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Re: [Dillo-dev] The kind of computer that is perfect for Dillo

by Globe Trotter

Hi, I read this thread and every post on here, and decided to respond. I really love dillo and am frustrated that I still have to use other hogs such as firefox and would really love to see it move so that I don't have to. --- Jorge Arellano Cid <jcid(a)dillo.org> wrote: > Although I certainly regard the "i18n" patch-gathering as a > good thing for the user, IMO dillo-gtk1 is a dead end from the > development point of view (even if the gathered patches were in > line with the rest of dillo's design, which is not the case). > > GTK1 is an abandoned library, it has become the much bigger, > slower and capable GTK2, precisely because it was not suited for > solving certain "desktop" problems. > > You can read Owen Taylor's "Internationalization in GTK+" paper > for a more solid basis on i18n design decisions (Owen is one of > the main authors of GTK1 and GTK2). > > http://developer.gnome.org/doc/whitepapers/gtki18n/index.html > > It can be thought that Dillo "i18n" would have more hope if > ported to GTK2. Following this line, we made some benchmarks, > investigated in more depth, I had some emails with Owen, we had a > discussion in the mailing list, and it turned out that: > > * GTK2 could double Dillo's footprint. > * GTK2 has different expose model that woul require a redesign > of the incremental rendering inside Dillo. > * Dillo would become much slower and resource hungry. > > If Dillo becomes slower and has a bigger footprint, its main > advantages start to dissapear when compared with let's say > Firefox or Opera. In that case even I'd prefer to wait a bit > longer for Firefox to start and then have a featureful browser. > > Dillo's main advantage is a tradeoff of features for speed. If > the speed edge disappears, what do we have? > > In short, after lots of investigation we decided to port Dillo > to FLTK2 (Although there's plenty of information about this in > the mailing list, I realize it would be good to recapitulate this > story and make this information together with future plans > available from one page in our site. This mail is the first step > in that direction). I agree, but when are you planning on releasing the FLTK2 port? I think a lot of people are waiting for this before they even start doing anything with developing more, etc. > With regard to Javascript, yes we also agree that we need to > support some scripting language (ECMA or whatever). We've > developed in this direction too (For instance we have the DOM > code almost ready, and dpi can provide the link to the script > interpreter; we even have developed a prototype for scheme). > > Tabs are easy to add too, and although I hate frames, they > should be supported (sigh). BTW, I always had this in mind and > that's why it was easy to make a frames patch. The networking > code was already designed for the parallelism this task requires. > It's a matter of implementing its rendering. > > Somehow people tend to believe that features are not there > because the core team doesn't want them. Or even because they do > not have room in a minimalistic browser. This is _not_ true. The > main reason is lack of manpower. Agreed: no question. Developing any product, much less a fabulous one like dillo, needs huge manpower. > > The other reasons are the GTK1 issue explained above and that > these patches were not in line with the rest of the design, and > that they break several things too (I've always asked authors to > let their users know what each patch breaks). > > Having another design idea is valid, but it can't be pushed > against those who think different (see LKML for examples! ;-). > Forks had been announced but none thrived. > > > > I also believe that Dillo shouldn't try to get CSS support; the last > > thing I want is yet another browser with buggy CSS that I have to > > design around. If Dillo is going to support CSS, I don't think the > > support should become a part of a stable release of Dillo until Dillo > > can render ACID2 perfectly. A site that uses CSS is perfectly usable, > > albeit a bit ugly, in a browser that doesn't have CSS. > > We think Dillo needs CSS, > so don't panic dillo-dev subscribers! :-) > > As a matter of fact, the widget style structures inside Dillo > are shaped for CSS, and we presented a CSS parser prototype at > FOSDEM 2005. Merging the CSS parser into the current tree would > start CSS support. > > As for your concerns, disabling this is a piece of cake. > > > > Anyway, these are just my 2 millicents. I understand that it takes > > either real code or real money to make these changes real, and since > > I'm currently offering neither, feel free to cheerfully ignore my thoughts > > or to flame me to a crisp. :) > > Real money is a problem I haven't figured how to solve yet. > > For instance, there're plenty of embedded-focused companies > that are interested, or already working with Dillo. They seem > to prefer to wait for us to develop, with a view to lower costs, > rather than to contribute (patches or money) or fund some > development. These are the cheap companies. > > Other companies have interest and money to fund and foster > Dillo development. The problem here is that managers prefer to > make a choice for the "tried and true" and not to risk their jobs > in the company in case of failure. > > I don't know yet how to solve the second problem. Any help is > welcomed. I don't see this dollars-problem being solved. One of the issues is that dillo tries to be too strict in some regard. For instance, the https is disabled by default and has to be enabled in the source code. Most users perhaps take a binary from some RPM or somewhere, so it stays default most of the time. It would really be nice if this was enabled/disabled by means of a "switch" and one did not have to recompile the whole source code. I must say that this does not solve the dollars question, but this is an issue worth considering. I doubt that you can get commercial vendors involved in this effort? The only other option is contributions, and even that is perhaps finite, especially if stuff people would like to see in their favorite browser is not going to show up. So, that leaves the contributions in terms of time and effort. Have you considered moving dillo to a community project model? I know that there are core developers and they could vet things submitted, but it would be better if there were more contributor developers who submitted their improvements. Something like, for instance, the R project in statistical computing. Or for that matter, octave or xemacs and the like. Somehow, somewhere earlier on, I got the impression that contributions are not really encouraged: if it does not meet the core team's objectives, it is not cared for. Maybe what I am suggesting is already done and maybe this is a false impression on my part, and I am sorry if that is so. I only know that I want dillo to succeed and replace firefox, the so-called lightweight browser. Thanks for reading! Best wishes, Trotter. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

