I’ve been a Firefox user for 15+ years. I love its flexibility, privacy, and (absent that rough patch in the mid 2010s) its speed. It really is a great browser. But I’ve hit a limitation.

One of my machines is an HTPC running Linux. I watch almost all my movies in the browser via streaming sites. At first, Firefox was ideal for this: it handles fullscreen browsing well (better than Brave) by letting me access tabs just by moving my mouse to the top of the screen. And I’m able to adjust the scale of the Firefox interface to make it more HTPC-friendly via about:config. That’s not possible in Brave.

But Firefox has 2 issues that make it virtually unusable as an HTPC browser.

  1. When Firefox plays fullscreen video (on Linux), it can’t stop the screensaver from coming on. This issue has sprung up repeatedly for over a decade and been reported multiple times.
  2. Extensions like Keep Awake/Caffeine do not work with Firefox on Linux. I use these extensions so that I can keep non-video sites (like Rollgator) on my TV screen persistently, without the screensaver coming on.

I’m bummed. I would rather use Firefox, with its great interface and its long history. I still use Firefox on my phone, laptop, and desktop. But at the moment, Brave is the only browser (of the two) that has addressed these issues on Linux. If that ever changes, I will happily come back to Firefox on my HTPC. (It would be great, because then I could easily send tabs from my devices to my TV!) Until then, I’m sticking with Brave.

  • mulcahey@lemm.eeOPEnglish
    12·
    4 months ago

    I’ve tried disabling the screensaver in power settings (not via script). But I have to keep some power settings so that my machine goes to sleep when not in use and the TV turns off.

    So whatever my power settings are, they will kick in. If I disable screensaver but I have a 30 min sleep timer, the comp will go to sleep, even if I’m watching a movie in Firefox.

    Typically, turning off my TV looks like this:

    • I close a tab that’s playing a movie.
    • Firefox reverts to my home tab, showing all my streaming sites.
    • I get up and walk away
    • My computer goes to sleep
    • My TV, not getting any input from the computer, turns off.

    If I go the script route, it might screw up that sequence, right?

    • eldavi@lemmy.ml
      4·
      4 months ago

      If I go the script route, it might screw up that sequence, right?

      not if your script either disables to changes those power settings to stay on.

      • mulcahey@lemm.eeOP
        22·
        4 months ago

        So I’m looking for a script that disables all power settings when Firefox is playing a full screen video, but then re-enables them when the video closes.

        Does anyone have that script?

        • eldavi@lemmy.ml
          3·
          4 months ago

          Does anyone have that script?

          i would presume that you would have to create it since you’re something of an edge case.

          i used to use distos that were geared towards home entertainment in the past like mythbuntu; did none of those work for your circumstances?