[sugar] (another) WebKit port of Browse

[Carol Lerche]

I don't disagree with the goal of simplicity for the youngest users (as you
probably remember from other mails).  I do feel that young users need such a
constrained browsing experience because they can't type well and have
literacy issues (can't spell urls correctly), that this should demarcate
browse to be a case like TamTam where there are two alternatives.  I also
think many people solve the problem of young users by making a "home page"
that presents constrained alternatives with icons.  This is why I believe
that Moodle will have to have a much simpler theme on a school server than
any I have seen so far.

On Mon, Jul 7, 2008 at 5:01 PM, Bobby Powers <bobbypowers at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Mon, Jul 7, 2008 at 7:58 PM, Eben Eliason <eben.eliason at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > 2008/7/7 Carol Lerche <cafl at msbit.com>:
> >> The UI seems pretty important to me, but obviously that's a matter of
> >> taste.  Not everyone likes tabbed browsing.  Correct operation of
> websites
> >> that fail with the extant browser.  Direct availability of plugins and
> >> addons.  One example:  scrapbook, a superb research tool.  Another
> example
> >> Google Gears (according to a recent mail being ported, presumably
>  because
> >> the browser is not standard).  I am not familiar with the Firefox
> codebase,
> >> and perhaps all these things are directly available so long as the
> Firefox 3
> >> engine is there, but if so, there desperately needs to be a detailed
> body of
> >> documentation telling how to access these capabilities.
> >
> > I certainly acknowledge that a) the sparse UI isn't for everyone and
> > b) the UI is young and still needs some more work (and more features).
> >  It started out bare bones, and is slowly gaining important features
> > as we go (recently URI autocompletion, find in page text, foundational
> > support for global bookmarks, and other features appeared!).  It
> > should also be noted that tabs were part of the initial design, and
> > were taken out both to prevent abuse of RAM and because we thought
> > that it might be confused adjacent to the link sharing feature, which
> > we felt was a really important addition for our target audience and
> > collaborative learning.  I'd consider adding them in light of recent
> > engine improvements, assuming we can prove that kids navigate them
> > naturally.
> >
> > Additionally, I'd love to see other individuals with interest porting
> > other browsers to the XO.  I think someone was working on this with
> > Opera.  Perhaps a more full featured Firefox could also be Sugarized.
> > However, we designed the current Browse as is to be purposely sparse,
> > to give kids the basics without overloading them with things that
> > could get in the way. I think there's a place for Browse as a default
> > browser, especially for kids under 8 or so, even if other more complex
> > browsers appear as viable alternatives.
>
> +1
>
> > - Eben
> >
>



-- 
Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the
roof and gets stuck -- George Carlin
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