Add duckduckgo in the zorin search start page

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Hello. I don’t know if this is the right category for this kind of stuff. But I was wondering if it would be possible to add other search engines in the zorin startup website, especially duckduckgo. Since you know, linux = private :slight_smile:

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Not sure which website you are specifically referring. Can you provide the URL?

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OK, but sorry I’m none the wiser. How did you get to that URL? I don’t think I have ever visited that part of zorin.com. Maybe others here may recognise it.

The main Zorin website is https://zorinos.com.

FYI. The search engine on the old Zorin website archive is indeed DDG. https://zoringroup.com/forum/

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When first installed, when you open Firefox in the fresh new Zorin OS installation, that is set as the homepage. I have seen it after every install of the OS, but I always change it to my preference.

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I was just thinking the same thing. I like using the start page and it would be great if DuckDuckGo was added because Google :-1:

And looking at the page source, all it takes is adding a few lines to the base.js file. Maybe I can make one myself.

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That is a great idea though. Cause only way I can use DuckDuckGo, is through an internet browser.

Yes, I know, first world problems. :roll_eyes:

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kek :grin: it's all for fun. For me at least.

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Does this maybe help...? Or am I missing something...

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/add-or-remove-search-engine-firefox

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Yes you did miss something, but thats ok, I won't dock you pay on your monthly paycheck. :stuck_out_tongue:

You know how when you click on the Zorin menu, you get that search box? It would be nice if you could run a Duck Duck Go search from that same search box.

Were basically talking about efficiency and convenience. Something tells me that the positively stellar :star2: avisphlox, is gonna create the search function with her hidden skills of stellarness :star2:

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I thought I was missing something. Sorry, was having a noob moment..lol

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Any news on this?

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I'm surprised this isn't possible.

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Although DuckDuckGo is pretty cool, there are other options as well. Like StartPage, SearX (which is open-source) or Qwant (one of the few European search engines and it's pretty good).

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You can try using metager or swisscow

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that website is the default starting page in Zorin's Firefox installation.

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okay so I see no real reason why Zorin wouldn't do this
even I, with about 0 JavaScript knowledge was able to just whip out VSCodium and add that into base.js quite easily
so, here we go:

/* DUCKDUCKGO
       ------------------------------------------------------- */

    eng.duckduckgo
        pageTitle: "DuckDuckGo"
        logo: "duckduckgo.png"
        places: {
            'Search with DuckDuckGo' : ["https://duckduckgo.com/%query%", false]
        }
    };

there are probably other assets which also need to be added in some other files, but the basic logic is easy enough to implement.
Maybe Zorin should open source their start page, so that we can more easily contribute to making it better, similar to DuckDuckGo's community driven search results for "Calculator" or GitHub integration for instance.

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I have a confession.

I do not use duckduckgo.

I use google for all my searches.
And the reason why is simple: I intend to find what I am looking for. Googles search base is much wider than the ducks. Compare the two and you will see much more relevant hits with Google.
I do not use Google Products - or facebook - but... When I run a net search, I google it.
I would suspect though I cannot confirm, that ZorinGroups logic may be similar. New users coming over are used to google searches and seeing the more limited Ducks might actually put them off when they cannot really find what they are looking for.
Alternatives are fine... And Open Source is great.
But when something works and does work well, replacing it for the sake of replacing it becomes illogical.

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please note that we didn't intend on replacing the Google search, but rather offering DuckDuckGo as another popular option.

Also, for me personally, DuckDuckGo really fits better into my workflow, especially with it's quick access to other search engines using their so called bangs

if you don't know what I mean by that, DDG allows to use an exclamation mark (!) in front of a search to redirect your query to another service.
for instance, search !github TGRush on DuckDuckGo, and you'll be lead to the search results for TGRush on GitHub

And this feature isn't small either, it has THOUSANDS of different search engines and websites as providers, including Google, Startpage, Qwant, the Searx public instances site, and many others.

and THIS, is why I think DuckDuckGo should be one of the options for zorin's start page, even if it isn't the default.

not to mention that many people would prefer the privacy of DuckDuckGo over Google's search results any day, including myself.
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When I need to run a private search; I have found an elegant and simple solution.
I use the Google search; on someone else's computer.
Which is why my sons computer includes in its search history "an octopus gentlemans parts"