I was not aware that Vivaldi was not open source. Oh well, I still like it best.

Speaking of Opera, exactly why do many people dislike it? It is a great browser, very fast and stable, not to mention beautiful. I like that its screen is subdued. It doesn't blind you; very easy on the eyes. Why do developers think that we like to be blasted with white light every time we turn on our computer? So why should I not use it? Tracking? Something to do with Google?

Because it's YACC. Yet Another Chromium Clone. Why run opera when I can just run Chromium?

Well, one reason is that Opera looks really good. That is important to some people.

That's a highly subjective reason too. I think the opera skin of Chromium isn't much different from Chromium itself, except I prefer the color scheme of Chromium. So a reason to run Chromium instead of Opera.

Nothing wrong with being subjective, is there? In fact, I'm not sure total objectivity is even possible.

When Zorin 12 comes out, it will have Chromium as the default browser. I'll give it another look then.

Like everything else under the sun, choosing a web browser is a highly personal and subjective matter. For some, it's the footprint and performance that matter. Others want a choice of plugins and a wide variety of features. Still others despise anything that smacks in any way of intrusion, proprietary features, or ... fill in the blanks.

I enjoy software freedoms, and I definitely enjoy free software, but freedom also includes the freedom to choose, so I'm not impeded by any of the items mentioned. I have to use what my employers provide. Fortunately we have at least a couple of choices. We used to only have Internet Explorer available, and an old one at that. With increased concerns about security, and developers needing the ability to build tools for a wide user community, some developers are allowed to use Firefox, Google Chrome, or Internet Explorer. The Internet Explorer versions available are more current. Some would shrink at even the thought of that. The reality is that recent generations of their browsers are infinitely better than the IE6 that seemed to "hang around forever" at many places I worked in the past, and was the ONLY option available.

At home, I've used a LOT of browsers for a long time. I used the original Netscape as one of the first browsers, and at the time that the Internet first became popular, I was using UNIX workstations on my desktop, so I have enjoyed alternative choices for a long time. I followed Mozilla when it took on open development of the Netscape heritage, and I was around when the Mozilla project couldn't find a good name for Firefox - remember Firebird - had to be renamed because of other software and an automobile having the name, then it was Phoenix, and finally it became Firefox.

I remember how light and fast Chrome was when it was an early idea. I've used Dillo, Konqueror, links, lynx, Elinks, Epiphany, Galeon, and many other browsers. Midori is one I was initially encouraged about, but less so today. I happened to run it earlier this week, and it was having difficulty rendering Gmail and Yahoo Mail and failed on multiple occasions.

The three browsers I most commonly use (outside of work, where IE still predominantly reigns) are Firefox, Seamonkey, and Opera. I do use the Elinks, Links, Links2, Lync bunch for feeding browser information through shell scripts. But what I want to leave here is that choice, even freedom to use proprietary, free, your own creation, or nothing at all are all freedoms for each of us. I hope that everyone is comfortable seeking out what works best for them, and only concern themselves with specific environments when using equipment owned by others, especially employers. In those conditions, adherence to company policies is crucial. On our own systems, explore our own personal preferences, and seek out others only if we are curious or looking for different ideas and tools.