Many browsers today are gigantic resource hogs, which are basically VMs for various web applications. On the other hand, Links is a HTML browser. It is not able to do everything. It allows me to avoid most distractions and control the content-experience. The goal of this exercise is not to force anyone to use this browser, but just to be watchful and conscious of their hypertext based internet usage (one might use gopher, and this phlog is available there, but probability tells me that a person reading this reads this from hypertext source and I am sure they are lovely).
This takes some dedication, and while I wouldn’t take it quite this far, the author does make a good point.
Noscript + adblock + some kind of firewall (piwall or similar) would be an easier solution.
I used to browse the web on Lynx (full text/no images), and then gave Links a try for a while. But was late 1990s / early 2000s. The web is no longer an upgrade of Gopher, and most web pages do not render fine in text only mode.
And, yes, this includes OSNews. Even though it is better than others (it is text heavy anyway), the menus, links, and various meta structure interweave with the actual content.
The author mentions CSS as an issue, but CSS actually solves several practical issues. For example, how can you make sure you get a sane representation on both desktop, and mobile platforms? It is possible, but not as easy, without CSS. Also there are media specific CSS that helps generate print only layouts.
I too feel nostalgic at times, but practicality wins at the end.
Noscript +1, I am trying it now on my fresh Debian install and I am amazed by the number of marketing companies out there, each with their own tracking system to spread. It is a bit of work though… loading a site and having to check 10 new script sources to determine if you want to allow it or not.
As for text browsing: I only used it once also about 20 years ago to browse the Debian site and download some stuff because my graphics weren’t working :-). Great to have it as an alternative in the console! (I forgot which one I used, but it was one without extra dependencies)
I was already disagreeing with the guy before this point, but this is where I stopped. He surfs a different web that I do, and one I don’t have a lot of interest in.
I do use text-only browsers from time to time, specially via SSH, although I tend to prefer ELinks (it has tabs). Unfortunately, none of these browsers have kept up with current standards. Links is stuck with HTML 4, for example. There are ways to browse the modern web in a cleaner way using modern browser extensions.
I really do not understand this type of article, perhaps I am too hard to distract, glitter in my peripheral vision has zero effect on me!
As a person who does a lot of Retro computing, Links and Lynx are very useful to me. On my CP/M machines, I terminal to a Raspberry Pi, set the TERM=adm3a, and use lynx. Lynx respects the TERM variable, while Links will not function on older terminals.
On more capable terminals that support VT52 or VT100, I then use Links.
It is helpful on older machines to let lynx/links number the hyper-links so you can avoid arrowing down to them.
Useful Bookmarks for Text Browsing:
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lite.cnn.io
lobste.rs
news.ycombinator.com