Preface
This page explains how the RULE project approaches web surfing. In spite of this, a should be (hopefully) useful to whoever needs a light browser for any *nix system. Remember that this page only deals with general issues. To know the last version of any browser, or if it comes in rpm format, you should either check the browser’ home page or, in the latter case, the RULE software map.
Surfing the web with RULE
RULE must allow web surfing both in character and graphic mode. At least when in graphic mode, even modern web sites with frames, javascript and such must be supported, as long as they are compliant with real web standards, and don’t use any proprietary “extension”.
Note for new users
(this should be added to the final documentation) Please remember that very often, when you cannot browse some site, the fault is not in Linux, in the browser you use, or, sometimes, in your impossibility or unwillingness to spend money for a PC which can stand the “trendiest” browsers.
Very frequently, the fault is on the webmaster side. When a web site pretends to be viewed only with one browser, or starts dumping unneeded Flash and other trash-TV kind of things on you, you shouldn’t feel inferior, just never go back to that place, obviously after taking the time to write to that webmaster and let him know why you are leaving.
Of course, there are a lot of places (game sites, for example) where heavy multimedia is essential: that kind of use, however, is simply outside the scope of the services that RULE wants to offer, because it does need powerful hardware regardless of the OS.
With the obvious exception above, pleasant and useful web sites can be designed to be useable with almost all browsers: when that doesn’t happen, it is because the webmaster is lazy and not worth his fee (or, sometimes, for totally different, and even less justifiable, reasons: just ignore him.
Use cases
RULE aims to cover the first four cases described below. For each one, we will propose the one or two browsers which serve better in that situation (one or two is simply to limit the effort, nothing else) and package them in RPM format if needed. It hould be esplicitly noted that there is nothing wrong in installing more than one, all the contrary. It could be a good way to make the better use of system resources. If, for example, most of the time a text browser is enough, the user can either leave it always open, or shut it down and restart every five minutes with the minimum performance impact. If the only things that require Javascript is done just a few times per week, only in that case a proper browser will be launched: load time and slowness will affect the user only for a tiny fraction of his time.
Some of the browsers most suitable for inclusions and the criteria to choose them are in a separate page: Possible web browsers for inclusion in RULE:.
1: Plain text
This covers all situations when it is enough (or explicitly wanted, to filter out clutter!) to decode plain, static HTML 4.0, but without frames.
2: Plain text, with frames
Same as above, but with frames capability.
3: Graphic browsing, no JavaScript
Simple sites with images, online or local documentation in HTML
format, no special interaction needed or wanted.
4: Graphic browsing, with JavaScript
When, regardless of how and how much the site is heavy on graphics, client side scripting is not just another spoonful of eye candy, but is actually needed to do something useful, or actually wanted by the user. Two very common examples are home banking and online purchases, where the data inside a form must be verified, or the total invoice must be confirmed by the user, before
anything is sent to the server.
5: Graphic browsing, with Flash, sound, and what not
As already mentioned, there are a lot of cases where all this stuff has a real purpose. Some of them are even educational (check the
paleontology exercises at Becoming human for an example). In this case, however, there is simply the need for more horsepower than the typical computer coming to RULE will have, so we simply don’t cover it (unless you tell to us that you just developed the next Mozilla for one tenth of the weight!).