An up to date Chromium needs to be the default browser

[craig10x]

Seriously. It's not just the default browser, it's the philosophy behind the switch. Using Chrome or Chromium indicates a trend in directions I don't want to go.

Well, to give another example...which is the default e-mail client in mint? Thunderbird mail...i never cared for it and always have preferred Evolution Mail...so, that is a "direction i'd rather not have mint go" but you don't see me leaving it and going to another distro over that

I use Evolution Mail, so i add it in software manager, add it to my Mint Menu Favorites, make it my default e-mail in their settings and never open thunderbird at all...

And if i am playing a video on my computer, i don't like using the default player, MPlayer...so i simply open with VLC Media Player (my favorite) instead...

What you are saying is unless mint tailors it out of the box for only your preferred programs, then you want to leave them and go to another distro...strange philosophy...but to each his own...

[gotjazz]

and what exactly is the evil philosophy behind chromium? (note: I didn't say chrome)

[sgosnell]

Not necessarily evil, but Google isn't the nicest corporation in the world, while Mozilla has been doing good work for decades. I've seen no indication that the Mint team is even considering any of the proposals discussed here, and they seem to go with the defaults of the distros they are tweaking, so I think this whole thread is moot.

[craig10x]

Not necessarily evil, but Google isn't the nicest corporation in the world, while Mozilla has been doing good work for decades. I've seen no indication that the Mint team is even considering any of the proposals discussed here, and they seem to go with the defaults of the distros they are tweaking, so I think this whole thread is moot.

Ah..i see it is more of a philosophical issue for you...as for myself, i don't have any feelings (good or bad) about google though i do like to use their search engine on occasion as i find it is very nice and does excellent searches (though most of the time i search from my home page, which is yahoo.com (and also works well)...

But browser-wise...though i use to use Firefox and still like it, IMHO Chrome/Chromium Browser is nicer...i like the way it looks, the way it is set-up, it's is extremely FAST and i think it has some of the best font and graphics rendering i have ever seen... it just looks and runs great...so that is why it is my preferred browser...
Since it doesn't come as a default application, i just add it on (like other programs i use)...

[runbei]

Um, all Chrome lacks is a sidebar. Hm, I think I'll wait.

[randomizer]

Using Chrome or Chromium indicates a trend in directions I don't want to go.

That could well be in your imagination then. What if the direction is towards lightweight applications, and not just Google applications? (We can debate how lightweight Chromium is but that's beside the point I'm making). As I said earlier, the Mint team generally goes with what the community as a whole appears to want. This is in stark contrast to, say, Ubuntu, which has its own steering committee.

[sgosnell]

What Ubuntu has is a rich sugar-daddy. It may not be what I think it is, and in fact now it isn't, because this whole discussion is entirely theoretical. I'll make the decision when I actually face it.

[Bazinga]

I think Chromium as default browser is a good idea, most students now-a-days tend to be using chrome if they're running window. If you are trying to appeal to younger people chromium as a default seems to be a good idea to me.

[willie42]

well it seems to me that you can just install Chromium and make it default with just 10 minutes effort. Linux is about change and not being stuck with what is there with no options. Just my thoughts.

[t3g]

Lots of good replies here. I'm actually in Firefox now (was doing some Firebug testing) and I've noticed it being slower than Chromium in the sites I view frequently. Not only that, the real estate taken up on the top of the page between the menu bar, navigation buttons, and tabs is much more than Chromium. I like the tabs on top with Chromium and how all the options are in one single wrench menu. I know Firefox 4 is going to trim down the UI, but that browser is taking forever to get released and when it does, will still be slower than Chromium.

When you think about how people use a browser these days, they just want the simple things so they can get what they want quickly without a cumbersome UI in the way. I'm in a browser, but I'm not constantly reminded I'm in a browser like Firefox. That is where Chromium excels.

P.S. Another benefit that Chromium has over Firefox is the chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra package that allows all of the HTML5 video/audio support. Since Mint is known to have a lot of multimedia codecs and Flash installed by default, this would fit more into their philosophy.