20230819-edbrowse_vs_others.txt
So I've been using edbrowse[0] for a while now. I'm certainly no
expert, but I do know my way around it and can use it. I finally
figured out how to enter passwords without them showing on my screen
(ipass2<enter>). I know how to expand frames (exp). I know how to do
most things outside of embeds, like saving pages and even entering
comments. I feel confident enough in my use of edbrowse to make a
comparison to other browsers and see how they stack up. Scale of 1-10,
higher is better.
Browser: Edbrowse Lynx Links2(TUI) Vivaldi
Ease of use: 2 6 8 10
Functionality: 7 6 7 10
Speediness: 5 10 10 6
Customization: 2 9 7 7
CPU efficiency: 9 9 9 3
--------------
Total score: 25 40 41 36
Average score: 5 8 8.2 7.2
The thing that really brings down Edbrowse's score is ease of use.
It's just not built to be easy to use, and that's fine. Ed itself is
not easy to use. Its speed is also hindered by JS support, requiring
more time to render and interpret tags like <script> that Lynx and
Links2 ignore. Based on these arbitrary score, it would seem that
Links2 is the winner, and I guess all things considered, it probably
is. But it doesn't have JS support and its customization, while vast,
doesn't allow for vi keybindings, which is why I prefer Lynx. Links2
and Edbrowse give you the ability to download in the background,
whereas Lynx itself doesn't (although you can use a background program
like wget to download things).
Also note that the speed of Edbrowse is 5 because it just takes longer
to read. You can load the page just fine, but to read X lines, you
have to type it out. It's that way by design, but it still makes it
less attractive, IMO, to sighted users for that reason.
I also could have added more categories like JS support or alternate
protocol support, but that seems to be a bit much for a glog entry.
Suffice it to say Lynx is my go-to for a reason and Vivaldi could
probably be swapped out for most GUI browsers.
Despite having adapted (for the most part) to edbrowse's way of doing
things, I still find myself typically browsing and paging via Lynx. It
is incredibly useful to add protocol handlers and enable me to open
links in different programs like edbrowse or wget.
Lines I've added to my lynx.cfg:
```
EXTERNAL:http:edbrowse %s:TRUE #for JS support
EXTERNAL:http:wget -bqc %s:TRUE #background download via wget
```
These handlers, accessed by pressing "." while highlighting a link,
make Lynx even more viable. I've even used it today to hand off an
article to edbrowse that had otherwise-unreadable tweets embedded.
Side note: articles that embed tweets are wanting.
Anyway, if you haven't tried it out, give edbrowse a shot. It's
actually a mail program, editor, and file manager, too. It's just all
done through ed(ish) commands, so it takes some getting used to.
0.
gopher://republic.circumlunar.space/0/%7enp89/glog/20230731-edbrowse.txt
