Search babble

quickfur · 2024-01-10 16:58:56

Yeah, phpBB's built-in search function frankly sux. Google can turn up better results, just add `site:dev1galaxy.org` to your query.

golinux · 2024-01-10 17:04:56

@quickfur . . . Please clarify . . . what does phpBB have to do with this forum? And a plug for GooGoo? Really? We are smarter than that at Devuan! We are trying to collect useful data in this thread not random, irrelevant nonsense . . .

quickfur · 2024-01-10 17:27:30

OK, sorry for wrongly assuming that this forum is based on phpBB. I don't like google either, but I've not found a search engine that can match its results. Privacy buffs clamor around DuckDuckGo, but frankly its search results are lackluster. In any case, the internal search functions of just about all forum software are grossly disappointing. They are unable to handle anything beyond the simplest, most literal search words, and do not even begin to grok context and relevance. Unless you already know the literal keyword(s) to search for, they are no help at all. For a *real* search function, most 3rd party search engines outperform built-in search functions by a large margin, and google tops the list, like it or not. I'm saying this based on the technical performance of the google search engine, not about their Other Practices which I do not agree with nor endorse. There is a difference.

golinux · 2024-01-10 18:27:06

I am probably going to split your posts off into a search engine discussion thread because you are still OT for this thread.

DONE!

zapper · 2024-01-10 21:35:11

@golinux now I am curious where he made this post, if its in deuvan only threads, then I probably will laugh.

lol.

@quickfur

Where in the hell did this originally get posted? I want to have a good laugh and I bet this will provide one.

Actually, I re-read your posts and it already sounds like verbal diarrhoea as it is.

Well played if you like gibberish.

I laughed a bunch

Last edited by zapper (2024-01-10 21:40:43)

golinux · 2024-01-10 21:44:20

@zapper . . . I added link here.

quickfur · 2024-01-10 21:52:37

I'm glad to be of entertainment value to you.

I mean it, though. The search function of most forum software is garbage. Doing a site-specific search on $(insert search engine of your choice) is so much better.

As far as search engines are concerned, it seems google search is hated here for whatever reason. But none of the competitors even come close IMO. (Yes, you may throw the rotten tomatoes now.)

golinux · 2024-01-10 22:35:14

For me it's a matter of ethics . . .

The question is: Does the end justify the means!

Impulses and rationalizations can quickly become a slippery slope so I evaluate choices very carefully to protect my own integrity and ensure I am not just blindly satisfying this or that impulse . . .

I do not want to touch Google because it is not my friend and I will not participate in supporting it.

quickfur · 2024-01-10 22:53:13

That's your prerogative, of course.

The reason I use google is not because I agree with their practices, but because their search engine is technologically the best among the competitors. I could go out of my way to boycott them, but at great inconvenience; I don't consider this worth the meagre, probably insignificant, difference of one user to google's userbase.

Make no mistake, though. If DuckDuckGo or any of the various alternatives out there can improve their technology to google's level, or at least comparable, I'd switch in an instant. All things being equal, I'll definitely choose the more privacy-respecting option. Currently, however, the technological gap is too vast to justify such a choice.

golinux · 2024-01-10 23:04:42

Regarding this rephrased rationale:

The reason I use xxxxxx is not because I agree with their practices but because their xxxxxxx is technologically the best . . .

Do you have any idea how much evil and destruction has been done to this planet and its inhabitants with that logic?

And yes, of course it is a choice . . . unfortunately, humans usually make the wrong one(s) and end up paying for it individually and collectivelyl

quickfur · 2024-01-10 23:50:20

It can be taken to either extreme. If you take a stance against every tool that you might use for your living because of ideological considerations, then you might as well not live. I mean, how many components in the hardware of your computer is made in sweat shop factories in China where workers are exploited? Probably every single device has one of those. The clothes that you wear -- how many of them are produced in similarly unethical environments? The monetary system we use -- how many people have been exploited in the course of its development? The house you live in, likely built by underpaid overworked workers exploited because they had the misfortune of being illegal immigrants desperate to find any job to make ends meet. The roads we drive on, swept by underpaid exploited workers who are forced to take jobs local people deem below their dignity to take. The banking system that's used to exploit the masses in order to maximize profits. Etc, etc, etc, ad nauseaum.

Pretty much every aspect of modern life is associated with something unsavory, whether in its current incarnation or in its origins. I guess the ethical thing to do is to renounce it all and go live on shrubs and herbs in a mountain cave, far removed from all of this evil.

At some point, one has to draw the line of practicality. I hate exploitation as much as anyone might, but given the choice of getting my daily chore done right now, using "unethical" things like google search, vs spending hours to make up for the technological gap with alternative search engines -- hours which I could have spent doing more profitable things like helping refugees from war-torn countries, for instance -- is it really worth the ideological purity?

golinux · 2024-01-11 00:18:10

You keep looking outward . . . when the root of the problem is an inner dynamic . . .

