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Comments: 185 +- Technology: Mozilla Releases SeaMonkey 2.0 on Thursday October 29, @01:48PM
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binarybum writes "Often forgotten, but the independent open source spirit lives strong in the once Mozilla project — now SeaMonkey. Version 2.0 is finally out and rivals Firefox with similar features but integrated email with a small footprint."
The Register has a short piece on the 2.0 release, which mentions that SeaMonkey is now based on Firefox 3.5.4. Stephen Shankland lists some of the features in a handy bullet-point style, too. I'm using the new release right now; it's crashed once — but only once — in several hours of use.
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Who cares anymore? (Score:2, Interesting)
All we need is a web browser. Users need the flexibility to choose their own mail program. Besides, webmail is today's king. This is why "Seamonkey" is often forgotten.
SeaMonkey Composer is the best... (Score:5, Informative)
Unless, of course, you want to deal with the quirkiness and huge expense of Adobe Dreamweaver. Dreamweaver has more features, but SeaMonkey is usually all you need.
Use TsWebEditor for Tidying SeaMonkey HTML files.
Parent
Re:SeaMonkey Composer is the best... (Score:4, Informative)
I confirm most of this story, except that I'm French, not German. ;-)
The way I see it, Nvu was a trademarked fork of [Mozilla|SeaMonkey] Composer: it's been designed in a way that made it incompatible with the Mozilla trunk, probably on purpose. The KompoZer project aims to backport most of the Nvu code to the Mozilla codebase — hence the upcoming merge with SeaMonkey.
KompoZer will remain a standalone app: it will be built on SeaMonkey 2.1, and SeaMonkey Composer should have most of KompoZer's features and bug-fixes.
-- Fabien Cazenave, KompoZer lead dev.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
I don't see the benefit of using webmail instead of a client and IMAP? A client can give me notifications, and search faster. I can use it offline. And I can integrate all my mail accounts together.
There are plenty of very good mail programs out there, just choose the one that sucks the least (Sylpheed/Claws for me).
Totally Your Opinion (Score:4, Insightful)
> Users need the flexibility to choose their own mail program.
Could you please direct me to the RFC that stipulates this?
Maybe by choosing SeaMonkey they HAVE chosen their own email program.
Well, you got first post, at least.
--Richard
Parent
Re:Who cares anymore? (Score:4, Insightful)
Users need the flexibility to choose their own mail program.
They have that flexibility. They can use Firefox.
Besides, webmail is today's king.
I don't know about you, but I can't stand webmail.
Parent
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I haven't found any email client that is as usable and nice as gmail.
Re:Do you get like... 2 mails per day? (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
Really, you're OK with that? (Score:5, Insightful)
one crash every couple of hours is where we're setting the bar now?
if this was a Microsoft product you'd be outraged and laughing about the ridiculous uptime.
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Seriously, I was going to say the same thing. Crashing once with a few hours of use is pretty iffy...
Of course, it depends on what crashed it. But still. The bias towards liking it is obvious, too.. "but only once."
That's like saying that I got a virus in Windows - but only once. So Windows is actually really secure! ...
I am a software tester. If the software I test crashes and I am inclined to think it was a problem with the software, I actually am paid to try to reproduce the problem... not pass it o
Re:Really, you're OK with that? (Score:5, Insightful)
here's reproducability for you
1. install adobe flash player
2. browse the web with any browser, especially visit sites with flash content. For extra daring attempts, open multiple tabs with flash content at the same time.
3. the crashes!!!
That being said youtube doesn't normally cause crashes for me, so it is probably shitty flash applications from shitty websites.
i hope to god something has replaced flash in 10 years.
Parent
Totally forgot this existed... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Time to give SeaMonkey another shot!
No thanks. I tried it when I was a kid. They are just brine shrimp. Nothing special, definitely not monkeys, and don't waste your money by giving them another shot.
50% ? (Score:2, Insightful)
it's crashed once -- but only once -- in several hours of use
As "several" could (potentially) refer to any number more than two, then it could (potentially) "only" crash 8 times a day, or 56 times a week, or 2912 times a year.
