original poster is not too much to ask or expect. In fact, since you have been a Debian user, you are aware of:
http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=47078

We do have a few expectations of what you have done already to find your answer.
1) We expect that you have used Google or another search engine to find your answer.
2) That you have searched the Man pages available on your topic.
If you don't know how you may do this, open a terminal and at the prompt enter "man topic" where "topic" represents the topic you are having trouble with.
3) Lastly, that you have tried to use the forum search feature to find help on your issue.

As always, we are a community built around our distro. We are all going to have differing personalities and opinions, much like any normal family. In the end, it is all Linux, upon which we all agree.

[irieken]

Especially if you have the sense to search for Google.com when you go to browse the list of search engines brings it right up near the top of the list it does...

I meant that I felt more comfortable installing upstream Firefox than finding and installing some Google search plugin that isn't officially sanctioned by Google.

[Tannn3r]

I don't like that page, either. So what I did was I got rid of it and donated instead (I usually don't click on ads anyways). In my opinion, seeing the default Google Search page is a must.