Sept. 1, 2006

Re: [Dillo-dev] CSS,JS,tabs,frames (Was: computer perfect for Dillo)

by Jan Stary

Hi all, On Aug 24 17:07:21, Sam Trenholme wrote: > The problem is that Dillo doesn't support a lot of high-profile > internet sites right now. > I would look at the "i18n" version and try and add Javascript support > to it (or, better yet, EMCAscript support). Personally, I think Dillo > needs some level of Javascript support; a lot of high-profile sites > (can we say MySpace and their crappy JavaScript and HTML) plain simply > do not work without Javascript. > I also believe that Dillo shouldn't try to get CSS support; the last > thing I want is yet another browser with buggy CSS that I have to > design around. If Dillo is going to support CSS, I don't think the > support should become a part of a stable release of Dillo until Dillo > can render ACID2 perfectly. A site that uses CSS is perfectly usable, > albeit a bit ugly, in a browser that doesn't have CSS. On Aug 24 21:56:17, Hans Hohenfeld wrote: > I definitely disagree. From my point of view, CSS is the most missing > feature in Dillo. Frames are minor impotant (as only bad websites use > them), Javascript is very much necessary, but CSS seems to be the most > important feature Dillo needs. Some basic CSS attributes like colors, > positioning would be a good start. I agree, that it is very important to > implement CSS support as close to the standard as possible. I also think that CSS is the most missing feature - while a well written page using CSS looks good even without it, many pages just rely on being CSS-interpreted (or look ugly). HTML/CSS is the most basic combo for a browser anyway, I think. As for JavaScript, what pages worth reading need JavaScript to work? With the lack of dillo-dev manpower, this is a feature I don't really miss. Tabs, on the other hand, are extremely useful - I dream of the day they come to dillo, making it able to have many pages rendered at once (each with dillo's lightning speed). Frames are evil, everybody knows that. On Aug 26 12:11:46, Jorge Arellano Cid wrote: > GTK1 is an abandoned library, it has become the much bigger, > slower and capable GTK2, precisely because it was not suited for > solving certain "desktop" problems. > Dillo's main advantage is a tradeoff of features for speed. If > the speed edge disappears, what do we have? Totaly agreed. > As a matter of fact, the widget style structures inside Dillo > are shaped for CSS, and we presented a CSS parser prototype at > FOSDEM 2005. Merging the CSS parser into the current tree would > start CSS support. Looking at the FOSDEM presentation, I can't seem to find the CSS bits (in neither mgp or html - http://www.dillo.org/fosdem2005/dillo-18.html points to "http://www.dillo.org/fosdem2005/....." Can I get the CSS part of the presentation somewhere? Thanks Jan