Not a terribly positive endorsement to be honest.
Glad to see! (Score:2)
I'm browsing with SeaMonkey 1.1.17 right now, I prefer they way it handles tabs over firefox.
Hope they didn't change that!
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Your version is outdated for v1.1 series. v1.1.18 exists.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Seems to be the same. The new-tab button is still in its fixed position on the left-hand side.
The interface looks the same, except for a few differences
- The classic theme button icons look more firefox-like and less netscape 3-like (bad thing, in my books). A theme can solve that.
- There is now an rss icon w/ drop-down list on the right hand side of the address bar. So far its been unobtrusive.
- The url-guessing algorithm has been changed; it's now supposed to guess based on URL and page title. Not sure ho
Re: (Score:2)
The Javascript is much faster over the 1.x series. For instance, loading slashdot.org no longer brings up the dialog 'the javascript on this page is too convoluted and is taking too long. we're going to make you click okay just for the hell of it'.
Hopefully it doesn't crash as much as Seamonkey 1.x. I never figured out what was causing the crashes, possibly the gcc version I was using or maybe Flash. In any case, I will gladly make Seamonkey my backup browser to Chrome (goodbye, Firefox, I won't miss yo
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flash ? (Score:4, Insightful)
it's crashed once -- but only once -- in several hours of use.
flash ?
Re: (Score:2)
Interestingly, I noticed Firefox no longer crashes because of flash. I don't know who fixed it (Mozilla or Adobe) but the last crash must have been more than 6 months ago.
hmm (Score:2, Funny)
In other words, it's even less reliable than the IE I'm reading this on?
More similarity with Firefox isn't all good (Score:4, Interesting)
I've used Seamonkey as my default browser for a long time now, mainly because I like the user interface better. Seamonkey 2.0 now uses Firefox's printing system, though, and this is one of the main things I don't like about Firefox. I use lpr for printing, not cups, and I liked the fact that earlier versions of Seamonkey (and "Mozilla" before it) remembered any changes I made to the "lpr command" in the print dialog. Firefox uses gtk-print, which reverts back to the default lpr command every time you click print, even in the same session. I've reported this as a bug in the Seamonkey bugzilla.
Regarding crashes, I've seen another report of this at LWN [lwn.net].
this is a scam! (Score:2)
This is just brine gecko...don't be fooled!
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
This is just brine gecko...don't be fooled!
Mmmmm . . . Brined gecko . . .
Why?! (Score:2)
"Web-browser, advanced e-mail, newsgroup and feed client, IRC chat, and HTML editing made simple -- all your Internet needs in one application" ... for what reason do we need this all in one single application?
Re:Why?! (Score:5, Informative)
Because a lot of people like having that integration.
You don't? Then use something else and quit whining.
Parent
It did what once? (Score:5, Informative)
That's... not good.
No iceape for Debian/Ubuntu yet (Score:2)
I have filed a bug under Debian where I am offering $250 if someone can get a .deb out before the end of next week.
If you are not already aware, the Firefux/Thunderturd/Seamonkey art licensing prohibits it's use under Debian/Ubuntu. As such, the packages must be renamed Iceweasle/Icedove/Iceape with new art.
WARNING for users with several profiles (Score:3, Informative)
When it asks you to import profiles, it will ONLY work if you select a profile that comes with Seamonkey i.e. default. This is not intuitive and counter to all previous upgrades.
You have to manual crate a new profile with the profile name you want, and then use the command line to import that ONE profile.
c:\%APPATH%\mozilla\seamonkey -P -migration
The profile name is case sensitive and MUST be in dbl quotes.
This was a pain in the ass for people like me that have a profile for each person in their home. It's LAZY DEVELOPMENT and the should be ashamed of themselves.
I know, you're thinking 'So you have to got o the command line, so what?" well that's a deal killer for a lot of people. There is NO GOOD REASON why this is a manual process.
The documentation that explains this comes across as hubris and with a too damn bad attitude. People want to know why OS hasn't defeated MS? it's because of shit like this, I actually considered loading outlook.
No, this is NOT a troll or flame bait, it's facts.
