Afternoon, all.
The current stable version of Chrome -
Google_Chrome-68.0.3440.75-amd64 - is now available for download, from the new location referenced in post #1.
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From version 66 onward, Google started becoming
really strict about security. They commenced a phased 'distrust' of
all certificates issued by
Symantec (the people who bring you, among other things, Norton Security), prior to 2016. This will be fully completed by October this year. You can read about it
here, and
here.
One of the downsides of this is that you
may find some of your regular websites will no longer display in Chrome. I don't believe this is a decision that Google will back down from, despite plenty of objections from Symantec themselves. The advice given by most of the tech bloggers is that you'll simply have to use a secondary browser for these sites, so FF Quantum will be a good standby.
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Changes and updates in this release are as explained
here, on the regular Chrome blog page.
42 security issues have been addressed since the previous release.
The biggest issue of note with this release hits you in the face as soon as Chrome fires up; the new-look to the GUI. Google have been tweaking things in the background for the last few months, and at long last the sloped tabs have bitten the dust. In come tabs very reminiscent of the older 'Australis' Firefox interface; more space between your extensions, your bookmarks; a softer, 'rounder' look to the omnibox.
(No, sorry; my bad, kiddiwinks. The 'new look' doesn't yet come as standard. It's known as the 'Material Design 'refresh''. If you want to try it out, go to chrome://flags. Enter 'material design' in the search box. When 'UI layout for the browser's top chrome' appears, from the drop-down box, select 'Refresh'. Then, re-launch Chrome from the prompt at the bottom of the page.
I've been using this for a couple of weeks so far, in the 'Beta' version. I understood it was coming by default in Chrome 68, but.....apparently, not just yet..! Personally, I'm in two minds about it; in all likelihood, I shall stay with the 'normal' Chrome look for as long as I can.)
I think this is comical. Mozilla, with Quantum, have finally created a Firefox more like Chrome than I would have believed possible, in terms of speed, performance, and outright reliability. So what do Google do? They throw away their unique identity and try to make themselves as much like the competition as they can.....
TBH, it's getting so I no longer care what browser I use; after being a staunch Chrome user for almost a decade, for
my use-case, there is nothing to choose between them any more. I use Quantum as much as, sometimes more than, I do Chrome. And that's after giving FF the 'bum's rush' due to constant crashing when Chrome was released 10 years ago...
So what do y'all think of the new look? 'Thumbs-up'? 'Thumbs-down'? 'Whatever?' (And in case you've lost track of where the 'New Tab' button's got to, it's now skulking in the top-left corner..!)
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I explained in the last post about the need to 'set-up' the now-included
glib-schemas so that downloading/uploading will work without crashing the browser, by running
Code: Select all
glib-compile-schemas /usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas
There is no need to manually run this command any longer. A small script has been placed in /usr/sbin & sym-linked into /root/Startup, which will automatically run the compile command at boot time.
The
'Spot2Root' file permission changer script & files are now included as a built-in part of the Chrome package. And instead of having to look up Spot2Root in the Menu, it now appears as a large green 'tick' in the notification area (or 'system tray', for those of you used to Windows-speak).
Download your item (which goes to /root/spot/Downloads, with spot:spot permissions). Click on the green tick.....and the item is now in your main Downloads directory, with the normal Puppy root:root permissions.
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I just want, once again, to say a heartfelt 'Thank you' to those individuals who've helped to make these Chrome Puppy packages possible.
Credits go to:-
Battleshooter - for help with the self-contained NSS libs'n'stuff several releases back.
belham2 - for cobbling together the 'launch' script that is now employed.
And further back,
01Micko (the 'head honcho'), and
iguleder - both of whom have indirectly helped keep this thread going for as long as it has, with references & links.
Thanks must also go to
OscarTalks and
peebee, for suggestions and assistance over the last couple of years.
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In many ways these packages are a joint effort. I absolutely refuse to take credit for the innovations by some of our true 'experts'.....only, perhaps, for actually putting everything together so it all works as you Puppians would expect.
Any issues, you know where to find me.
Enjoy.
Mike.