When you’re on Linux and in want of an online browser that’s fashionable and lightweight, keep away from Firefox and head straight for the Surf browser. It’s a easy and simple to make use of Webkit browser with completely no frills, add-ons, syncing options, favorites or something like that. As an alternative, what it presents is a fast, responsive internet expertise.
SPOILER ALERT: Scroll down and watch the video tutorial on the finish of this text.
Install Surf Browser
Utilizing Surf browser is completely different in comparison with a number of different browsers on Linux, so it’s not for newbies. Nonetheless, in case you’re keen to look previous the slight studying curve, it presents up a quick, environment friendly shopping expertise that’s exhausting to go up.
Be aware: Surf can work wherever, however in case you’d prefer to expertise issues like tabbed shopping, and shopping the online with out having to repeatedly launch new home windows, we suggest utilizing the i3 window supervisor.
Ubuntu
sudo apt set up surf
Debian
sudo apt-get set up surf
Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S surf
Fedora
sudo dnf set up surf -y
OpenSUSE
sudo zypper in surf
Generic Linux
Putting in Surf browser on a Linux distribution that doesn’t have official assist isn’t tough, because the builders make a downloadable Tar archive out there on the net. To get this archive, be sure that the “wget” downloading software is put in, then open up a terminal and use it to obtain the most recent model.
Be aware: compiling Surf from scratch requires the set up of the most recent GTK and WebKit improvement instruments for Linux. Confer with your Linux distribution’s handbook for extra info.
wget
With the Surf Tar archive downloaded, it’s time to extract the recordsdata. To do that, use the tar command.
tar -xvzf surf-2.0.tar.gz
Subsequent, transfer the terminal into the code folder, and begin the constructing course of.
sudo make clear set up
Use Surf Browser
The Surf browser could be very primary, and all navigation is completed with command-line arguments. Going this route as a substitute of making a cumbersome UI has a number of benefits. The first main benefit is that it permits customers to create customized “web-apps,” with out having to take care of customized instruments. Moreover, it makes Surf nice for a full-screen internet expertise.
Utilizing Surf works as follows. To launch a web site, open up a terminal and do:
surf
For finest outcomes, we suggest making use of the Alt + F2 command function that many Linux desktop environments have. This can permit customers to launch their favourite web sites within the Surf browser, while not having to have a terminal window all the time open.
Tabbed Looking In Surf
The major draw to Surf is that there are not any browser controls to handle the UI. Because of this customers can simply get to the content material they need on the net with out coping with annoying interfaces. For as nice a function as that is, some folks dislike it. Particularly when it means you can’t open a number of pages in “tabs”.
Including a “tabbed interface” to the Surf app is definitely fairly straightforward, and it begins by putting in the Tabbed software.
Ubuntu
sudo apt set up tabbed
Debian
sudo apt-get set up tabbed
Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S tabbed
Fedora
sudo dnf set up tabbed -y
OpenSUSE
Sadly, there is no such thing as a native SUSE bundle for Tabbed. When you’re in want of it, you’ll have to download and build it manually.
With the Tabbed app put in, Surf now has the power to make use of “tabs”. In a terminal, run the next command:
tabbed surf -e web site.com
Navigating Tabs
Navigating by way of tabs within the Surf browser is completely different from different internet browsers because it doesn’t assist the mouse. As an alternative, the keyboard is used.
To open up a brand new tab in Surf, press Ctrl + Shift + Enter.
Must shortly transfer between tabs? Press Ctrl + 1 – 9.
Shut browser tabs in Surf with Ctrl – Q, and swap between the 2 most up-to-date tabs by urgent Ctrl + Tab.
Surf Homepage
Surf’s skill to immediately go to a web site with a single command is sort of helpful. Nonetheless, in case you’ve obtained a homepage you’d desire that Surf begins out at, a customized script is required to set it.
Within the terminal, create a brand new script file with the contact command.
contact surf-homepage
Subsequent, use echo so as to add the Shebang to the script. Don’t skip this half! With no Shebang, your Linux PC gained’t perceive the script file!
echo '!#/bin/bash' >> surf-homepage
With the Shebang arrange, it’s time so as to add the launch command. Make sure you change “website.com” together with your homepage’s URL.
echo 'tabbed surf -e web site.com' >> surf-homepage
Replace the permission of the script with chmod, then use the mv command so as to add it to /usr/bin.
sudo chmod +x surf-homepage sudo mv surf-homepage /usr/bin
Launch your homepage at any time by way of terminal (or Alt + F2) with:
surf-homepage
