Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Hi y’all,

I am totally new to linux and to puppy, but I am having fun learning. I know very little about computers in general, and in fact have not touched a computer in more than 5 years. I have done everything through an ipad.

One of the bad computing memories that has come back to me, is when i loaded palemoon browser and was looking for something, i see all these ads, videos and distracting extraneous pictures. Is there a way to block this stuff, or a more textual browser? I don’t want or need that stuff. I am fascinated right now with learning linux command line. I read alot of forums and text. I dont want pictures, except for an occasional diagram or video for some diy stuff i might do. Possibly there is some sort of browser that works well through the console funtion? Thanks for any ideas.

There are terminal based briwsers like lynx. I haven't spent much time trying these so I have no recommendations.

Texaspilot wrote: ↑Mon Dec 21, 2020 12:42 pm

when i loaded palemoon browser [...] i see all these ads, videos and distracting extraneous pictures. Is there a way to block this stuff, or a more textual browser?

I use Ublock Origin (legacy). It works fine in Pale Moon. Click on it and then on uBlock0_1.16.4.27.firefox-legacy.xpi and it will be installed in your browser. That's it. It will automatically block ads.

If you feel more adventurous, you can also use Ublock to block images, videos and such.
Hope you can make head or tail of all this

Good luck!

Thanks, will give ublock a shot!

Your Puppy may already have Menu>Internet>Pup-Advert Blocker. It works on the 'Operating System' level to block add without regard to what web-browser you use. See this post for an explanation of what that application does. http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 140#446140: short version is that it places a list of websites to be blocked in /etc/hosts. The current version offers the lists from 3 sources --people or groups-- who also hate adds. You can choose any or all three.

Always tell us which Puppy. If I knew I would have added recommendations for browsers, addons and search engines that will avoid much of the Web's crap.

I like lynx and it's the first browser I used, but to get into it again I would seek support from people who are actually using it.

It's fast, but requires customization and isn't going to be compatible with most contemporary websites.

Ublock Origin is good but represents the perennial privacy issue. You have to give it rights to follow you like a phone app. Recommended with caution.

I just uninstalled Pale Moon for the time being. I'm using two uninstalled (standalone) browsers. When I use Pale Moon again I will definitely update it. There's an updater app in the menu that might work, and if it doesn't there's always conventional means (Puppy Package Manager).

Overall, if you're happy with text, you can keep using a window browser and disable graphics:

I totally understand your issue with all the crap on web sites.
But it kind of is what it is.
All that crap is paying for the cost of providing the web site

Even this forum is asking for a little money to support the cost of providing it.

I don’t mind a bit of ads, but some of the stuff is ridiculous. Like all the videos and flashing stuff. I’m easily distracted as it is and need all the help I can get... I didnt mention i am using dpup stretch... i like how fast lynx is, but it doesnt seem to work well with some search engines. I like duckduckgo, but I will maybe try some others.

I think the best answer maybe to disable the graphics like you said. I will try that out and see how i like it. Thanks y’all.

Googler works well in command line interface https://github.com/jarun/googler I run that on hashbang, a ssh server (I have a 'free' account with hashbang that I ssh into and I've installed googler there). Enter a number of a search result (for example 3 - for the third in the list of search results) ... and it opens lynx on that link/site (on hashbang); Or if I click the link then it opens my local desktop gui browser on that link i.e. I use sakura terminal which supports clickable links.

I also download Steven Blacks 'hosts' list https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts into /etc/host ... which is much the same as Puppy Ad-block

JASpup wrote: ↑Tue Dec 22, 2020 12:55 am

Ublock Origin is good but [...] You have to give it rights to follow you like a phone app.

That seems like a bit of an overstatement when you read this matter explained.

Noteworthy is the following paragraph:

uBlock's primary purpose is to block network connections, not just data transfer. Not blocking the connection while just blocking the data transfer would mean uBlock is lying to users. So this permission will stay, and sorry for those who do not understand that it actually allows uBlock to do its intended job more thoroughly[2]. A blocker which does not thoroughly prevent connections is not a real blocker.
[...] I want uBlock to also serve privacy-minded users first.

