Browser Wars

[leenie]

I had to install flashplayer in Opera for online games: sudo apt-get install adobe-flashplugin.
It installed:
Adobe Flash Player
Version: 23.0.0.162
Shockwave Flash 23.0 r0

[Dan]

Thanks leenie! I'll give it a spin.

Well, actually, I'll install it and keep it. I'm glad they don't charge for the VPN any more!

[Mike]

BitMask (www.bitmask.net) is a free VPN software that runs in the background so you can use any browser. It also connects to a server in Canada.

Unfortunately, I think the Opera VPN is just a proxy: https://gist.github.com/spaze/558b7c4cd81afa7c857381254ae7bd10

[Dan]

BitMask (www.bitmask.net) is a free VPN software that runs in the background so you can use any browser. It also connects to a server in Canada.

Mike, does that only work through (or with) OpenVPN and the Network Manager applet? I'm asking, because I use Wicd for wireless on one machine, and I've never tried a VPN with it.

[leenie]

@Mike, you are right about proxy. Real free VPNs are usually quite slow. Opera still seems to be a decent browser.

[bob]

Palemoon 64bit still seems for me, the best lightweight browser I have used.
SlimJet was OK but the annoying pop-ups and stuff telling me to support them and donate, no, thanks.

[Dan]

Palemoon 64bit still seems for me, the best lightweight browser I have used.
SlimJet was OK but the annoying pop-ups and stuff telling me to support them and donate, no, thanks.

I haven't tried Palemoon, but I'll definitely check it out. The pop ups on Slimjet are annoying...and almost prompted me to remove it. It took me a little while, but I found where to turn them off in the Settings. Much better experience without them.

Is Palemoon's RAM consumption comparable to Slimjet's?

[Mike]

Mike, does that only work through (or with) OpenVPN and the Network Manager applet? I'm asking, because I use Wicd for wireless on one machine, and I've never tried a VPN with it.

Absolutely. Network Manager and Wicd are just front-ends to the underlying Linux networking programs and the kernel for managing your hardware. The VPN creates a secure tunnel at that level.

[Mike]

It uses Qt for the GUI which might put off some people but I found Qupzilla to be speedy and a joy to use - it's in the repos. It also uses Webkit which I find to be much faster at rendering (like Chromium and Opera).

[bob]

Mike, does that only work through (or with) OpenVPN and the Network Manager applet? I'm asking, because I use Wicd for wireless on one machine, and I've never tried a VPN with it.

Absolutely. Network Manager and Wicd are just front-ends to the underlying Linux networking programs and the kernel for managing your hardware. The VPN creates a secure tunnel at that level.

How can I turn them off? Also, Palemoon is a firefox fork. nice, lightweight and quite known. I use it all the time. I liked slimjet but the pop ups drove me mad.

[Mike]

How can I turn them off? Also, Palemoon is a firefox fork. nice, lightweight and quite known. I use it all the time. I liked slimjet but the pop ups drove me mad.

Turn what off, the VPN? Bitmask allows you to turn the VPN on/off easily if you use that program. An icon sits in your tray.

[Dan]

How can I turn them off? Also, Palemoon is a firefox fork. nice, lightweight and quite known. I use it all the time. I liked slimjet but the pop ups drove me mad.

Turn what off, the VPN? Bitmask allows you to turn the VPN on/off easily if you use that program. An icon sits in your tray.

Mike, I may be wrong, but I think bob may have been asking me how to turn off the pop ups on Slimjet. Perhaps it was a misquote of you instead of me?

bob, if that's the case, and you want to disable the pop ups in Slimjet...

1. Click the Settings icon in the upper right-hand corner of the browser.
2. In the menu that pops out, click on Settings.
3. Scroll ALL THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM and remove the checkmark from Show tips at startup

[bob]

Yep, sorry. quoted the wrong person. *goes shy*

Thanks, Dan. you're a star.

[berliner]

VPN does work! This will be a big deal for those using public wi-fi.

Sorry leenie to rain on the parade. 
Opera free VPN does not work .... for me.

It goes off and on, most of the time it looses connection and this means that no website will load until the nasty "free VPN" in Opera manages to catch the connection again.

Unfortunately, Bitmask does not install in WattOS. I use Bitmask in all other distros I am testing ( Sparky, Peppermint 7, LMDE2 and some Linux Mint distros ), there it installs without any problems.

Looks like I'll have to use a non-free VPN as I did before. It worked great and cost me about 5 Dollars per month.

[Mike]

Unfortunately, Bitmask does not install in WattOS. I use Bitmask in all other distros I am testing ( Sparky, Peppermint 7, LMDE2 and some Linux Mint distros ), there it installs without any problems.

 What error messages are you seeing?