| Web browsers get Web pages from Web sites on the World Wide Web (WWW) and display the Web pages on your screen. For dynamic Web sites, information is often sent from the browser to the Web site as well, such as user ID/passwords, information provided in forms, and product orders. The major Web browsers for Linux are: Konqueror/Nautilus: The Web browsers provided with the major Linux desktops. Konqueror (KDE) and Nautilus (GNOME) are fully functional, but Mozilla has many more powerful features. Konqueror is discussed in other chapters. Mozilla: The major open source browser, based on the Netscape source code that was made open source in 1998. Netscape provides some support for the Mozilla project. Mozilla is a suite of products, including a Web browser, email software, a news reader, and an HTML editor. Email is discussed in Chapter 17. Mozilla is included in most major Linux distributions. Mozilla runs on Windows, as well as Linux. Mozilla Firefox: The next generation Mozilla Web browser. Firefox is a browser only, not a suite. It's faster, more efficient, and better than Mozilla. Firefox 1.0 was released in October 2004, and its use is growing rapidly. Firefox runs on Windows, as well as Linux. Currently, Firefox is not included in most distributions, so you must download and install it yourself. Installing software is discussed in Chapter 10. (www.mozilla.org) Netscape: Netscape is very similar to Mozilla, but it isn't an open source project. Netscape uses Mozilla as its base, but adds more documentation and user friendly interface features. Netscape runs on Windows and Mac, as well as Linux. Netscape is not included with Linux, so you must download and install it yourself. Installing software is discussed in Chapter 10. (www.netscape.com) Lynx: A character based browser for use at the command line. It doesn't display graphics or play multimedia files. It's used most often for system administration tasks. Lynx is probably installed on your Linux system. Open it in a terminal window.
This chapter discusses the Mozilla browser. Most of the information applies to Firefox, as well. Firefox has most of the same features, but they may be found in a different location. For instance, Mozilla settings are found in Edit->Preferences; Firefox settings are found in Tools->Options. Most of the information applies to Netscape, as well. |
