LinuxQuestions.org
Download your favorite Linux distribution at LQ ISO.
Go Back   LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - General
User Name
Password
Linux - General This Linux forum is for general Linux questions and discussion.
If it is Linux Related and doesn't seem to fit in any other forum then this is the place.

Notices


Closed Thread
  Search this Thread
Old 10-23-2013, 04:38 PM   #1
Lola Kews
Member
 
Registered: May 2004
Posts: 549

Rep: Reputation: 38
Not a problem, just Information on a search engine called "Start Page".


A couple days ago I started using a browser called "Start Page" that supplies a LOT more security than others. I like it!

I was wondering if anyone else is using this search engine, and if not WHY! I guess it is a Pros vs Cons question.
 
Old 10-23-2013, 09:03 PM   #2
frankbell
LQ Guru
 
Registered: Jan 2006
Location: Virginia, USA
Distribution: Slackware, Ubuntu MATE, Mageia, and whatever VMs I happen to be playing with
Posts: 19,272
Blog Entries: 28

Rep: Reputation: 6124Reputation: 6124Reputation: 6124Reputation: 6124Reputation: 6124Reputation: 6124Reputation: 6124Reputation: 6124Reputation: 6124Reputation: 6124Reputation: 6124
I have been using Startpage as my default search engine for several years, because it promised to respect my privacy. I forget where I learned of it.

Whatever browser I use, if it allows installing a search enginge, I install Startpage in it and make it my default search engine. Very rarely, perhaps once every three or four months, I might get a message that the "servers are overloaded, please check back later"; then I'll use something else until the issue is resolved.

I have been quite satisfied with search results from Startpage (ixquick in the UK).

Last edited by frankbell; 10-23-2013 at 09:05 PM.
 
2 members found this post helpful.
Old 10-23-2013, 09:10 PM   #3
Firerat
Senior Member
 
Registered: Oct 2008
Distribution: Debian sid
Posts: 2,683

Rep: Reputation: 783Reputation: 783Reputation: 783Reputation: 783Reputation: 783Reputation: 783Reputation: 783
been using startpage for a long time,

Like Frankbell I immediately add it as the default search engine, including Firefox for android
You have to disable all the other search engines via the addons menu in FF for android for it to work ( search start page in the other add ons )

I use ixquick to, it is like startpage , but instead of exclusive google results 'it uses lots' of search engines

the view by ixquick proxy , link works well,, one of the best web proxies I have used.
 
1 members found this post helpful.
Old 10-24-2013, 12:54 PM   #4
Lola Kews
Member
 
Registered: May 2004
Posts: 549

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 38
Thanks Guys, I was just a little worried that it was to good to be true.

What features of the program do you use, how about the incription feature?
 
Old 10-24-2013, 02:29 PM   #5
salasi
Senior Member
 
Registered: Jul 2007
Location: Directly above centre of the earth, UK
Distribution: SuSE, plus some hopping
Posts: 4,070

Rep: Reputation: 897Reputation: 897Reputation: 897Reputation: 897Reputation: 897Reputation: 897Reputation: 897
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lola Kews View Post
..."Start Page"... supplies a LOT more security than others.
Than which others, and specifically which security flaws? Certainly, there are search engines that require you to trade off your privacy (not quite the same thing, although it may have security implications) in order to get what they do for you for 'free'.

In any case, my current favourites are
  1. DuckDuckGo
  2. Dogpile
  3. Izito

(with Izito being my current first choice, on a day-to-day basis). DDG, which is much liked in some quarters, has an output format that I don't like that much, but which I'd easily learn to put up with if it wasn't for the fact that I like Dogpile or Izito's output formats better.

I quite like Izito's advanced options, and that's probably the reason for taking it above Dogpile.

I have briefly used startpage (in its Ixquick form); forget why I abandoned it, so I probably should give it another go.
 
2 members found this post helpful.
Old 10-24-2013, 03:42 PM   #6
Randicus Draco Albus
Senior Member
 
Registered: May 2011
Location: Hiding somewhere on planet Earth.
Distribution: No distribution. OpenBSD operating system
Posts: 1,711
Blog Entries: 8

Rep: Reputation: 635Reputation: 635Reputation: 635Reputation: 635Reputation: 635Reputation: 635
StartPage is my primary search engine and DuckDuckGo is second. The only drawback I have seen with both is when searching for images. At least for me, few results are shown. But for normal searching, both are very good.
 
2 members found this post helpful.
Old 10-24-2013, 04:08 PM   #7
k3lt01
Senior Member
 
Registered: Feb 2011
Location: Australia
Distribution: Debian Wheezy, Jessie, Sid/Experimental, playing with LFS.
Posts: 2,900

Rep: Reputation: 637Reputation: 637Reputation: 637Reputation: 637Reputation: 637Reputation: 637
Just having a look at it before I go to work it says it is enhanced by Google. Reading the "more information" or whatever the link was says they search google for the user so the user does not feed google with any information. I'll give it a go and see what I think.
 
2 members found this post helpful.
Old 10-24-2013, 04:51 PM   #8
Lola Kews
Member
 
Registered: May 2004
Posts: 549

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 38
Guys you are great. I really don't know, but I really want you to know I appreciate your input.
If there is a better program/similar I'm all ears. The program Start Page is the only one of it's kind that I came across (by accident) so I have no knowledge of the other programs you speak of.

Randicus Draco Albus, I don't know what searching for "images" means, can you explain ?
 
