Microsoft Edge (linux ver)
- Edited
@kyrios Also they best make sure they use zero Electron applications since not only does Microsoft contribute to Chromium, but they also have paid engineers that work on Electron for a living 
I can sorta understand why you would've been anti-Microsoft before Satya Nadella became CEO, but it's kinda ignorant at this point. Microsoft is a pretty significant contributor to open source software, with even some of their own system applications shipping in Windows being open source under permissive licensing like MIT. They've been contributing to the kernel for years and have been a corporate platinum member of the Linux Foundation, meaning they annually pay at least half a million USD a year and have a say via its Board of Directors, for 4 years now. Hell, SUSE (ya know, the ones that make SUSE Enterprise Linux and openSUSE) is only a "gold" tier member, and Canonical is only a "silver" tier member.
Silver tier is 5-20k. I mean, when Solus accepts donations again, we could even be a silver-tier member. Not saying we would, I'm just saying the bar is that low. Of course, that's ignoring all the engineers Canonical has contributing open source on a daily basis and Canonical was operating at a loss almost exclusively year-over-year for over a decade, but the point is you have a company that used to be so anti-Linux that they used to have anti-Linux marketing campaigns donating at least 25x more (500000 / 20000, if we're being generous about Canonical) on a yearly basis than a company that has contributed to Linux for years and actively has tried to make money off of it (which is fine, seriously) since 2004. Not saying Canonical hasn't contributed more to open source than Microsoft in the long-term, just saying what the situation is now.
It's time for you to re-assess the landscape and your notions of it.
For me Opera was dead when it became chromium-based.
And Vivaldi is a true spirit of the Classic Opera, it is great as a second or even the first browser 
️
Oh, and I don't care about Microsoft Edge =)
- Edited
JoshStrobl It's clear that the new CEO clearly gave a new direction to the company and it is a clever move because Microsoft failed to impose Windows on most servers, phones, and other embedded devices. Azure wouldn't be a thing without Linux and open source in general. So instead of doing some more unsuccessful attempts to impose their OS on some segments on which they are clearly too late now, they embrace the technologies they can use to develop their business on these markets.
At the same time, they are making sure to keep their monopoly on the desktop; thanks to WSL many developers/companies won't need to use Linux workstations or a dual boot anymore. Just saying because every year around this period I read that the next year will be the year of Linux on the Desktop... So nope I don't think Linux will get 5% of the desktop market share in 2021. 
Solarmass I tend to agree with @JoshStrobl re: how MS has evolved under new leadership. I'm using brave but I know it chromium based. Isn't the base open source? It would seem to me if a browser uses the chromium base but does not feed everything back to google then it is a win, no? What am I missing? I also tend to use Midori now that I am 100% on Solus Budgie. Falkon on my old KDE days.
As for @kyrios I'm counting on Solus to increase the linux desktop share <smile>.
- Edited
jppelt The problem with everyone using Chromium is it creates a monopoly on web technologies where Google can basically shoehorn functionality in without it going through the typical W3C standard bodies. With Microsoft Edge dropping EdgeHTML (which was actually more competitive when it came to new ECMAScript / JavaScript standards and was more performant in some areas) and moving to Chromium, we've gone from four competitors in the market to three building their own web engines. And I don't know when "less competition" has ever been a good thing.
You have:
- Google w/ Chromium with Blink (a fork of WebKit) and V8 as its JavaScript engine.
- Mozilla w/ Firefox with Gecko and SpiderMonkey.
- Apple w/ WebKit. I'm including ports of WebKit such as WebKitGTK+ (used by the likes of Epiphany and Midori from back in the day).
Even for Qt, it was always either QtWebKit or Qt WebEngine. Qt5 WebEngine uses Chromium underneath, so that's still not helping to promote competition.
Now instead we're just seeing a bunch of different user experiences on top of existing javascript / web engines. I can't really blame anyone for that, they're basically their own virtual machines and even just the security model around them can be a real PITA to implement. I'm just simply stating what the status-quo is.
Just saying because every year around this period I read that the next year will be the year of Linux on the Desktop...
It's been "year of Linux on the desktop" for me since 2008. I don't believe there is any magical market share number where suddenly Linux is experiencing its "year on the desktop". In my opinion everyone, individually, has their own "year of Linux on the desktop".
