Linux as your main desktop ?

[Dan-cer]

@Lou77
What is stable? For each software or program you'll find users telling issues in any forums. That is true also for Firefox.
Why? Because there are dependencies with individual customizations.
For me Vivaldi is as stable as Firefox, and I'm using it for 2 years now in a daily practice.

However, this is a thread about main desktop, and I'm sorry to went off-topic a bit.
Linux Mint wasn't stable in the beginning. However, with much support and troubleshooting in forums like this, it became more and more stable.
Linux Mint 21.1* is now strongly recommended in a top German OS journal. They wouldn't recommend if Mint isn't stable and advanced. They even say it is in quite a few respects better than Windows.
The journals audience are common users needing advice or recommendations which software to use.

* I prefer staying with LM 20.3.

[Artim]

Good points all around.

Not that I need to "defend" Seamonkey or anything, but it's built from Firefox ("big" browser) and Thunderbird (also no longer a Mozilla project, though hosted on their servers for the time being) and shares developers. It gets security updates right along with Firefox because it's built from the same code base.

For me it's a fully open-source drop-in replacement for both Firefox and Thunderbird with the following advantages:

• It's not a Mozilla project anymore. That matters to me because Mozilla "went woke" and that kind of politicization of a project is not only offensive but just stupid.

• It's a much lighter version of Firefox and Thunderbird, using a LOT less code than it's Mozilla sibling.

• Seamonkey is the true child and heir of the venerated Internet Suite, Netscape. So if you're nostalgic about that kinda thing like my grandparents are, and still think "newer isn't necessarily better," it's a good way to go.

[Lou77]

Yes, the thread has drifted a bit but that is OK, for Mint or any OS to be a 'daily driver' it must also be supported by other programs. I would venture the number one software in use on any computer today is the browser so, browsers are a very important part of making any OS a daily driver.

I have used Vivaldi for several years now, it is OK for a browser, and much better today than it was when it first began. The GUI makes better sense to me than any of the Chrome derivatives and quite frankly, one of the reasons I accepted a move to Linux was I could get Vivaldi to work on it. I will take a look at Seamonkey, my number one requirement for any browser is it must provide extensions to block ads on the web and Youtube. If it has those tools I could very well move to Seamonkey as I have never been tied to one browser. Though I did complain loudly with what happened to Netscape.

[Lou77]

@Lou77
What is stable? For each software or program you'll find users telling issues in any forums. That is true also for Firefox.
Why? Because there are dependencies with individual customizations.
For me Vivaldi is as stable as Firefox, and I'm using it for 2 years now in a daily practice.

However, this is a thread about main desktop, and I'm sorry to went off-topic a bit.
Linux Mint wasn't stable in the beginning. However, with much support and troubleshooting in forums like this, it became more and more stable.
Linux Mint 21.1* is now strongly recommended in a top German OS journal. They wouldn't recommend if Mint isn't stable and advanced. They even say it is in quite a few respects better than Windows.
The journals audience are common users needing advice or recommendations which software to use.

* I prefer staying with LM 20.3.

Well, stable is it runs without major issues but...there are always issues. Presently on the Vivaldi Linux forum there is a post about Vivaldi freezing and it being related to using Wayland instead of XWayland. That is above my understanding as the average user, heck, I am still trying to figure out Linux Mint. To be fair, virtually all software has issues and for each individual it comes down to how annoying those issues are. Beginning yesterday and today my Vivaldi stopped displaying the login button on this site. No other site but this site. Is this a Vivaldi problem, a problem with the loaded extensions, or a site problem? Probably mostly Vivaldi and extensions as I can start/stop a blocking extension and clear the problem...sometimes. Other times I need to also clear cache, and restart Vivaldi. Still, I use Vivaldi 99 percent of the time and rarely use the installed Firefox.

[Dan-cer]

I loved Seamonkey many years ago. Until Opera brought the integrated mail client that could be opened in the same window. Seamonkey looks the same today as it did almost 20 years ago.
They have stayed true to their line. Nothing new under the sun. Little further development. Some may still like it - or maybe because of that?
As for ad blockers, Vivaldi has built-in ad and tracking blockers on the one hand, which can also be spiced up with additional lists.
I prefer the uBlock Origin extension, which - like all Chrome extensions - can be installed in Vivaldi. It is by far the best extension for this purpose. It even allows you to listen to Spotify without ads. (At least that was possible a few weeks ago.)
And uBlock Origin is also available for other browsers like Firefox or Opera.

[Artim]

They have stayed true to their line. Nothing new under the sun. Little further development. Some may still like it - or maybe because of that?

Because of that! It's the same reason I've become a Xfce fanboy. No big, huge sudden changes, deliberate and slow development that makes it a trouble-free desktop environment. No major new stuff to complicate things or scare kids like me who don't adapt to change very well.

Maybe that's another reason why I like Seamonkey so much, now that I think on it.

