How to remove Linux Mint google search

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inventech

How to remove Linux Mint google search

Post by inventech »

Is it possible in Firefox to reset the google search?
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
optimize me

Re: How to remove Linux Mint google search

Post by optimize me »

inventech wrote:Is it possible in Firefox to reset the google search?
Yes it is. And all you have to do is make a quick search in these forums to find out how it's done.
markcynt

Re: How to remove Linux Mint google search

Post by markcynt »

This may help but take note of the quote below. http://www.linuxmint.com/blog/?p=142
The highest single source of revenue for Linux Mint isn’t the donations, it isn’t ads on the website, it is the default start page in Firefox. This simple search plugin is estimated to generated from 2 to 40 times more money than the start page itself. If this proves to be the case we’ll be in a position to grow and to achieve things we never dreamed off before. At the moment Linux Mint is maintained by me on a 2.5 hours / day basis with the help of a team of volunteers who are paid nothing. The income is similar to a single small salary. With this plugin, and although you may not enjoy the same level of comfort as when searching with the default Google layout, you contribute to making Linux Mint grow and we should soon see the day where our distribution gets maintained by a team of people working full-time on it.
inventech

Re: How to remove Linux Mint google search

Post by inventech »

optimize me wrote:
inventech wrote:Is it possible in Firefox to reset the google search?
Yes it is. And all you have to do is make a quick search in these forums to find out how it's done.
I did :(
lexon

Re: How to remove Linux Mint google search

Post by lexon »

Yeah, I do not like the Google thing as Google tracks you and keeps records. Another annoyance is some times a photo of a woman with big boobs pops up in the messages. I guess it is male ego puffing up. No doubt that will get me a private message.

lexon
inventech

Re: How to remove Linux Mint google search

Post by inventech »

I wasn't clear, how do make get rid of the linux mint custom search?
optimize me

Re: How to remove Linux Mint google search

Post by optimize me »

inventech wrote:I wasn't clear, how do make get rid of the linux mint custom search?
That question has been asked & answered countless times.

Are you telling me that in the eleven days since August 9th, you haven't been able to find that answer? (pssst... here's a clue: it's in the third post in this thread.)

Countless times +1, I guess:

Very first result (though, even the second of two works as well.) ---> http://tinyurl.com/mhe4ec

Image
Last edited by optimize me on Sat Aug 22, 2009 12:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.
bobsmith

Re: How to remove Linux Mint google search

Post by bobsmith »

Gremarc, good post. I agree. And actually, I found that if you DO follow the instructions on the blog post referenced in the third post in this thread (the one by Clem from 2008), it doesn't really get you back to the original (at least it didn't do it for me). What it does (and please correct me if I'm wrong) is add a second Google search to the list of search engines. So now you have TWO Google search engines to choose from in the list - Google's and Mint's. You'll have Google's original search for those times when you really need it, but it will default back to Mint's when you restart FF. And this is good because we want to use Mint's Google search whenever we can to help Mint raise funds. Unfortunately, it really doesn't end there - at least it didn't for me.

Only one of the two Google searches (the Mint Google search) will show search suggestions. And by "search suggestions" I mean this: let's say you're wanting to do a search for "Bing Crosby". You type "Bing" into the search bar, and a list of possible searches beginning with "Bing" appears in a drop-down box, with "Bing Crosby" at the top. I use that all the time and rely on it. Unfortunately, it's just not there when you use Google's original search - it's only there when you use Mint's Google search. So I thought, "OK, I'll just use the Mint search 95% of the time. But then that started getting buggy on me. I'd be typing a search item in the box and it would auto-highlight each letter as I typed, and then overwrite what I had just typed! So I'd be forced to open the drop down, scroll down to Google's original search, and I'd use that, but Google's original search won't show search suggestions, because that feature is being used by Mint's Google search.

So now I have two ways of doing a Google search - Mint's and Google's original - and one of those (Mint's) sometimes overwrites my typing as I type. The other (Google's) won't show any search suggestions. I have two ways to do a Google search, but with each one crippled.

Anyway, my point is this... this is not always so easy to resolve as some here have suggested, and while the OP doesn't appear to be very good at communicating his needs, this probably isn't the best issue to blast a newbie with because it isn't as well documented as it could be. I've seen this discussed ad-infinitum too, and perhaps I missed it, but so far I haven't seen anything that really nails the issues I had with it.

I did finally resolve my issue this way:

1) I downloaded this xml file (right-click the link - "save link as") :
http://ossus.com/media/google.xml

2) Then I opened this directory in my Mint file system (I opened it as administrator):
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/

3) I replaced the google.xml file in that directory with the one I downloaded in step 1. Now I'm back to the same FF Google search I'd have in Ubuntu - and Mint's is gone altogether. I also disabled the Mint Search Enhancer add-on.

