Firefox and Seamonkey musings

[Michael Hipp]

Dude, memory is cheap. :-)

Collins Richey wrote:
> As time passes, my Kubuntu Dapper system is approaching perfection
> (for me anyway), and I have more time to dig for info on any remaining
> problems. I had noticed for some time that I was getting some swap
> usage, and the swap usage increases after several hours at idle. Since
> Firefox and a few Konsole sessions is usually the only thing running,
> I began to suspect Firefox, and the almighty Google pointed out this
> hint. I'm on Firefox 1.5.0.3, so the problem hasn't been fixed
> recently.
> 
> http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1327586/posts
> 
> Anyway, I had read recently on the Xubuntu list that Firefox is a real
> pig with respect to memory usage, and the Firefox/Thunderbird combo
> can drive a minimal system (Xubuntu is geared for those with older
> Pentiums and 128M) into thrashing mode. The users who have checked it
> out, maintain that Seamonkey has a much better memory profile,
> especially when using Browsing and Email concurrently. [ But see below
> ]
> 
> So, I decided to checkout Seamonkey. Anyone else using it?
> 
> Plugins (Mplayer, Realplayer, etc.) seem to work well, but then I
> don't have any of the more esoteric plugins. Ubuntu handles this just
> fine, but I can't seem to find a mozilla-mplayer (ie mplayerplug-in)
> on Debian Etch.
> 
> The only thing I want to fix is the automatic starting sidebar. I hate
> the sidebar and kill it every time it appears, but it's like Dracula
> rising from the dead. Every time I open Google via the Search tab, I
> get the sidebar again free gratis. Yech! Does anyone know how to kill
> this permanently?
> 
> Bummer! I've just discovered that Seamonkey, too, has a thirst for
> memory. With 5 open tabs and a download in progress, it is also
> activating swap. My guess is that KDE plus anything else puts the
> system right on the cusp of needing swap. I could always revert to
> XFCE or ICEWM.
> 
> End of ramble.
>