Personally, I just don't see the value in using Microsoft Edge. It being ported to Linux isn't surprising though, if they're using something like electron forge or electron builder than its trivial to do. They already have the expertise from doing it for Skype, Teams, and Visual Studio Code. Functionality-wise I think Vivaldi far exceeds it.
I agree with @JoshStrobl that's why I keep on using Firefox as my main browser everywhere including on my android phone. I don't do it because I believe it's the best browser !
JoshStrobl It's been "year of Linux on the desktop" for me since 2008. I don't believe there is any magical market share number where suddenly Linux is experiencing its "year on the desktop". In my opinion everyone, individually, has their own "year of Linux on the desktop".
My year of Linux on the desktop was whenever it was I started using Solus. Windows is on life-support since then, for a few games that absolutely need it.
JoshStrobl .It's time for you to re-assess the landscape and your notions of it.
I am under-researched when it comes to anything MS, but I can see where people could still have a negative impression. I personally don't enjoy their products nor trust them but I acknowledge they help make the world go round including mine.
JoshStrobl They've been contributing to the kernel for years and have been a corporate platinum member of the Linux Foundation, meaning they annually pay at least half a million USD a year and have a say via its Board of Directors, for 4 years now.
this is the first positive spin of the Linux Foundation thing I ever read, but as said, I don't keep up with the industry like a professional would.
You made a good argument for reassessment, and I will try to keep an open mind about this company's rehabilitation (it's hard
). Your reply is a good reminder to keep hardships that were in the past, in the past, and consider the here and now. Sage life advice, as well.
Solarmass Have you taken a look at Opera lately? Yes, still chromium based, but some of the features I haven't found anywhere else. Workspaces for example, I use all the time and now can't imagine how I'd use a browser without it.
I still use Chrome for work, but will probably replace that with Firefox soon.
Brucehankins Have you taken a look at Opera lately?
Does it not bother you that Opera is based out of China? Asking for a friend.
Brucehankins Have you taken a look at Opera lately? Yes, still chromium based, but some of the features I haven't found anywhere else. Workspaces for example, I use all the time and now can't imagine how I'd use a browser without it.
No, I haven't. I was an Opera refugee and I don't trust this company anymore. Chromium based was one of the reason. I remember their managers' blog-posts and answers back then, they refused to implement some of the main Opera Classic features and it became clear that their target audience not the power-users...
I still use Chrome for work, but will probably replace that with Firefox soon.
️
Brucehankins As a former Opera user of many many years: Vivaldi is the one true Opera.
Opera today is a shadow of its former self. It used to be my browser, my email client, my calendar, and my IRC client. There was nothing like it. It used to be my development browser of choice because anything I implemented that worked on Opera was guaranteed to work on every other browser. They followed W3C specifications to the letter and never implemented a feature until it had a formal specification. No draft features. No half-baked implementations of HTTP/2.
Now it's just Chromium with a different interface and the odd useful feature that they brought back from the old Opera.
JoshStrobl Out of curiosity, which one do you recommend? I am assuming Firefox as it comes with the distro. I do admit, I've come onboard with Gnome MPV in lieu of VLC. The Solus team has really put a cohesive suite together.
- Edited
jppelt I use FIrefox on a daily basis because I'm a heavy user of Multi-Account Containers, but I'd go Vivaldi.
WetGeek No more than having a phone with a camera on it in the US. Somebody's always watching. Really, if you are on the internet in anyway, you have to understand you're sacrificing some of your privacy and data for utility or convince. Other than being Chinese, they haven't had anything that raises giant security red flags that I know of.
The same could question could be asked to users of Deepin Linux, Huawei, Oppo, OnePlus (owned by Oppo/BBK) or any other number of things from China. What makes one Chinese brand or company more trust-worthy than another if neither have giant red flags?
Any thoughts on Waterfox? Has anyone ever tried it? I just downloaded Vivaldi and will give it another go. Seems heavy - too many options. I might be going down the rabbit hole but admit the notes feature kinda appeals to me - not that I've ever needed such an option in the past. We shall see. I'll try to use it exclusively for a week and see where it leads. Thanks @JoshStrobl