Aug. 31, 2006

Re: [Dillo-dev] Problems with gziped content encodings pages and proposal

by Diego Sáenz

El Sun, 27 Aug 2006 12:53:47 -0400 Jorge Arellano Cid <jcid(a)dillo.org> escribio: > Hi, > > On Fri, Aug 25, 2006 at 03:49:10AM +0200, Diego Sáenz wrote: > > Hello again. > > > > > [...] > > > > I mail this because i want coments and help. If you has read this boring (and > > bad +writed) text until here, please do not think on comments or help, Just > > do if! :) > > [...] > > > > I have started to code my proposal. > > Beware, your first mail is very hard to read an understand (I > don't understand it for instance). Sorry. I almost forgot how to write english when i do not write it in a long time. > The subject matter is complex, so I'd advice you to: take your > time, re-think, be more careful with your english, and to try to > express the ideas as clearly as possible. Ok, second try(i have changed a pair of things): The general ideas are to enhance dpid to manage DPIs using services (Like documentation suggest) and to add code to dillo to implement protocols DPIs (without hardcoding them in dillo core), mime handlers DPIs and maybe scripts languages DPIs and content encodig DPIs(now encodigs DPIs are in doubt after your mail) Dpid will need configuration lines(in dpidrc) to associate server name with DPI path(A dpi dir based path allow a DPI to serve more that one service(in this proposal a javascript DPI will serve protocol_javascript, script_javascript and maybe mime_text/javascript services)). When dillo finds a protocol that it not handle in core (currently it handle http:, about: and dpi:) it ask for a service for that protocol(to dpid) and dpid returns the DPI from the configuration file(really a socket to comunicate with it). For the service name dillo add the protocol name to the "protocol_" string. The lines in dpidrc for current services can be this: protocol_file=file/file.dpi protocol_ftp=ftp/ftp.filter.dpi protocol_https=https/https.filter.dpi protocol_data=datauri/datauri.filter.dpi I think i will allow the use of '*' to match any(even none) char until end of string in the configuration file. '*' will be checked last. It can be used by a ProtocolNotSupported.dpi that show an error or a page with protocols DPIs to download. The dpidrc line can be like this: protocol_*=misc/ProtocolNotSupported.dpi For mime types it works similar. When the user clicks on a link or uses the url bar to view a mime type not handled by dillo the mime type is addeded to the "mime_" string to get the service name(dillo currently handles mime_text/html, mime_text/plain, mime_text/*, mime_image/gif, mime_image/jpeg, mime_image/png). When a not handled mime type is open because a page load dillo add the "_inlined" string to the previous string(example: For a bmp file used like image in a html page dillo will try the mime_image/x-bmp_inlined service) The use of '*' wildcard allow the use of one DPI to manage both services with only a configuration line if user wants. About mime type check/detection i am thinking on diferent options (mime detection/check go before mime DPIs) 1a. Fixed service called for pages without mime types and ocet/stream (using this like unknown mime type) that returns a detected mime 1b. Fixed service called for pages without mimes and for a list of configured mime types in dillorc 2a. Check service per mime type with service names like mime_check_MIME/TYPE. Dillo send actuall type so the DPI handling the service can do something if detected mime is diferent from the server sended one.(ask the user, ignore error, stop load ...) 2b. Like 2b, but only ask for a list of mimes configured in dillorc Scripts and content encoding work similarly. For more details i can send how the dpi tags will be and more about dillo-DPIs communication and dillo internal changes. > With regard to gzip encoding: zlib can do gzip decoding, and as > it is already linked in Dillo, gzip decoding can be implemented > inside Dillo (not using a dpi). Oh, i forgot it. > This also avoids multiple dpi passes. For instance with dpi- > decompress, gzipped isolatin2 would require one dpi pass for > uncompress and another for latin2 to utf8. > > Inside-Dillo decoding also allows the idea of having a > compressed cache in the future. I unknown if i can implement content encoding in dillo internals so i will move it after dpid changes on implementation complex. I hoppe it is more clear now. Diego