JWM-Kit · 2024-01-11 00:30:00

quickfur wrote:

The reason I use google is not because I agree with their practices, but because their search engine is technologically the best among the competitors

I strongly disagree. When I use duckduckgo I get much relatable results. It is so obvious that google's search results are manipulated and filtered. Maybe you would prefer this over the raw results, but no thank you.

aluma · 2024-01-11 10:16:52

You can, of course, take the cross on yourself and drag it somewhere.
But apart from your ego, no one needs or is interested in him, I think so.

I miss a button in browsers that would allow me to select a search engine with one click. According to me, in Brave on the DuckDuckGo search page there were links to all the others configured, very democratic and convenient.

boughtonp · 2024-01-11 14:23:37

Searching with DuckDuckGo doesn't stop one from also submitting to Google - if a search doesn't return the results you want, add "!g" and it'll send the same terms to Google Search.

Before doing so, one might opt to use the "Share Feedback" option in the bottom right, to allow DuckDuckGo to improve.

And of course, if one wants Google Search results but without Google's personalized spying, consider if you trust Startpage's claims (or whether the acquisition by ad-company System1 is a problem).

Last edited by boughtonp (2024-01-11 14:32:32)

JWM-Kit · 2024-01-11 14:33:31

aluma wrote:

I miss a button in browsers that would allow me to select a search engine with one click.

Its not the default, but you can configure Firefox to have both a URL bar and a search bar. The search bar has a drop down menu that lets you select the search engine you want to search with. You can also add other sites to search and it's not limited to search engines. For example Youtube, translate, maps, etc.

aluma · 2024-01-11 18:55:52

Why extra entities?
There is an empty address bar, why not put a button there that opens a list of search engines?
But this is so, thinking out loud...

The-Amnesiac-Philosopher · 2024-01-11 19:36:04

...because it's an internet conspiracy ruled over by the Grand Pooh Bah - Grand Master Google.

Personally, it doesn't bother me which search engine someone else may use. I don't force mine on them, so please don't force yours on me.

With today's humans and their short attention spans, many of them aren't willing to make an extra click to avoid googlism...much less to take less than a minute to set their browsers up to accommodate that option.

♫ Hail to the King ♫ (TikTok)

...and yes, I use an ad-blocker on YouTube when I watch it.

Last edited by The-Amnesiac-Philosopher (2024-01-11 19:36:21)

aluma · 2024-01-11 19:43:23

Yeah, and Google also killed cameras by releasing its Google Pixel.
https://vas3k.com/blog/computational_ph … index.html

quickfur · 2024-01-11 19:48:31

Personally, it doesn't bother me which search engine someone else may use. I don't force mine on them, so please don't force yours on me.

Exactly!!! Choice is what's it's about. The reason I came to Devuan was because I did not want somebody else to be making decisions for me. If I'd wanted that, I could've just gone to Ubuntu or Windows instead.

In the same vein, you may have your reasons why you will not use google, I have my reasons why I do. Please allow me to make my own decisions and don't force your views on me, just as I don't force my views on you.

Last edited by quickfur (2024-01-11 19:50:55)

JWM-Kit · 2024-01-11 20:15:17

@aluma concerning the double entries on Firefox. I like having two entries. Because when I mistype a url in the url entry I want it to fail to load the page, not do a search result. I know that is not what most people want, but it is for me. As was just stated, it's about choice. Why they don't offer a similar feature for the single entry is a puzzle to me. They really should.

I am in agreement that It doesn't bother me which search engine some one uses. But it doesn't hurt to discuss it. Who is forcing anyone? I guess we can't discuss the pros, cons, or preferences of a search engine because someone is going to relate discussion to being forced.

Last edited by JWM-Kit (2024-01-11 20:27:44)

golinux · 2024-01-11 20:23:48

@quickfur . . . It might have felt that way to you but that was not the important takeaway because I really don't care what browser you use or what choices you make in your life. But it is to your benefit to understand why and how you make those decisions. If humans chose more wisely, we wouldn't be in the mess in which we currently find ourselves.

quickfur · 2024-01-11 20:44:38

That's fine, there's no problem with discussion. Just don't expect me to agree with everything, that's all.

The-Amnesiac-Philosopher · 2024-01-11 21:32:18

...all that I can say is...

Anyone who purposely chooses to use ratpoison has my utmost respect.

JWM-Kit · 2024-01-11 22:06:42

quickfur wrote:

Just don't expect me to agree with everything, that's all

The day we all agree will be a boring day

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#1 2024-01-10 16:58:56

Search babble

#2 2024-01-10 17:04:56

Re: Search babble

#3 2024-01-10 17:27:30

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#4 2024-01-10 18:27:06

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#5 2024-01-10 21:35:11

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