Speed of GNU/Linux Web Browsers

See What’s the fastest Linux web browser?
SJVN tried a bunch of web browsers against a bunch of benchmarks and recommends Google’s Chrome browser. I don’t think speed should be the deciding factor, especially when the differences are so small.
$latex \frac{31737-30628}{31737}100 = 3.5\% $
That’s not significant IMHO. More important to me is how the browser does its basic job, rendering web pages.

The reason I gave up on Chrome was that it got a big share of its speed by preloading pages. That’s parallel processing, normally a good thing, but when it clogs the connection to your ISP and uses up all available RAM, it’s not. Then there’s the spying… Chrome reports back to Big Brother what you’re doing. I don’t mind Google helping me navigate the web but in the days when NSA and a bunch of others are hacking the web, it’s insecure and a further burden on my expensive ISP connection. No thanks. I’ll stick with FireFox. It may be clunky in places, but it’s not out to get me.

About Robert Pogson


7 Responses to Speed of GNU/Linux Web Browsers

  1. Socrates the Wise wrote, “How is Chrome out to â€œgetâ€ you?”

    Chrome browser reports back to Google sites you visit, links you clicked upon, stuff like that. It helps them send you desirable ads, search results and provides Google data it can sell to customers. That’s good for Google but I don’t like being followed around all day. Obviously, most desktop users have a choice of Chrome or not but many smartphones come with Chrome installed. Those who have choice and know it often choose Chrome for its performance. I choose FireFox because it’s not out to get me. I still use Google for search. That’s all I want to give Google.

  2. Socrates the Wise says:

    How is Chrome out to “get” you?

  3. DrLoser says:

    If everybody did it, they would go broke using their entire national power grid to do eavesdropping.

    I think the FSA filters out harmless paranoid loons like you, ram, early on in the process.

    It saves bandwidth.

  4. DrLoser says:

    Iâ€™ll stick with FireFox. It may be clunky in places, but itâ€™s not out to get me…

    … it only feels that way when I’m trying to use it.

  5. ram says:

    TOR browser works for me, through a chain of proxies. Maybe major power intelligence agencies can read the transmissions, but it going to be expensive. If everybody did it, they would go broke using their entire national power grid to do eavesdropping.

  6. Ivan says:

    You use the browser the FBI exploits to catch pedophiles?

  7. Tarek Fatah says:

    It does not matter what browser you use. The National Security Agency records all telecommunication data.


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