Aug. 29, 2006

Re: [Dillo-dev] Problems with gziped content encodings pages and proposal

by Jorge Arellano Cid

Hi, On Fri, Aug 25, 2006 at 03:49:10AM +0200, Diego Sáenz wrote: > Hello again. > > [...] > > I mail this because i want coments and help. If you has read this boring (and > bad +writed) text until here, please do not think on comments or help, Just > do if! :) > [...] > > I have started to code my proposal. Beware, your first mail is very hard to read an understand (I don't understand it for instance). The subject matter is complex, so I'd advice you to: take your time, re-think, be more careful with your english, and to try to express the ideas as clearly as possible. With regard to gzip encoding: zlib can do gzip decoding, and as it is already linked in Dillo, gzip decoding can be implemented inside Dillo (not using a dpi). This also avoids multiple dpi passes. For instance with dpi- decompress, gzipped isolatin2 would require one dpi pass for uncompress and another for latin2 to utf8. Inside-Dillo decoding also allows the idea of having a compressed cache in the future. -- Cheers Jorge.-

Aug. 27, 2006

Re: [Dillo-dev] The kind of computer that is perfect for Dillo

by Diego Sáenz

El Sat, 26 Aug 2006 12:11:46 -0400 Jorge Arellano Cid <jcid(a)dillo.org> escribio: [...] > PS2: Diego: I'll answer you ASAP. Don't worry about the parser, > it's already done. OK. I am sorry about the parser.

