I tried it a few years ago. I think it's conceptually interesting, but I realized that I had no need, on a day to day basis, to combine in arbitrary ways the various pieces which make a full browser experience. I'm content with Firefox + Pentadactyl, but I'm glad uzbl exists.
When I went to install Pentadactyl from the Firefox addons site, it told me that Pentadactyl wasn't compatible with my (the latest) version of Firefox, 27.0.
The developer(s) are slow about incrementing the allowed versions. Literally all you have to do to make it work (usually) is vim ~/.mozilla/firefox/yourprofile/extensions/whatever.xpi, then type /install.rdf, hit enter twice, edit <em:maxVersion>n</em:maxVersion> to be +1, then hit :x and you're done.
Of course this requires that you have it installed beforehand, otherwise just download the files manually and edit install.rdf before installing it.
The developer(s) are slow about incrementing the allowed versions.
Literally all you have to do to make it work (usually) is vim ~/.mozilla/firefox/yourprofile/extensions/whatever.xpi, then type /install.rdf, hit enter twice, edit <em:maxVersion>n</em:maxVersion> to be +1, then hit :x and you're done.
Can you (or anyone else) explain why the developers hesitate to fix this problem officially? Like you said, it is rather simple to fix.
Even though most of us on HN are able to apply the fix ourselves, integrating the fix to the official pentadactyl extension would save time for everyone that wants to try or install pentadactyl.
Sorry I don't know why this happens, but as far as I can tell they do increment the nightlies (usually a couple weeks after a new Firefox version). I don't know why the version on the plugins site is so out of date though, you'd have to ask one of the developers (irc.oftc.net #pentadactyl).
Every time I upgrade Firefox I get a notice that Pentadactyl isn't compatible, at which point it asks if I'd like to check for a newer version. Then it searches and installs the latest snapshot and that's it. I've found nothing wrong with the nightly version.
Which seems to mean that you can't run the stable version of pentadactyl on Firefox 27 (the current release) [1]. I do understand that it is not equal to being inactive, but at least for me it was one of the reasons why I returned back to vimperator (which has a stable version that works for Firefox 27).
I find all the pie in the sky stuff on the page for this really silly and kind of pointless (for everyday use, at least), tbh, but this was exactly my thought when I read it. I really need a browser that interacts better with i3, because I don't really need tabs when the window manager is doing it for me.
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I tried out uzbl a few months ago. It works very well for tiling WMs, actually. I should consider using it more often.
I tried it a few years ago. I think it's conceptually interesting, but I realized that I had no need, on a day to day basis, to combine in arbitrary ways the various pieces which make a full browser experience. I'm content with Firefox + Pentadactyl, but I'm glad uzbl exists.
Last I checked, Pentadactyl is dead. I've moved back to Vimperator.
https://code.google.com/p/dactyl/source/browse#hg%2Fcommon%2...
i don't know where you got the impression. if anything it's the other way round, no?
When I went to install Pentadactyl from the Firefox addons site, it told me that Pentadactyl wasn't compatible with my (the latest) version of Firefox, 27.0.
The developer(s) are slow about incrementing the allowed versions. Literally all you have to do to make it work (usually) is vim ~/.mozilla/firefox/yourprofile/extensions/whatever.xpi, then type /install.rdf, hit enter twice, edit <em:maxVersion>n</em:maxVersion> to be +1, then hit :x and you're done.
Of course this requires that you have it installed beforehand, otherwise just download the files manually and edit install.rdf before installing it.
Can you (or anyone else) explain why the developers hesitate to fix this problem officially? Like you said, it is rather simple to fix.
Even though most of us on HN are able to apply the fix ourselves, integrating the fix to the official pentadactyl extension would save time for everyone that wants to try or install pentadactyl.
Sorry I don't know why this happens, but as far as I can tell they do increment the nightlies (usually a couple weeks after a new Firefox version). I don't know why the version on the plugins site is so out of date though, you'd have to ask one of the developers (irc.oftc.net #pentadactyl).
Every time I upgrade Firefox I get a notice that Pentadactyl isn't compatible, at which point it asks if I'd like to check for a newer version. Then it searches and installs the latest snapshot and that's it. I've found nothing wrong with the nightly version.
check the latest nightly build or install nightly tester tools
Pentadactyl is still extremely active, they just haven't cut a new release in a while.
Which seems to mean that you can't run the stable version of pentadactyl on Firefox 27 (the current release) [1]. I do understand that it is not equal to being inactive, but at least for me it was one of the reasons why I returned back to vimperator (which has a stable version that works for Firefox 27).
[1]: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/pentadactyl/
Run a nightly? But yeah, it seems to always take a little while for the Pentadactyl folks to release a stable version.
That sure is understating it. The last release states it's compatible with Firefox 4.0 - 14. Firefox 15 came out August 28, 2012.
Yeah, but there are nightly pentadactyl versions which work perfectly well with the latest stable firefox.
You may be right. I think I must have been running a nightly all this time! But anyway, it works.
Me too, I've been switching back and forth between both. I'd be interested in knowing if Pentadactyl is still running fine on Firefox 27.
Yes I can confirm it works perfectly on 27, I've been using it since I updated.
Use the nightly builds, they are updated daily.
I find all the pie in the sky stuff on the page for this really silly and kind of pointless (for everyday use, at least), tbh, but this was exactly my thought when I read it. I really need a browser that interacts better with i3, because I don't really need tabs when the window manager is doing it for me.
The problem with it is that it doesn't have a good addon community. Things like LastPass, Ghostery, and (good) ad blocking.