This is not ideal, because I'd prefer to help Mint, but Mint's search simply wouldn't work for me. Maybe the problem with overwriting search terms as I type is unique to me, but I thought I'd post this in case someone else encounters the same problem.
optimize me

Re: How to remove Linux Mint google search

Post by optimize me »

gremarc wrote:I think why so many new people are flocking here (linux mint forum) and to LinMint is because they get qualitative answers to their problems. But, when we go off like this we start sounding like the Java, FreeBSD, Perl and OpenBSD forums. Then it's no longer "not like the others"... we do want them learn, but no child has ever learned walking just by the parents telling and explaining it to them... just a thought.
bobsmith wrote:Gremarc, good post. I agree.
Image
bobsmith wrote:And actually, I found that if you DO follow the instructions on the blog post referenced in the third post in this thread (the one by Clem from 2008), it doesn't really get you back to the original (at least it didn't do it for me).
How attention deficit are you? I link directly to an answer in my last post.

You read just enough to be offended, but not enough to find the answer. Strange. And that is the most convoluted way of adding a search to the search bar that I have ever seen. Why not just use the Add to Search Bar extension?

Alternatively:

Step 1:
Image
Step 2:
Image
(Hint: click the image for the answer.)
bobsmith

Re: How to remove Linux Mint google search

Post by bobsmith »

This is a reply to a post by "optimize me". Please, don't anyone else waste time reading it.
optimize me wrote:How attention deficit are you? I link directly to an answer in my last post. You read just enough to be offended, but not enough to find the answer. Strange.
You seem to be experiencing a great deal of angst regarding this thread. I think you're missing a few key points that might be contributing to your agitation:

1) First, you complained that I did not read enough of your post to "find the answer". I did not pose any question whatsoever. I am not seeking an "answer".
2) I was not addressing you. I was addressing the OP and gremarc. You seem to experience a compulsion to interject yourself into discussions in an obnoxious way.
3) You seem to have a tendency to post answers to questions that aren't being asked.
4) You are making the claim that I was "offended" by your post. I was not offended. I worked for three decades as a professional in the mental health field, and I am not so easily offended - not even close. I was, however, left with the impression that you may have some emotional problems, and that your posts were so obnoxious that someone seeking assistance wouldn't likely find them helpful. Other than that brief reaction, I really didn't give it much thought.
optimize me wrote:And that is the most convoluted way of adding a search to the search bar that I have ever seen. Why not just use the Add to Search Bar extension?
No. That's not correct. You don't understand the issue. And, once again, you're trying to answer a question nobody asked. Furthermore, the amount of effort that went into your reply to a question nobody posed (screenshots, image editing, etc.) is a tad over-the-top. So I'll save you some time... I am not seeking any information, opinions, comments, links, screen-shots, or anything else... I ask nothing whatsoever of you. Nothing.
optimize me

Re: How to remove Linux Mint google search

Post by optimize me »

Gremarc's post was basically calling me out for having the audacity to show someone how to use Google. Your reply said that it was a "Good post," and that you agreed with it.
bobsmith wrote:I ask nothing whatsoever of you. Nothing.
And yet, here you are, directly addressing me. Odd behavior for a mental health professional, denying doing a thing while simultaneously being engaged in that very activity. You must need professional help.

Here I'm confronted with two idiots. One, in the span of at least nine days with two links staring him in the face that go directly to the answer he's looking for, can't figure out how to change an entry in the Firefox search bar. Firefox - probably one of the most well-documented browsers in existence. The second, for some reason, finds it necessary to download .xml code and sudo cp it into the Firefox profile - a do-able, but unnecessarily complicated way of accomplishing the simplest of tasks.

I've noticed that there's a lot of so-called "mental health professionals" on the internets these days. Everybody's got a diagnosis for everybody else. Don't like what someone wrote in a forum? That person obviously needs professional help.

Who wouldn't be annoyed? Annoyed? I guess I do need professional help. I'll tell the doctor some anonymous retard who probably took a couple 100-level psychology courses at community college and can't figure out how to use Google diagnosed me from over the internet.

Unless you can:
  • Show me a degree in the field of psychology or psychiatry from a recognized University; and
  • Provide links to at least two articles written by you and published in a nationally- or globally-recognized peer-review journal, as per the requirements at most major universities for attaining an advanced degree in psychology or psychiatry; as well as
  • Prove that you did in fact complete any internship and/or residency requirements at a hospital under the supervision of a degreed, licensed, bonded, and insured professional; and finally
  • Provide references from former coworkers or employers that affirm you are who you claim to be and do have the expertise you claim to have;
...you can take your opinions and blow them out your ass.
Husse

Re: How to remove Linux Mint google search

Post by Husse »

Please cool down - there is absolutely no need to call someone an idiot and make other abusive remarks
I'll have to take action...
This is not in line with how we want the Mint forums and how they mostly are
And please keep the Mint customized search as this is the thing that really pays for our servers and such
Donors and sponsors are much appreciated but that is not the main source of income. If everyone stopped using the Mint custom search I'm afraid we might have to close down.....
tomast

Re: How to remove Linux Mint google search

Post by tomast »

Well said Husse :-)

Personally I come here First Rather than trying to weed through the thousands of
Google responses which are often confusing and many times wrong.
I come here out of respect for the knowledge of the people here because
I figure they already figured out the problems I am having and it will
save me a lot of time and agravation trying to find what you all already know.
There is no need for the hostility on either side. Some of us are not
as knowledgeable as others , that's why we seek the advice of the experts.

Tom
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