Search Engines in Linux Mint
Linux Mint recommends the following search engines:
| Engine | Preserves your privacy | Funds Linux Mint | Description |
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The 2nd largest search engine on the Web, full of features. | |
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A safe and secure engine providing augmented Yahoo results. |
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A safe and secure engine gathering results from multiple search engines. |
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A safe and secure engine providing augmented Google results. |
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The largest online encyclopedia. |
Why aren't some search engines included in Linux Mint?
Engines are included based on the following criteria:
- Funding: Whether using the engine funds Linux Mint
- Privacy: Whether the engine provides users with best-in-class privacy/security features
- Non-commercial: Whether the engine is popular and non-commercial
Funding
When you search the Web, advertisers spend money for you to click and see ads of the products they sell in your search results.
This money is shared and helps keep both Linux Mint and the search engine free.
Privacy
When you search the Web, engines record your activity and numerous details about you. This allows them to serve different ads and different search results to people based on what they like or do not like.
Although this enhances the user experience (since ads and search results are tailored especially for you), it represents a privacy concern.
Some engines such as DuckDuckGo, Ixquick or Startpage guarantee your privacy and do not track your activity.
What does Linux Mint recommend?
Donations and funding make it possible for Linux Mint to remain free and entirely focused on developing its operating system without engaging in commercial activities.
Privacy is an important aspect, and it can be a deciding factor as well.
Ultimately, this is your computer and our purpose at Linux Mint is for you to enjoy using it. You decide whether you want to help fund our distribution, preserve your privacy or prefer to run another engine.
This page gives you the information you need about search engines and how some of them are helping us, but also makes it easy for you to add alternative search engines if you decide to do so.
Other search engines
These search engines do not share the revenue Linux Mint users generate for them and/or do not preserve your privacy:
Some of the most popular engines were added above. To add one of them, click on its logo.