Old 10-24-2013, 06:56 PM   #9
Randicus Draco Albus
Senior Member
 
Registered: May 2011
Location: Hiding somewhere on planet Earth.
Distribution: No distribution. OpenBSD operating system
Posts: 1,711
Blog Entries: 8

Rep: Reputation: 635Reputation: 635Reputation: 635Reputation: 635Reputation: 635Reputation: 635
The options of searching "Internet, Images, Videos."
 
1 members found this post helpful.
Old 10-24-2013, 08:02 PM   #10
JWJones
Senior Member
 
Registered: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,444

Rep: Reputation: 709Reputation: 709Reputation: 709Reputation: 709Reputation: 709Reputation: 709Reputation: 709
Startpage is the one I always use to replace whatever the default search engine is in either Firefox or Chromium. Also been using it for a few years. I tried DuckDuckGo, but didn't like its output format, as salasi said.
 
1 members found this post helpful.
Old 10-26-2013, 04:27 PM   #11
weirdwolf
Member
 
Registered: Jun 2007
Location: 1 AU from a G2V star
Distribution: PCLinuxOS LXDE / Android
Posts: 247

Rep: Reputation: 434Reputation: 434Reputation: 434Reputation: 434Reputation: 434
Been using it for a few years. I switch between Start page and ixquick, which is who runs Start page. The ixquick page doesn't have the "enhanced by Google" on it.
I like either of their image search as well as GIS. With either you can also set your privacy to different levels either by cookie or by bookmarking a custom page.
 
Old 10-26-2013, 04:38 PM   #12
Firerat
Senior Member
 
Registered: Oct 2008
Distribution: Debian sid
Posts: 2,683

Rep: Reputation: 783Reputation: 783Reputation: 783Reputation: 783Reputation: 783Reputation: 783Reputation: 783
seeing as this has come up a few times, and there seems to be some confusion

startpage uses hits only from google, think of it as a google search via proxy

ixquick is a meta search, it pulls together hits from multiple search engines.
 
Old 10-26-2013, 05:25 PM   #13
k3lt01
Senior Member
 
Registered: Feb 2011
Location: Australia
Distribution: Debian Wheezy, Jessie, Sid/Experimental, playing with LFS.
Posts: 2,900

Rep: Reputation: 637Reputation: 637Reputation: 637Reputation: 637Reputation: 637Reputation: 637
I've been using it, and comparing it to Google, for the last couple of days. It does get the same results but it doesn't seem to put them in any order of relevance. Somethings I find on page 10 that Google has on page 1 and I, personally, find this frustrating. I don't know how they can fix this but to me it is something they do need to fix. I'll keep using it and hope that usage will help them prioritise the results more efficiently.
 
Old 10-26-2013, 06:57 PM   #14
Firerat
Senior Member
 
Registered: Oct 2008
Distribution: Debian sid
Posts: 2,683

Rep: Reputation: 783Reputation: 783Reputation: 783Reputation: 783Reputation: 783Reputation: 783Reputation: 783
@k3lt01 , you don't seem to understand..
startpage will never work that way

what is happening with your 'real google search' is google providing you with results it thinks you want based on the data it has collected about you.

Personally, it is actually why I like startpage, I first started using it, not just for privacy reasons, but for the fact that search results were getting 'stale' for me, always having some kind of bias towards Linux, my IP location and so on.

And yes, I know you have my posts on ignore, not my loss :P
Hopefully someone will quote this for you, then you can pretend you didn't hit the view anyway link
 
Old 10-26-2013, 07:41 PM   #15
astrogeek
Moderator
 
Registered: Oct 2008
Distribution: Slackware [64]-X.{0|1|2|37|-current} ::12<=X<=15, FreeBSD_12{.0|.1}
Posts: 6,258
Blog Entries: 24

Rep: Reputation: 4193Reputation: 4193Reputation: 4193Reputation: 4193Reputation: 4193Reputation: 4193Reputation: 4193Reputation: 4193Reputation: 4193Reputation: 4193Reputation: 4193
Quote:
Originally Posted by Firerat View Post
@k3lt01 , you don't seem to understand..
startpage will never work that way

what is happening with your 'real google search' is google providing you with results it thinks you want based on the data it has collected about you.

Personally, it is actually why I like startpage, I first started using it, not just for privacy reasons, but for the fact that search results were getting 'stale' for me, always having some kind of bias towards Linux, my IP location and so on.

And yes, I know you have my posts on ignore, not my loss :P
Hopefully someone will quote this for you, then you can pretend you didn't hit the view anyway link
Quoted... now we can all be happy

I agree with Firerat, I find it very frustrating that Google thinks it knows what I am looking for on any given day - it does make the results turn stale to the point that they stink!

I much prefer to simply get a list of what is out there, and I'll optimize it by my search terms, by myself. I avoid Google for most purposes.
 
1 members found this post helpful.
  


Closed Thread


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
[SOLVED] How to modify Eprints "Advanced Search" page ? vijaysince89 Linux - Server 1 12-07-2010 08:33 AM
Telling people to use "Google," to "RTFM," or "Use the search feature" Ausar General 77 03-21-2010 11:26 AM
"open-source-community-friendly" Search Engine? tangoking General 4 09-01-2009 11:45 PM
LXer: New Search Engine Cuil "analyzes the Web, not its users" LXer Syndicated Linux News 0 07-28-2008 07:40 AM
Newbie question about "start" or so called menu syeronne Mandriva 2 12-05-2005 06:31 AM

LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - General

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:46 PM.

Main Menu
Advertisement
My LQ
Write for LQ
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute content, let us know.
Main Menu
Syndicate
RSS1  Latest Threads
RSS1  LQ News
Twitter: @linuxquestions
Open Source Consulting | Domain Registration