Galeon
Encyclopedia
Galeon is a web browser
for GNOME
based on Mozilla
’s Gecko layout engine
. Galeon’s self-declared mission was to deliver the web and only the web. Galeon was discontinued in September 2008.
Galeon was the first mainstream graphical web browser which specifically focused on the reduction of peripheral functionality. Galeon is also notable for introducing smart bookmark
s, bookmarks that take an argument and can be used as toolbar buttons with a text field used to enter the value for the argument.
desktop environment.
At the time of Galeon’s creation, the most popular Linux
browsers, including Netscape
and Mozilla
, were large multi-functional programs. This made them slow to start and often impractical due to their high memory usage and processor requirements. The Opera
was a way faster, but it was proprietary software
distributed in trialware and adware
versions, both of which lacked some of the functionality of Microsoft Windows
version.
Galeon was widely seen as one the best Linux browsers available. The polls revealed the substantial usage share of Galeon, though its popularity was regarded as owing to lack of stability evident in Mozilla
's browsers.
widget toolkit, which was used to construct the user interface of Galeon, the team decided to write a new version of Galeon from scratch. That effectively meant that all the previous features of the browser had to be reimplemented in order to find their way to the new release.
At the same time the GNOME project has adopted its new Human Interface Guidelines
, which promoted simplicity and uniform design. The development team had differing opinions on the new guidelines. The author and lead developer, Marco Pesenti Gritti, endorsed them and saw the rewrite as an opportunity to make Galeon simpler. Many other developers believed that reducing the number of preferences and simplifying the user interface would harm the project.
As the result of several discussions on the topic Gritti made the decision to fork the project and started development of a HIG-compliant web browser he called Epiphany
.
Eventually the Galeon developers announced plans to halt development of Galeon, saying "the current approach is unsustainable" regarding the resources required to maintain it. Instead, they planned to develop a set of extensions for Epiphany to provide similar functionality.
and Firefox, though Konqueror
and Opera
were still faster on older hardware. Galeon was noted for its session handling and crash recovery.
In November 2002 OSNews
conducted a poll to determine the most popular Gecko
-based browser, which included several browsers for Microsoft Windows
, MacOS and Linux
, but didn't include Netscape Navigator
and Mozilla Suite. The Linux-only Galeon was the second most popular, after cross-platform Firefox, at that time known as Phoenix.
Critics noted Galeon's lack of online banking
support and tricky plugin installation.
Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
for GNOME
GNOME
GNOME is a desktop environment and graphical user interface that runs on top of a computer operating system. It is composed entirely of free and open source software...
based on Mozilla
Mozilla
Mozilla is a term used in a number of ways in relation to the Mozilla.org project and the Mozilla Foundation, their defunct commercial predecessor Netscape Communications Corporation, and their related application software....
’s Gecko layout engine
Gecko (layout engine)
Gecko is a free and open source layout engine used in many applications developed by Mozilla Foundation and the Mozilla Corporation , as well as in many other open source software projects....
. Galeon’s self-declared mission was to deliver the web and only the web. Galeon was discontinued in September 2008.
Galeon was the first mainstream graphical web browser which specifically focused on the reduction of peripheral functionality. Galeon is also notable for introducing smart bookmark
Smart bookmark
Smart Bookmarks are an extended kind of internet bookmark used in web browsers. By accepting an argument they directly give access to functions of web sites, as opposed to filling web forms at the respective web site for accessing these functions. Smart Bookmarks can be used for web searches, or...
s, bookmarks that take an argument and can be used as toolbar buttons with a text field used to enter the value for the argument.
Features
Galeon made use of Gecko's features including configuration options and standards support. Apart from that, Galeon had several features that were uncommon in browsers at that time:- mouse gestures
- configurable user agentUser agentIn computing, a user agent is a client application implementing a network protocol used in communications within a client–server distributed computing system...
string - configurable display of faviconFaviconA favicon , also known as a shortcut icon, Web site icon, URL icon, or bookmark icon, is a file containing one small icons, most commonly 16×16 pixels, associated with a particular Web site or Web page...
s - customizable toolbarToolbarIn a graphical user interface, on a computer monitor, a toolbar is a GUI widget on which on-screen buttons, icons, menus, or other input or output elements are placed. Toolbars are seen in office suites, graphics editors, and web browsers...
s - configurable position of tab barTab (GUI)In the area of graphical user interfaces , a tabbed document interface is one that allows multiple documents to be contained within a single window, using tabs as a navigational widget for switching between sets of documents...
- smart bookmarkSmart bookmarkSmart Bookmarks are an extended kind of internet bookmark used in web browsers. By accepting an argument they directly give access to functions of web sites, as opposed to filling web forms at the respective web site for accessing these functions. Smart Bookmarks can be used for web searches, or...
s with search history - ability to specify own fonts and colors for web content
- configurable MIMEMIMEMultipurpose Internet Mail Extensions is an Internet standard that extends the format of email to support:* Text in character sets other than ASCII* Non-text attachments* Message bodies with multiple parts...
types handler - configurable history expiry
- page zoomingPage zoomingIn computing, page zooming is the ability to zoom in and out a document or image at page level. It is usually found in applications related to document layout and publishing, e.g...
Development history
The project was started by Marco Pesenti Gritti with the goal of creating a web browser that would be fast and consistent with the GNOMEGNOME
GNOME is a desktop environment and graphical user interface that runs on top of a computer operating system. It is composed entirely of free and open source software...
desktop environment.