In this regard, I couldn't find some addtional page discussing about this UB privacy issue you pointed out. Have you some link at hand to share?

In fact, if UB were spyware in any form, this site surely would have something to say about it, I guess

01101001b wrote: ↑Tue Dec 22, 2020 9:53 am

In fact, if UB were spyware in any form, this site surely would have something to say about it, I guess

The firefox version of ublock origin is by Raymond Hill. There was a chrome ap that was also called "uBlock Origin: that was by Charlie Lee. Per the following article, the Chrome ap by Charlie Lee was likely not what it was claimed to be. See article:

https://www.hackread.com/ad-blockers-ad ... rome-users

The fake version by Charlie Lee apears to be no longer on the chrome store. It looks like now that Chomre also have a version of uBlock origin by Raymond Hill that should be legit.

In this Internet era of prolific permission requests and disclaimers, when I read a dialog like uBlock's I say, "O-kay, I believe you."

01101001b wrote: ↑Tue Dec 22, 2020 9:53 am

JASpup wrote: ↑Tue Dec 22, 2020 12:55 am

Ublock Origin is good but [...] You have to give it rights to follow you like a phone app.

That seems like a bit of an overstatement when you read this matter explained.

Noteworthy is the following paragraph:

uBlock's primary purpose is to block network connections, not just data transfer. Not blocking the connection while just blocking the data transfer would mean uBlock is lying to users. So this permission will stay, and sorry for those who do not understand that it actually allows uBlock to do its intended job more thoroughly[2]. A blocker which does not thoroughly prevent connections is not a real blocker.
[...] I want uBlock to also serve privacy-minded users first.

In this regard, I couldn't find some addtional page discussing about this UB privacy issue you pointed out. Have you some link at hand to share?

In fact, if UB were spyware in any form, this site surely would have something to say about it, I guess

rufwoof wrote: ↑Tue Dec 22, 2020 9:13 am

I also download Steven Blacks 'hosts' list https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts into /etc/host ... which is much the same as Puppy Ad-block

this can easily be accomplished from the terminal. the code below is from the script rufwoof mentions above.

# Get Steven Black's /etc/hosts file (form of ad-block)

# mv /etc/hosts /etc/hosts.default 
# wget -O /etc/hosts https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts/blob/master/hosts?raw=true
 


# Title: StevenBlack/hosts
#
# This hosts file is a merged collection of hosts from reputable sources,
# with a dash of crowd sourcing via GitHub

at the prompt, type "mv /etc/hosts /etc/hosts.default"
this will "move" or rename your hosts file in /ect to hosts.default. It is good practice to make a backup of any configuration file before undertaking an edit.

when done, type " wget -O /etc/hosts https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts/bl ... s?raw=true "
this calls wget which will download and place a new /etc/hosts.

then type " cd /etc " which will change your directory to /ect

typing " less hosts.default " calls the a pager named less, and let you view your old hosts file. arrow up or down to navigate, and enter q to exit less and get your prompt back

" less hosts " will let you navigate and view your new hosts file

if you don't wish to block ads with this list any longer, you can always

" cd /etc " then
" mv hosts.default hosts "
this will overwrite the black-hosts configuration with your original hosts file.

all commands shown above should be entered at the prompt without the quotes

i see all these ads, videos and distracting extraneous pictures.

the invasion at its best.
but it’s what it is.

I was researching and comparing to find the ‘best’ browser,
or text based. it’s a lost battle. use the latest version of firefox, chromium etc.

in chromium there is noscript extension that you can turn on/off as needed, and then huge sites with lot of traffic and ads will load considerably, considerably faster and you can read without most of distractions.
in chromium/chrome go to settings->images and turn of images.
then there is this extension called text mode that besides blocking images also can make gray-scale.
with all this websites stay in the structure they are intended to and you have removed 90-95% of distractions.

with extension mobile view switcher you can read the websites on pc as if they were tablet/smartphone, it will change the user-agent/view to mozilla browser on iphone.

all these funcionallity is also available for firefox

I like lynx browser but it seems a little bit old for a newcomers. It was released in 1992 as well as https://pro-essay-writer.com service