Scott Bradford: Off on a Tangent

Technology

Updated

Off on a Tangent is powered by an open-source publishing platform. It is designed for a minimum viewport width of 360 display pixels (dp) and should work properly in most modern browsers on most modern operating systems.

The Tangent theme was created by Scott Bradford using JetBrains PhpStorm, Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, Git SCM, Mantis, and more. Hosting and domain registration services by DreamHost and Infomaniak. Refer to the Credits and Attribution page for a more detailed list of libraries, fonts, plugins, artwork, optimization tools, and other components in use on this website.

When possible, Off on a Tangent complies with the most recent HTML, CSS, ECMAScript (JavaScript), JSON, and XML standards. Validation tools include Nu (X)HTML5 Checker, StyleLint, ESLint, JSONLint, and XML Validation. Off on a Tangent intends to comply with the most recent Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Accessibility is checked periodically with WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools. Please report any accessibility problems.

Web Browser Support

I recommend using Firefox by the Mozilla Corporation on most systems and platforms (except Apple’s iOS and iPadOS; see below). As of this writing, despite numerous recent missteps by Mozilla, Firefox still strikes the best balance between competing factors including:

  • availability across major computing platforms,
  • compatibility and support for web standards,
  • independence from governments and advertisers,
  • user control and customization,
  • and less “enshittification” than its biggest competitors.

On Apple’s iOS and iPadOS, I recommend using the built-in Safari browser. On these platforms, Apple imposes unreasonable limitations on third-party browsers—they are forced to use the built-in WebKit engine (with limited exceptions only in the European Union) but, at the same time, cannot use Safari extensions. These artificial limitations make Safari the only full-featured browser for iOS and iPadOS.

Off on a Tangent should work properly in any browser that uses a recent version of the Blink, Gecko, Goanna, or WebKit display engines.

Fully Supported and Tested Browsers

The website is fully supported and regularly tested in the browsers listed below. Please report any problems. Bugs affecting these browsers will be investigated and fixed as quickly as possible.

Google Chrome
Microsoft Edge
KDE Falkon
Mozilla Firefox
Tor Browser
Pale Moon
Apple Safari
  • Blink-based:
  • Gecko-based:
  • Goanna-based:
  • WebKit-based:
    • Safari by Apple Inc. (recommended on iOS and iPadOS)

Secondary Supported Browsers

Browsers in this section use display engines that are the same or closely related to those used by supported browsers. They should work properly but are not actively tested. Please report any problems. Bugs affecting these browsers will be investigated and fixed, but at a lower priority.

Limited Support Browsers

This section is a “mixed-bag” of other browsers including:

  • less-used forks of major browsers,
  • less-used browsers using the major display engines,
  • console and text-based browsers,
  • niche special-purpose browsers,
  • browsers for niche or legacy operating systems,
  • browsers in active prerelease development,
  • and browsers with their own independent engines.

I intend for the site to be functionally usable in all these browsers; you should be able to navigate around and view the content, but it may or may not look correct. Please report only functional problems, which may be investigated and fixed if time permits and if I am able to run the browser and replicate the issue.

  • Multi-engine:
    • Nyxt by Atlas Engineer
      • “Web engine agnostic” with support for Blink and WebKit
  • Blink-based:
  • Gecko-based:
  • Goanna-based:
  • WebKit-based:
  • Independent:
    • Arachne by glennmcc.org (text/lo-fi)
    • Dillo by Dillo Project (text/lo-fi)
    • Ladybird by Ladybird Browser Initiative (prerelease)
    • Links by Twibright Labs (text/lo-fi)
    • Lynx by Thomas Dickey (text/lo-fi)
    • Netsurf by NetSurf Developers (text/lo-fi)
    • Servo Tech Demo by Linux Foundation (prerelease)
    • w3m by Rene Kita (text/lo-fi)

Operating System Support

Off on a Tangent should work properly on any modern desktop, tablet, or smartphone operating system for which browsers based on recent versions of the supported display engines are available.

Fully Supported and Tested Systems

The website is fully supported and regularly tested in the supported browsers on any of the following operating systems for which they are available. Please report any problems. Bugs affecting these systems will be investigated and fixed as quickly as possible.

Google Chrome OS
Apple Mac:OS
Debian
EndeavourOS
Microsoft Windows
Android
Apple iPadOS
Apple iOS

Secondary Supported Systems

Systems in this section are closely related to the supported systems or are only capable of running text and lo-fi browsers. Supported browsers should work properly on any of the following operating systems where they are available. Please report any problems. Bugs affecting these systems will be investigated and fixed, but at a lower priority.

Notes on Other Systems

There are a lot of other operating systems. Ideally, I want the site to be accessible and usable with anything that is able to access the Internet . . . but there’s no way I could proactively test the thousands of current and legacy systems that exist out there.

Bugs affecting supported browsers on other systems will be investigated and fixed if I am able to reproduce the issue. Functional bugs on other systems, including legacy and prerelease systems, may be investigated and fixed if I am able to run the system with the hardware, virtualizers, and emulators I have available.

I am aware of, and am open to fixing bugs affecting, operating systems in these categories:

Matrix

BrowserEngineChr.Lin.MacWin.And.iOS
ChromeBlink🟢🟢🟢🟢🟢🟡2
EdgeBlink🟡1🟢🟢🟢🟢🟡2
FalkonBlink🟡1🟢🟡3🟡3🔴🔴
FirefoxGecko🟡1🟢🟢🟢🟢🟡2
Pale MoonGoanna🟡1🟢🟢🟢🔴🔴
SafariWebKit🔴 🔴🟢🔴🔴🟢
Tor BrowserGecko🟡1🟢🟢🟢🟢🔴

🟢 = available & supported; 🟡 = see notes; 🔴 = not available

1 On Chrome OS, alternate browsers are available through Android and Linux compatibility layers.

2 On iOS and iPadOS, these browsers use the Apple-provided WebKit display engine.

3 Outdated Falkon builds are available for MacOS and Windows, but are not currently supported.

Screenshot Gallery

Firefox (Desktop)
Firefox (Desktop)
Safari (Desktop)
Safari (Desktop)
Chrome (Desktop)
Chrome (Desktop)
Falkon (Desktop)
Falkon (Desktop)
Edge (Desktop)
Edge (Desktop)
Firefox (Tablet)
Firefox (Tablet)
Safari (Tablet)
Safari (Tablet)
Chrome (Tablet)
Chrome (Tablet)
Firefox (Phone)
Firefox (Phone)
Safari (Phone)
Safari (Phone)
Chrome (Phone)
Chrome (Phone)

Scott Bradford is a writer and technologist who has been putting his opinions online since 1995. He believes in three inviolable human rights: life, liberty, and property. He is a Catholic Christian who worships the trinitarian God described in the Nicene Creed. Scott is a husband, nerd, pet lover, and AMC/Jeep enthusiast with a B.S. degree in public administration from George Mason University.