With the Oneiric Ocelot release of Ubuntu just around the corner, we decided to take a fresh look at some alternative browsers for Linux. While Firefox is arguably still the champion of Linux web browsers, it has a history of being slow and getting bogged down by sites like Facebook. As a result, the Linux browser market has never been more full of competition. If you’re looking for a break from Firefox, there’s probably an alternative browser out there for you.

Here are 10 alternative browsers that you may find useful or interesting. This is not a comprehensive list of Linux web browsers, just 10 that we liked. If you’re using Firefox or Chromium on Ubuntu, you can install these browsers from this page by clicking on the “Install Now” button after each browser summary.

Arora

Arora is a Webkit based browser written with the Qt UI framework. It’s surprisingly fast and pretty full featured. Arora has many of the features we expect in a modern browser, such as Flash blocking, ad blocking, private browsing mode, a bookmark manager, a history manager, privacy controls and even the Webkit inspector. Arora also runs on FreeBSD, Mac OS X, Windows, and Haiku. One downside to Arora is that it is not updated nearly as often as Firefox or Chrome. Install Now

Chrome/Chromium

Since its release in late 2008, Google’s Chrome browser and its open source brother Chromium have quickly become the most popular replacement for Firefox on Linux systems. Chromium is included in the Ubuntu repositories or you can download Chrome directly from Google. Chrome has been considered by Canonical as a replacement for Firefox as the default browser in Ubuntu, but so far, Firefox is holding its ground. Install Now

Elinks

Elinks is a text based browser similar to the classic Lynx browser. It launches inside a Terminal window and presents you only the text of websites, no images, javascript, or Flash. This can be rather useful for website developers to test their sites, or for reading information on sites that are full of annoying javascript and Flash ads. Install Now

Epiphany

Epiphany is the official web browser of the GNOME desktop. It is a very easy to use Webkit based browser with a simplistic user interface. In fact, Epiphany is like the granddaddy of simple web browsers, delivering a simple user interface years before Chrome came on the scene. The browser is very speedy and polished, offering more features with each release. Epiphany makes a great alternative to Firefox and Chrome! Install Now

Konqueror

Konqueror is the original WebKit browser. Long before Apple released Safari, there was Konqueror and the KHTML rendering engine. Apple liked what they saw in KHTML and used it for Safari, later starting the WebKit project. Konqueror is much more than just a web browser, including all kinds functionality; it was KDE 3’s file and network browser. Installing it on Ubuntu is not recommended for all users as it requires a lot of KDE libraries to also be installed, but for those die-hard Konqueror users, and anyone interested in the history of web browsers, Konqueror is a must. Install Now

Links 2

Links 2 is a text based browser with basic image and javascript support. It’s kind of like using the web in the Mosaic days. We’re not quite sure when Links would be useful, but if you’re looking for a text-based browser that supports images, Links is for you. Install Now

Luakit

Here is a very interesting WebKit based browser that should intrigue Ubuntu power users. Luakit is a highly configurable, micro-browser aimed at geeks and other people who have “too much time on their hands.” The default user interface is so simple that it’s basically non-existent. Users need to configure their rc.lua file to customize the browser. Luakit can be extended and programmed using the Lua language. If you’re looking for an ultra-light web browser, or the idea of configuring your own sounds like fun, you should check out Luakit! Install Now

Midori

Midori is a GTK browser based on Webkit. It tracks the latests versions of Webkit very closely, so you always have a fresh version. Midori is very lightweight and fast, but still has a lot of features including extensions like ad blocking and user scripts. Midori is amazingly quick and can be useful for sites like Facebook which tend to slow down Firefox. Install Now

Opera

The only closed-source browser in our lineup is Opera. This is one of the most controversial browsers available for Linux. Many people think it’s the best browser on any platform, while others would never install a browser that isn’t open source. Opera is a very mature and full featured browser that works great on Ubuntu. In fact, it’s much more than just a browser, Opera also includes an IRC client, email client, Usenet client, and even a personal web server for doing cool things like media streaming and file sharing. Visit the Opera website to download and install.

SeaMonkey

When Mozilla abandoned the old Netscape Navigator code base and launched Firefox, many people missed the mail, news and composer features of the old suite. For those who miss the old Netscape suite of apps, you can install SeaMonkey. The browser has been kept fairly up-to-date with the latest Gecko rendering engines but it’s starting to look pretty dated. There are better and more modern alternatives to most of the SeaMonkey suite, so we suggest keeping this one around only for nostalgia. Install Now

What is your favorite Linux web browser? Leave your comments below!