Aug. 27, 2006

Re: [Dillo-dev] The kind of computer that is perfect for Dillo

by Jorge Arellano Cid

Hi, On Thu, Aug 24, 2006 at 05:07:21PM +0000, Sam Trenholme wrote: > This is the kind of computer that is perfect for Dillo: > > http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS6828123924.html Very interesting article! > > Summary: About $100, P166, 128 megs of memory, roughly the size of a > VHS videocasette. > > This is the perfect computer for Dillo--128 megs of ram really isn't > enough memory to run Firefox well, and Firefox's rendering will be > quite slow on a P166, especially on big pages. > > That said, I feel there are some issues that stop Dillo from being the > browser to use on such a machine. I also think there're some issues that stop Dillo from being the browser to use on such a machine. > > Now, before giving out my "shoulds", I understand what it takes to > make code happen in the open source world: The submission of money > or patches. I have my own little open-source project, and I do > let out a sigh whenever someone says "Your program should be able to > do XXX". I do listen to these requests, but it sometimes takes years > for those requests to become real code. > > So, I hope people on this list will humour me and let me share > my thoughts about Dillo. No problem. More often than not, the maintainer agrees with some of the requests. Lack of manpower is the main barrier. > > The problem is that Dillo doesn't support a lot of high-profile > internet sites right now. > > OK, you say, so submit a patch and help with Dillo development. > > Well, the problem is that I don't think such a patch will be > accepted by the Dillo developers. > > People, of course, know about the patches over at > http://teki.jpn.ph/pc/software/index-e.shtml#dillo-i18n > > This patched version of Dillo (or should I say, this fork of Dillo) > also supports tabs, frames, UTF-8, and even has buggy support for real > HTML redirects. > > I was able to read and send webmail both with Yahoo and Gmail using > the "i18n" version of Dillo. I can't say the same for the last stock > version of Dillo I tried; I understand that the "i18n" changes may > make the code more messy. I think we're looking at different > philosophies here, and I think we may hit the point of having a > true fork should these enhancments continue to not be merged in to > the main Dillo source. > > If I were to take some time out from my own project on work on > Dillo, I would not work on the main version--I would work on > the "i18n" version, since it is usable with a number of sites that > the mainline Dillo can not access. > > I would look at the "i18n" version and try and add Javascript support > to it (or, better yet, EMCAscript support). Personally, I think Dillo > needs some level of Javascript support; a lot of high-profile sites > (can we say MySpace and their crappy JavaScript and HTML) plain simply > do not work without Javascript. Although I certainly regard the "i18n" patch-gathering as a good thing for the user, IMO dillo-gtk1 is a dead end from the development point of view (even if the gathered patches were in line with the rest of dillo's design, which is not the case). GTK1 is an abandoned library, it has become the much bigger, slower and capable GTK2, precisely because it was not suited for solving certain "desktop" problems. You can read Owen Taylor's "Internationalization in GTK+" paper for a more solid basis on i18n design decisions (Owen is one of the main authors of GTK1 and GTK2). http://developer.gnome.org/doc/whitepapers/gtki18n/index.html It can be thought that Dillo "i18n" would have more hope if ported to GTK2. Following this line, we made some benchmarks, investigated in more depth, I had some emails with Owen, we had a discussion in the mailing list, and it turned out that: * GTK2 could double Dillo's footprint. * GTK2 has different expose model that woul require a redesign of the incremental rendering inside Dillo. * Dillo would become much slower and resource hungry. If Dillo becomes slower and has a bigger footprint, its main advantages start to dissapear when compared with let's say Firefox or Opera. In that case even I'd prefer to wait a bit longer for Firefox to start and then have a featureful browser. Dillo's main advantage is a tradeoff of features for speed. If the speed edge disappears, what do we have? In short, after lots of investigation we decided to port Dillo to FLTK2 (Although there's plenty of information about this in the mailing list, I realize it would be good to recapitulate this story and make this information together with future plans available from one page in our site. This mail is the first step in that direction). With regard to Javascript, yes we also agree that we need to support some scripting language (ECMA or whatever). We've developed in this direction too (For instance we have the DOM code almost ready, and dpi can provide the link to the script interpreter; we even have developed a prototype for scheme). Tabs are easy to add too, and although I hate frames, they should be supported (sigh). BTW, I always had this in mind and that's why it was easy to make a frames patch. The networking code was already designed for the parallelism this task requires. It's a matter of implementing its rendering. Somehow people tend to believe that features are not there because the core team doesn't want them. Or even because they do not have room in a minimalistic browser. This is _not_ true. The main reason is lack of manpower. The other reasons are the GTK1 issue explained above and that these patches were not in line with the rest of the design, and that they break several things too (I've always asked authors to let their users know what each patch breaks). Having another design idea is valid, but it can't be pushed against those who think different (see LKML for examples! ;-). Forks had been announced but none thrived. > I also believe that Dillo shouldn't try to get CSS support; the last > thing I want is yet another browser with buggy CSS that I have to > design around. If Dillo is going to support CSS, I don't think the > support should become a part of a stable release of Dillo until Dillo > can render ACID2 perfectly. A site that uses CSS is perfectly usable, > albeit a bit ugly, in a browser that doesn't have CSS. We think Dillo needs CSS, so don't panic dillo-dev subscribers! :-) As a matter of fact, the widget style structures inside Dillo are shaped for CSS, and we presented a CSS parser prototype at FOSDEM 2005. Merging the CSS parser into the current tree would start CSS support. As for your concerns, disabling this is a piece of cake. > Anyway, these are just my 2 millicents. I understand that it takes > either real code or real money to make these changes real, and since > I'm currently offering neither, feel free to cheerfully ignore my thoughts > or to flame me to a crisp. :) Real money is a problem I haven't figured how to solve yet. For instance, there're plenty of embedded-focused companies that are interested, or already working with Dillo. They seem to prefer to wait for us to develop, with a view to lower costs, rather than to contribute (patches or money) or fund some development. These are the cheap companies. Other companies have interest and money to fund and foster Dillo development. The problem here is that managers prefer to make a choice for the "tried and true" and not to risk their jobs in the company in case of failure. I don't know yet how to solve the second problem. Any help is welcomed. BTW, this list has hundreds of subscribers. Please ask your questions, and send your ideas. If the core developers can't work full time on Dillo development, we'll not be able to keep the pace to chase this moving target of web browsing and Dillo will slowly die. Sebastian has a job and almost no time. If things don't change, I'll be in the same situation very soon. -- Cheers Jorge.- PS : Flames are not allowed in this mailing list. PS2: Diego: I'll answer you ASAP. Don't worry about the parser, it's already done.

Aug. 26, 2006

Re: [Dillo-dev] Problems with gziped content encodings pages and proposal

by Diego Sáenz

Hello again. I have started to code my proposal. I have a little patch with the easiest part (dillo protocol part) so people can test it if they want. The patch is highly experimental. Dpid is not modified so (until it(the most complex part)) DPI tree and names of protocols DPIs will be break. It can be solved with a few moves and renames, but do not try it in a non test system if you do not known what are you doing. The patch works with current cvs. After compiling a dillo with the experimental protocol patch when dillo finds a url that do not start with http: or about: it will ask to dpid for a service called protocol_PROTOCOL-PART-OF-URL (examples: protocol_ftp for ftp urls, protocol_data for data urls , protocol_javascript for javascript urls(if you delete the code in html.c that intercepts javascript), ...). I will use protocol_https for examples from now. How dpid is not changed it will exec ~/.dillo/dpi/protocol_https/protocol_https.dpi or $dpi_lib/dpi/protocol_https/protocol_https.dpi (in the case that the file was there when dpid started) The changed dpid will exec the user selected DPI for that service when done. Until that If anybody want to play with this code apply the patch, compile with care(do not install it for example), create a DPI(a filter script one for example) in .../dpi/protocol_YOUR-PREFERED-PROTOCOL/protocol_YOUR-PREFERED-PROTOCOL.filter.dpi , stop and restart dpid and test pointing compiled dillo to YOUR-PREFERED-PROTOCOL:WHATEVER-YOU-WANT I have make a script for javascript urls to test it(see upper comment). I will try to code a more complex part (mime) now. Diego.