SeaMonkey, Portable Edition 2.0 for USB drives (Score:3, Informative)
Well, I certainly remember it well and fire it up from time to time. It was what I used before Firefox and Thunderbird came along. Now that 2.0 has gone gold, hopefully some new users will find it and be intrigued.
As we (at PortableApps.com) do with Firefox, Thunderbird and Sunbird, we've packaged it as a portable app so you can use it on your flash drive/portable hard drive or try it out without installing it locally. 10 languages are available.
SeaMonkey, Portable Edition 2.0 at PortableApps.com [portableapps.com]
Re:So... (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
Re:So... (Score:5, Informative)
I hate the search bar in Firefox too, so I deleted it and set up keyword searches for the half-dozen search engines I use regularly. (If you're not familiar with this FF function, right-click on any search box and select "add a keyword for this search."
For example, "g" is my google keyword. To google something, I type
g something
It works like a charm.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
I hate the search bar in Firefox too, so I deleted it and set up keyword searches for the half-dozen search engines I use regularly. (If you're not familiar with this FF function, right-click on any search box and select "add a keyword for this search."
A pre-written [cnet.com] list (chosen at random) for easy import.
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, it makes Ubiquity toothless.
Re:So... (Score:4, Interesting)
User Agent switcher will fix that problem for you.I keep it around myself, and have found it is MUCH easier to convert older folks to SeaMonkey than to Firefox, as they remember the old Netscape days and prefer its layout. I'll admit I prefer it for certain jobs, such as it is the browser I use for secure transactions. I just like the "feel" of SeaMonkey better than Firefox, which sometimes feels kinda dumbed down to me.
Of course it is the excellent Firefox extensions library that keeps me coming back to FF. Oh curse you and your large library of extensions goodness!
Parent
Re:So... (Score:4, Interesting)
http://prefbar.mozdev.org/ [mozdev.org]
First plugin I install for SeaMonkey: Home button, toggles for colours, fonts, images, JavaScript, Java, Flash, pop-ups; drop downs for Proxy settings, User Agent, window size - couldn't live without it.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Not based on Firefox, other way around (Score:4, Informative)
No. The rendering engine is Gecko, and until this release, Seamonkey was stuck with the same version of Gecko as as FF v2.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I'm also working from memory, but I think that Gecko is the engine. Firefox used to be the engineering test-bed browser component for the Mozilla suite, but end users decided they liked the light and fast standalone browser.
-Peter
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The funny thing is that Firefox is now considered quite bloated by some and projects like K-Meleon strive to create a lightweight variant of Firefox.
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I'm also working from memory, but I think that Gecko is the engine. Firefox used to be the engineering test-bed browser component for the Mozilla suite, but end users decided they liked the light and fast standalone browser.
-Peter
Firefox... light... fast... That's news to me.
Time to suffer the wrath of Mozilla fanboy mods.
Re: (Score:2)
CLOSE, but Phoenix (Firefox's original branding) was a project started to deliberately slim down the browser and focus on it exclusively rather than worrying about other functions like email and HTML editing - ie, it was intended to be an end-user product from it's inception rather than a rendering engine testbed (as the Gecko rendering engine and the Mozilla suite predated Phoenix by quite a bit).
Re: (Score:2)
Wow... I knew where this was headed, and yet I still couldn't believe it. An open source program that has absolutely nothing to do with Microsoft crashes, and guess what, it's all MS's fault.
There's plenty of legitimate gripes with Microsoft. Blame them for a secretive culture, monopolistic practices, failure to follow standards, bugs, etc etc etc. But don't blame them for the failings of FOSS software. Next thing you know, MS will be the reason GNU/Hurd hasn't taken over.
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Learn your history - Firefox was supposed to be the lightweight alternative to the Mozilla Suite. Seamonkey is the continuation of the Mozilla Suite under a different name.
So, Firefox was the lightweight alternative to Seamonkey.
Except, Firefox started seriously competing with IE, started getting bloat, and for some time now has been a more heavyweight program than Seamonkey. All this despite the fact that Firefox only offers web browsing, while Seamonkey offers Web, News, Email, IRC, and HTML Editing.
A rea