On the rise
The first releases of Galeon were criticised for lacking such basic features as cookie and proxy support., though the browser added some new features with every release. Version 1.2 of Galeon introduced many new features that drew attention from the general public.At the time of Galeon’s creation, the most popular Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
browsers, including Netscape
Netscape (web browser)
Netscape 7 was a series of proprietary cross-platform Internet suites created by Netscape Communications Corporation and then in-house by AOL to continue the Netscape series after Netscape 6. There were three main editions released from the Netscape 7 series; being Netscape 7.0, 7.1 and 7.2...
and Mozilla
Mozilla Application Suite
The Mozilla Application Suite is a cross-platform integrated Internet suite. Its development was initiated by Netscape Communications Corporation, before their acquisition by AOL. It is based on the source code of Netscape Communicator...
, were large multi-functional programs. This made them slow to start and often impractical due to their high memory usage and processor requirements. The Opera
Opera (web browser)
Opera is a web browser and Internet suite developed by Opera Software with over 200 million users worldwide. The browser handles common Internet-related tasks such as displaying web sites, sending and receiving e-mail messages, managing contacts, chatting on IRC, downloading files via BitTorrent,...
was a way faster, but it was proprietary software
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
distributed in trialware and adware
Adware
Adware, or advertising-supported software, is any software package which automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertisements to a computer. These advertisements can be in the form of a pop-up. They may also be in the user interface of the software or on a screen presented to the user during...
versions, both of which lacked some of the functionality of Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
version.
Galeon was widely seen as one the best Linux browsers available. The polls revealed the substantial usage share of Galeon, though its popularity was regarded as owing to lack of stability evident in Mozilla
Mozilla
Mozilla is a term used in a number of ways in relation to the Mozilla.org project and the Mozilla Foundation, their defunct commercial predecessor Netscape Communications Corporation, and their related application software....
's browsers.
Split of the development team
With the release of new version of the GTK+GTK+
GTK+ is a cross-platform widget toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces. It is licensed under the terms of the GNU LGPL, allowing both free and proprietary software to use it. It is one of the most popular toolkits for the X Window System, along with Qt.The name GTK+ originates from GTK;...
widget toolkit, which was used to construct the user interface of Galeon, the team decided to write a new version of Galeon from scratch. That effectively meant that all the previous features of the browser had to be reimplemented in order to find their way to the new release.
At the same time the GNOME project has adopted its new Human Interface Guidelines
Human Interface Guidelines
Human interface guidelines are software development documents which offer application developers a set of recommendations. Their aim is to improve the experience for the users by making application interfaces more intuitive, learnable, and consistent. Most guides limit themselves to defining a...
, which promoted simplicity and uniform design. The development team had differing opinions on the new guidelines. The author and lead developer, Marco Pesenti Gritti, endorsed them and saw the rewrite as an opportunity to make Galeon simpler. Many other developers believed that reducing the number of preferences and simplifying the user interface would harm the project.
As the result of several discussions on the topic Gritti made the decision to fork the project and started development of a HIG-compliant web browser he called Epiphany
Epiphany (web browser)
Epiphany is an open source web browser for the GNOME desktop environment. The browser is a descendant of Galeon, and was created after developer disagreements about Galeon's growing complexity...
.
After the split
As Gritti no longer controlled the development of Galeon, the previous functionality was restored in subsequent releases and some new features were added. After the split development slowed due to the lack of developers' time. At the same time the rising popularity of Firefox, its status of the default browser in major distribution and the overwhelming number of its extensions led to decline of Galeon's user base.Eventually the Galeon developers announced plans to halt development of Galeon, saying "the current approach is unsustainable" regarding the resources required to maintain it. Instead, they planned to develop a set of extensions for Epiphany to provide similar functionality.
Reception
Galeon was praised for its flexibility and speed, as compared to Netscape NavigatorNetscape Navigator
Netscape Navigator was a proprietary web browser that was popular in the 1990s. It was the flagship product of the Netscape Communications Corporation and the dominant web browser in terms of usage share, although by 2002 its usage had almost disappeared...
and Firefox, though Konqueror
Konqueror
Not to be confused with the Conqueror web browser.Konqueror is a web browser and file manager that provides file-viewer functionality for file systems such as local files, files on a remote ftp server and files in a disk image. It is a core part of the KDE desktop environment...
and Opera
Opera (web browser)
Opera is a web browser and Internet suite developed by Opera Software with over 200 million users worldwide. The browser handles common Internet-related tasks such as displaying web sites, sending and receiving e-mail messages, managing contacts, chatting on IRC, downloading files via BitTorrent,...
were still faster on older hardware. Galeon was noted for its session handling and crash recovery.
In November 2002 OSNews
OSNews
OSNews is a computing news web site with a focus on operating systems and their related technologies that launched in 1997. The content is managed by a group of editors and the owner. The managing editor of OSNews is Thom Holwerda . David Adams is a publisher for OSNews, and also contributes...
conducted a poll to determine the most popular Gecko
Gecko (layout engine)
Gecko is a free and open source layout engine used in many applications developed by Mozilla Foundation and the Mozilla Corporation , as well as in many other open source software projects....
-based browser, which included several browsers for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, MacOS and Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, but didn't include Netscape Navigator
Netscape Navigator
Netscape Navigator was a proprietary web browser that was popular in the 1990s. It was the flagship product of the Netscape Communications Corporation and the dominant web browser in terms of usage share, although by 2002 its usage had almost disappeared...
and Mozilla Suite. The Linux-only Galeon was the second most popular, after cross-platform Firefox, at that time known as Phoenix.
Critics noted Galeon's lack of online banking
Online banking
Online banking allows customers to conduct financial transactions on a secure website operated by their retail or virtual bank, credit union or building society.-Features:...
support and tricky plugin installation.