A couple of ideas for Iron...

[swoody]

Hello all, this is my first post here, and I'm a new convert from Icecat

There are some really great features with Iron, and I really like the way they've focused on trying to get rid of Google's data-mining efforts. However, there are just a couple suggestions I would make for Iron.

Firstly, removing most of the Google association is a great step, but the default search provider for Iron is Google. I would really suggest taking the final step in getting rid of Google by using a different search engine like StartPage.com ( https://startpage.com ). Not only is it not Google, but StartPage doesn't log IP addresses, doesn't use Unique ID cookies, and also allows your searches through https for a more secure browsing experience. On top of this, you can browse through the search results using StartPage's own proxy service, so you can really surf securely if you wish. This is what I have installed on my Iron browser, and what I recommend to others as well.
For more info on their Privacy info: https://startpage.com/eng/protect-privacy-qa.html
To add StartPage.com to your browser: http://startpage.com/eng/download-startpage-plugin.html

The second thing I would love to see happen with Iron would be a switch to the GPL license from the current BSD license. Now I'm not a licensing expert, so I would really enjoy hearing feedback on this, but I think the GPL would be a good move for Iron. It would always guarantee the source would be open and available - with the permissiveness of the BSD license, others who use/modify Iron may try avoiding having to allow access to the source code. On top of this, it would be very kindly looked upon by the open-source (and *free*) communities, and I feel the user base of Iron would expand a good deal for it.

Again, these are just two things that have popped into my head since I started using Iron. Overall, I enjoy and appreciate the work everyone has done with this browser to make it as good as it is

- Woody

[bulek]

The second thing I would love to see happen with Iron would be a switch to the GPL license from the current BSD license.

I'm not sure if this is possible. Correct me if I am wrong but my impression was that some parts of Iron functionality is not covered with BSD license (such as ad-blocking engine where the source code is not available). If SRWare starts using GPL they would have to publish all related source code (including their own additions) while they do not have to do that currently.

[z25blink]

1)
BSD-like licences are rather better for using
Developers could use original Chromium code

2)
StartPage.com .... looks so wonderfull in design and with best privacy .... realy like that ... should be Iron homepage and search engine

3)
Of course .... Welcome in Iron community

[swoody]

I'm not sure if this is possible. Correct me if I am wrong but my impression was that some parts of Iron functionality is not covered with BSD license (such as ad-blocking engine where the source code is not available). If SRWare starts using GPL they would have to publish all related source code (including their own additions) while they do not have to do that currently.

Well, i haven't looked into the licensing of the ad-blocking engine that comes with Iron, but I don't see any reason why they couldn't license it under GPL. There are also AdBlock extensions for Chrome which are released under the GPL license, so I think it would be very plausible: http://code.google.com/p/adblockforchrome/
(See the right side where it says 'Code License')

2) StartPage.com .... looks so wonderful in design and with best privacy .... really like that ... should be Iron homepage and search engine

3) Of course .... Welcome in Iron community

Indeed, I really enjoy StartPage.com. I'm glad to see you like it as well

And thank you for the warm welcome

[bulek]

Well, i haven't looked into the licensing of the ad-blocking engine that comes with Iron, but I don't see any reason why they couldn't license it under GPL. There are also AdBlock extensions for Chrome which are released under the GPL license

Well... the main difference as far as I understand is that Iron engine does not load adv elements at all what gives you a benefit in data transfer time and rendering performance. The extension you mentioned just hides all loaded adv elements. Some time ago I was trying another Chromium fork - ChromePlus which also had ad bloking engine built-in. The performance hit however made this feature almost unusable. So for purely practical reason I will stay for now with proprietary ad blocking engine from SRWare.

As for GPL you don't see any reason. Well... I personally do not see it either as for any other currently commercial application. The decision however is up to the developer and this is where the real freedom of licensing shows the best side - everyone can choose what is supposed to be the best for him. There is no single the best license - it always has to be chosen by the developer according to his plans.

[arflech]

An even better default home page would be about:blank

that way the browser loads more quickly

[ironuser]

An even better default home page would be about:blank

that way the browser loads more quickly

That can be handled very easy by putting about:blank in the Options>Basics>Home Page section.

[swoody]

An even better default home page would be about:blank

that way the browser loads more quickly

Well, I was suggesting StartPage.com for the default search engine, not the homepage. Although I do agree. I have Iron setup to open blank tabs, and it makes things much speedier

[cruftmeister]

Greetings,
Then there's always the satisfaction of "sticking it" to google, by using scroogle.
Scroogle filters (proxies) your search and simply returns the results - no AD's. In fact your IP isn't even visiable to google.
Scroogle also doesn't maintain any of your data either. It's all quite anonymous.
Click the link above, and see for yourself.

For those of you whom like to make custom search plugins for your browser(s)
it works as follows

Code: Select all

http://www.scroogle.org/cgi-bin/nbbw.cgi?
Gw= <this is the search term>
n= <this is results per page>

a typical one for webkit browsers would be:

Code: Select all

http://www.scroogle.org/cgi-bin/nbbw.cgi?Gw=%s&n=100

It's a bit more involved for the Geko family of browsers. But you get the idea.
If anyone wants a template - PM me, and I'll post one for you.

--cruftmeister (chris)