Hello-
Sometimes(Especially with Apple Fanboy's involved), it can be hard to get the truth about things.
I've heard a lot about WebKit, and how oh so great it is with Safari and stuff.

Can you guys answer these questions for me so I can understand more?

1. Is there a browser that uses this WebKit for Linux?
2. What is so great about WebKit?
3. Is WebKit really so much faster then Firefox?
4. What about Firefox 3?
5. Would Firefox ever use WebKit?
6. What are any advantages of WebKit.

thanks,
LN75

Can't really answer any specific questions, but Debian has a version of it's Firefox clone (Iceweasel) that runs on webkit. Last time I tested it, it wasn't quite up to speed, but that was 4-6 months ago. It may be ready for prime time by now.

I don't know if other distributions are using it yet or not.

Actually, I just read an article on Linuxformat's webpage that said the new version of gnome will have Epiphany that uses webkit. However, I don't know what it is or what it does.

Oops! You're right ... It's Epiphany in Debian that has a Webkit version.

Wait... will the WebKit Epiphany be compatible with Firefox Extensions?
I believe the current one is.

Thanks for your replies.

Epiphany and Firefox are different browsers. I found this site that said they will not work: http://live.gnome.org/Epiphany/Proje...5e59b4174cca14

The Wikipedia article says Webkit is based on the HTML rendering engine Konquerer uses (KHTML) and now included in Qt version 4.something even though konquerer still uses its own branch of KHTML. Webkit is ported to Gtk and some projects startet to include it. (click list here)

An "embedded" version is available - for example for Nokia S60 based cell phones (the ones which also support the Python development API, btw.), but OpenMoko also ("the open source cell phone") seems to use it.

Webkit compiles perfectly fine (at least under my Slackware 12) from source, so you just can try out and see for yourself. The source isn't specifically marked as "download linux stuff here", but it compiles and people use it to experiment.

If you really want details, check the comparison tables listed in the Gecko Layout Engine article of Wikipedia, they're most helpful.

Rendering Engine Comparison (See "see also" )

And to be precise: It's a comparison between Webkit and Gecko as Webkit and Gecko both might be used as rendering engines in different browsers - like Firefox and Safari.

And Firefox 3 is Gecko-based. Alpha 3 is out today or yesterday or so, try it.