[Python-Dev] Python sidebar for Mozilla/Netscape

[Mark Hammond]

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>     Mark> I wrote a cute little Python sidebar for Mozilla/NS6.
>
> I saw all the other responses so far, and while it looks cute, I can only
> think of two reasons to use Mozilla/NS6: testing for compatibility and
> escape from MS.

I don't want to evangelize Mozilla too much, but FWIW I recently switched my
default browser from IE to Mozilla.

The killer features for me:
* Reasonable image and cookie blocking built in - haven't seen many banner
ads for some time now, and no need to install extra software for the
blocking.

* Nice "script security" features.  You can remove the ability of pages to
create popup windows or to move or resize the Window.  I haven't seen a
single popup window in *ages*

* "Tabbed" browsing - middle-click on a link, and a new tab opens in the
current window.  Very useful as it allows you to keep many related web pages
open in a single frame.

* Keywords, as described here recently.  I enter "dict foobar" in the URL
bar, and "foobar" is looked up in an online dictionary for me.  I have a
number of such keywords setup.

* Sidebars - the "search" sidebar is particularly effective.  The Mozilla
developer specific sidebars, (bugzilla, tinderbox autobuild, lxr text search
etc) are great.  This new Python one is pretty cool too:)

* Other "Power User" oriented functions - eg "Page Info" shows a whole slew
of info about the current page that is very useful when trouble-shooting
pages or web applications.

I still don't use Mozilla for mail though - still a few rough edges there.
I expect to move to mail over the next 6 months or though.  I do use it for
news.

>  Writing code that is specific to any browser seems
> counterproductive to me.

counterproductive for who?  The alternative appears to have been "don't do
anything".  The fact that this only works in Mozilla is still quite
productive for me :)  Further, I would expect that in 12 months time, we
find Mozilla has the largest browser share for this particular little group!

Obviously this is off-topic for python-dev, but I thought some of you may be
interested in the fact that Mozilla is stabilizing, more advanced
preferences are finding their way to the UI, and I find the "power user"
features make Mozilla a better browser than IE.  Obviously YMMV.

In a desperate attempt to bring things back on topic, there is also a Python
XPCOM plugin available for Mozilla.  Unfortunately, if you want to write
Python code that executes on the client, you need to ensure Python and
PyXPCOM are installed on the client, so not incredibly useful for general
use.

Mark.