Aug. 25, 2006

Re: [Dillo-dev] The kind of computer that is perfect for Dillo

by Diego Sáenz

El Thu, 24 Aug 2006 17:07:21 +0000 (UTC) Sam Trenholme <sam+dillo(a)chaosring.org> escribio: [...] > I would look at the "i18n" version and try and add Javascript support > to it (or, better yet, EMCAscript support). Personally, I think Dillo > needs some level of Javascript support; a lot of high-profile sites > (can we say MySpace and their crappy JavaScript and HTML) plain simply > do not work without Javascript. If you do it, i will try to make a Dillo Plug-In with it. A DPI will work unmodified with or without i18n-patch/fork. If you want any help about Dillo PlugIns ask in the list and i will try to help. > I also believe that Dillo shouldn't try to get CSS support; the last > thing I want is yet another browser with buggy CSS that I have to > design around. If Dillo is going to support CSS, I don't think the > support should become a part of a stable release of Dillo until Dillo > can render ACID2 perfectly. A site that uses CSS is perfectly usable, > albeit a bit ugly, in a browser that doesn't have CSS. I disagree with you. Dillo needs CSS, well better said i need a dillo with CSS :P and i think that a lot of persons need it too. Until dillo suport enought the standard and pass ACID2 a note "wait until CSS test passed before mail your webmaster or test a page with dillo(if you are a webmaster)" can be enought. Dillo is still beta. Diego.

Aug. 25, 2006

Re: [Dillo-dev] The kind of computer that is perfect for Dillo

by Hans Hohenfeld

On Thu, Aug 24, 2006 at 05:07:21PM +0000, Sam Trenholme wrote: > This is the kind of computer that is perfect for Dillo: > > http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS6828123924.html > > Summary: About $100, P166, 128 megs of memory, roughly the size of a > VHS videocasette. > > This is the perfect computer for Dillo--128 megs of ram really isn't > enough memory to run Firefox well, and Firefox's rendering will be > quite slow on a P166, especially on big pages. I have a laptop with Pentium M 266 MHz and 96 MB RAM. I'm using Firefox and Dillo on that machine, while Firefox is most times much to slow (and slows down the rest of the system). > > That said, I feel there are some issues that stop Dillo from being the > browser to use on such a machine. > I agree, that's why I still use firefox on my laptop (which is a pain) > Now, before giving out my "shoulds", I understand what it takes to > make code happen in the open source world: The submission of money > or patches. I have my own little open-source project, and I do > let out a sigh whenever someone says "Your program should be able to > do XXX". I do listen to these requests, but it sometimes takes years > for those requests to become real code. > > So, I hope people on this list will humour me and let me share > my thoughts about Dillo. > > The problem is that Dillo doesn't support a lot of high-profile > internet sites right now. > > OK, you say, so submit a patch and help with Dillo development. > > Well, the problem is that I don't think such a patch will be > accepted by the Dillo developers. > > People, of course, know about the patches over at > http://teki.jpn.ph/pc/software/index-e.shtml#dillo-i18n > > This patched version of Dillo (or should I say, this fork of Dillo) > also supports tabs, frames, UTF-8, and even has buggy support for real > HTML redirects. > > I was able to read and send webmail both with Yahoo and Gmail using > the "i18n" version of Dillo. I can't say the same for the last stock > version of Dillo I tried; I understand that the "i18n" changes may > make the code more messy. I think we're looking at different > philosophies here, and I think we may hit the point of having a > true fork should these enhancments continue to not be merged in to > the main Dillo source. > > If I were to take some time out from my own project on work on > Dillo, I would not work on the main version--I would work on > the "i18n" version, since it is usable with a number of sites that > the mainline Dillo can not access. > > I would look at the "i18n" version and try and add Javascript support > to it (or, better yet, EMCAscript support). Personally, I think Dillo > needs some level of Javascript support; a lot of high-profile sites > (can we say MySpace and their crappy JavaScript and HTML) plain simply > do not work without Javascript. I remember a discussion on this list about this patched Dillo version (or Fork). I think the main reason against it was, that the code is to much messed up and doesn't fit dillo programming guidlines (Naming Conventions and so on), but maybe I remember wrong. > > I also believe that Dillo shouldn't try to get CSS support; the last > thing I want is yet another browser with buggy CSS that I have to > design around. If Dillo is going to support CSS, I don't think the > support should become a part of a stable release of Dillo until Dillo > can render ACID2 perfectly. A site that uses CSS is perfectly usable, > albeit a bit ugly, in a browser that doesn't have CSS. > I definitely disagree. From my point of view, CSS is the most missing feature in Dillo. Frames are minor impotant (as only bad websites use them), Javascript is very much necessary, but CSS seems to be the most important feature Dillo needs. Some basic CSS attributes like colors, positioning would be a good start. I agree, that it is very important to implement CSS support as close to the standard as possible. > Anyway, these are just my 2 millicents. I understand that it takes > either real code or real money to make these changes real, and since > I'm currently offering neither, feel free to cheerfully ignore my thoughts > or to flame me to a crisp. :) > - Sam > -- derhans > > _______________________________________________ > Dillo-dev mailing list > Dillo-dev(a)dillo.org > http://lists.auriga.wearlab.de/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/dillo-dev >

