The browser is an OS
The web browser is the most important operating system inside your operating system. If it's not the most important software you use, it's probably a close second.
When a tool is that important, you better served having a deep level of control over it. It should behave exactly the way you want it, and the way you tell to behave should come in the form of code that's shareable.
That's what Nyxt is about. I've been fascinated by it since last year.
It's been progressing well, version 2 right now is a vast improvement over version 1.
To understand what Nyxt is trying to do, you have to first understand what emacs really is.
To understand what emacs really is you have to use it. And not just open it and take a look (there's nothing to look at), you have to dive in and use it. Give it four months and you may get the idea. Hearing people describe emacs is like reading the descriptions of a feeling. You really only get it when you feel it yourself.
Few people will get it but those who do will be die-hard about it.
Trying it as a secondary browser
Switching browsers are typically a low cost move. Bring over bookmarks, install a handful of extensions and you're mostly done.
But Nyxt isn't like that and I know it. So I considered adopting it as a secondary browser. But I'm not sure what secondary even mean. At best I arrive at doing non-mission critical thing on Nyxt, like Twitter.
So I did that.
Nyxt so is not ready for prime time. It may get there eventually but probably by version 4 or so.
It sells itself as keyboard driven, but even on that aspect is clunkier than Firefox with Vim Vixen installed.
The built in dark mode is serviceable but nothing like Dark Reader can do.
Support for Chrome extensions are work in progress apparently.
And it doesn't even come with reader-mode yet. Now that's a deal breaker.
I know with enough custom code I can take care of all the above but the cost would be prohibitively high.
If it ain't broken
I can't yet build a strong case on why I invested time on Nyxt other than wanting to play with new toys. Firefox is working very well, for now it's in no danger of being dethroned.
I don't mind that Nyxt falls short for now, the project has gotten enough traction that it will likely go on.
But I care about my tools. I want them to be powerful, and the less of them the better.
There's nothing out there like emacs, but Nyxt comes very close. It has the right intention, something completely unique in the browser space.
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