[Dan-cer]

Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate it. You help me get other views into my horizon. I love that you enjoy Seamonkey!

[Nikolai5]

• It's not a Mozilla project anymore. That matters to me because Mozilla "went woke" and that kind of politicization of a project is not only offensive but just stupid.

I've been using Mozilla Firefox for years now, I'm not familiar with what they have been doing? What does it mean that they have gone woke?

Firefox and Mozilla seem fine to me, I know some people weren't happy with partnership between Mint and Mozilla but I don't see what the issue is.

[Hoser Rob]

I don't like the newer Firefox releases either but I find Seamonkey just hopelessly clunky and not at all confidence inspiring. Firefox ESR is great, that's the one I use.

[Artim]

• It's not a Mozilla project anymore. That matters to me because Mozilla "went woke" and that kind of politicization of a project is not only offensive but just stupid.

I've been using Mozilla Firefox for years now, I'm not familiar with what they have been doing? What does it mean that they have gone woke?

Firefox and Mozilla seem fine to me, I know some people weren't happy with partnership between Mint and Mozilla but I don't see what the issue is.

Here is one example, and here is another. The person they fired was none other than their own CEO, who dared to express a politically incorrect opinion on a subject that has nothing to do with software or anything related to Mozilla. That CEO went on to create the company that makes the Brave browser, by the way.

Because Seamonkey is no longer a Mozilla project, I can be a fanboy in good conscience.

[Nikolai5]

• It's not a Mozilla project anymore. That matters to me because Mozilla "went woke" and that kind of politicization of a project is not only offensive but just stupid.

I've been using Mozilla Firefox for years now, I'm not familiar with what they have been doing? What does it mean that they have gone woke?

Firefox and Mozilla seem fine to me, I know some people weren't happy with partnership between Mint and Mozilla but I don't see what the issue is.

Here is one example, and here is another. The person they fired was none other than their own CEO, who dared to express a politically incorrect opinion on a subject that has nothing to do with software or anything related to Mozilla. That CEO went on to create the company that makes the Brave browser, by the way.

Because Seamonkey is no longer a Mozilla project, I can be a fanboy in good conscience.

That first article doesn't say anything really. It's just conjecture.
And as for that CEO, good riddance, he sounds like an ass. Brave is a mess and at one point even contained dodgy cryptocurrency code.

Don't confuse freedom of speech with freedom from consequences, my friend. I'd argue it was related to Mozilla. He's the CEO, he represents it. He outed himself as a ridiculous goon and so showed himself to be unfit to run it.

But I guess this is off topic. I just saw the word "woke" and thought it was funny. I've literally never heard anyone use that word who isn't a complete vegetable.

[Artim]

I'm too close to the edge on this topic, so I'll abandon that line of thought.

Today just for giggles I'm testing another old favorite browser, Midori! Last time it crashed randomly and frequently. Today's Flatpak hasn't crashed in over an hour of heavy use, and it's nimble and quick. None of the bloat of the popular browsers. There's more to offer than just Firefox and Chromium based browsers!

The only weird thing is that Startpage (my search engine) thinks I'm using Safari! I guess that's okay with me, just unexpected.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

...Brave is a mess and at one point even contained dodgy cryptocurrency code...

As long as one doesn't participate in the cryptocurrency program (which is a joke; just look at Brave's user forum), brave is an excellent browser.

[heavy metal]

...Brave is a mess and at one point even contained dodgy cryptocurrency code...

As long as one doesn't participate in the cryptocurrency program (which is a joke; just look at Brave's user forum), brave is an excellent browser.

+1, Brave is an excellent browser indeed!

[icewind]

Yes, i have Linux Mint on both my PC.

[Hoser Rob]

... Not that I need to "defend" Seamonkey or anything, but it's built from Firefox ("big" browser) and Thunderbird (also no longer a Mozilla project, though hosted on their servers for the time being) and shares developers. It gets security updates right along with Firefox because it's built from the same code base.

For me it's a fully open-source drop-in replacement for both Firefox and Thunderbird with the following advantages:

• It's not a Mozilla project anymore. That matters to me because Mozilla "went woke" and that kind of politicization of a project is not only offensive but just stupid.

• It's a much lighter version of Firefox and Thunderbird, using a LOT less code than it's Mozilla sibling.

• Seamonkey is the true child and heir of the venerated Internet Suite, Netscape. So if you're nostalgic about that kinda thing like my grandparents are, and still think "newer isn't necessarily better," it's a good way to go.

Well, I actually do remember Netscape, which was only open sourced out of desperation because they were being absolutely clobbered in the marketplace. That's how Mozilla/FF started. I feel no nostalgia for Netscape at all.

I don't like the newer versions of FF either but I'd suggest firefox-esr, which is like old FF and also gets timely updates. It's actually the default repo version in Debian. They're smart geeks.

I did try seamonkey for a while. I found it just hopelessly clunky to use and would only recommend it to those using seriously RAM challanged hardware. As in less than 1Gb.