Aug. 24, 2006

The kind of computer that is perfect for Dillo

by Sam Trenholme

This is the kind of computer that is perfect for Dillo: http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS6828123924.html Summary: About $100, P166, 128 megs of memory, roughly the size of a VHS videocasette. This is the perfect computer for Dillo--128 megs of ram really isn't enough memory to run Firefox well, and Firefox's rendering will be quite slow on a P166, especially on big pages. That said, I feel there are some issues that stop Dillo from being the browser to use on such a machine. Now, before giving out my "shoulds", I understand what it takes to make code happen in the open source world: The submission of money or patches. I have my own little open-source project, and I do let out a sigh whenever someone says "Your program should be able to do XXX". I do listen to these requests, but it sometimes takes years for those requests to become real code. So, I hope people on this list will humour me and let me share my thoughts about Dillo. The problem is that Dillo doesn't support a lot of high-profile internet sites right now. OK, you say, so submit a patch and help with Dillo development. Well, the problem is that I don't think such a patch will be accepted by the Dillo developers. People, of course, know about the patches over at http://teki.jpn.ph/pc/software/index-e.shtml#dillo-i18n This patched version of Dillo (or should I say, this fork of Dillo) also supports tabs, frames, UTF-8, and even has buggy support for real HTML redirects. I was able to read and send webmail both with Yahoo and Gmail using the "i18n" version of Dillo. I can't say the same for the last stock version of Dillo I tried; I understand that the "i18n" changes may make the code more messy. I think we're looking at different philosophies here, and I think we may hit the point of having a true fork should these enhancments continue to not be merged in to the main Dillo source. If I were to take some time out from my own project on work on Dillo, I would not work on the main version--I would work on the "i18n" version, since it is usable with a number of sites that the mainline Dillo can not access. I would look at the "i18n" version and try and add Javascript support to it (or, better yet, EMCAscript support). Personally, I think Dillo needs some level of Javascript support; a lot of high-profile sites (can we say MySpace and their crappy JavaScript and HTML) plain simply do not work without Javascript. I also believe that Dillo shouldn't try to get CSS support; the last thing I want is yet another browser with buggy CSS that I have to design around. If Dillo is going to support CSS, I don't think the support should become a part of a stable release of Dillo until Dillo can render ACID2 perfectly. A site that uses CSS is perfectly usable, albeit a bit ugly, in a browser that doesn't have CSS. Anyway, these are just my 2 millicents. I understand that it takes either real code or real money to make these changes real, and since I'm currently offering neither, feel free to cheerfully ignore my thoughts or to flame me to a crisp. :) - Sam

Aug. 24, 2006