5 ms·

Luakit: Fast, small, WebKit-based browser framework extensible by Lua

92 points by vmorgulis 10y ago

buster 10y ago
The project seems to be quite dead? My favorite is dwb, which is not dead yet (tm) but not that active, too: http://portix.bitbucket.org/dwb/ http://portix.bitbucket.org/dwb/
- gh02t 10y ago
  QuteBrowser is a good replacement for dwb. It's [very] actively developed and also uses QtWebkit instead of Webkit-gtk. https://github.com/The-Compiler/qutebrowser https://github.com/The-Compiler/qutebrowser
stevekemp 10y ago
This project has been dead for some time, unfortunately. As has the more interesting idea the idea of a lua-based mail-client using Luakit: http://dieter.plaetinck.be/post/luamail_a_mail_client_built_into_luakit/ http://dieter.plaetinck.be/post/luamail_a_mail_client_built_... That said I did write a console-based mail-client with lua support: https://github.com/lumail/lumail2/ https://github.com/lumail/lumail2/
- Touche 10y ago
  Why do you think it's dead? Most recent update is 3 days ago.
  - dubcanada 10y ago
    It appears that mason-larobina has ressurected it. There are a bunch of commits then it's nothing until 2014.
    - wink 10y ago
      Yes, there were a few commits recently, but doesn't look like it's suddenly awesome again. That said, I really have to try it again. I used to use it extensively (1-2 years ago) as one of my off-browsers (prefer that to profiles) but at some point most bigger websites (like Facebook) were wonky.
  - supernintendo 10y ago
    True, but not a lot of contributors these days it seems.
  - technomancy 10y ago
    Even if Luakit itself is getting commits, last I checked the underlying webkit code it's based on doesn't get security updates, so as much as I would like to use it; it's really not a good idea: https://blogs.gnome.org/mcatanzaro/2016/02/01/on-webkit-security-updates/ https://blogs.gnome.org/mcatanzaro/2016/02/01/on-webkit-secu...
- fit2rule 10y ago
  Its an interesting project - so encouraging people to check it out, even if its 'antiquated', means there's a higher likelihood of someone checking it out, and then contributing to the project to bring it forward .. so while its good to know that there are delinquencies in how far back the code goes vis a vis security fixes, its still a positive thing to encourage people to check it out - and possibly contribute. I, for one, welcome the luakit revival that may happen as a result ..
sivers 10y ago
Just yesterday I spoke with the creator of the Uzbl browser - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzbl https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzbl + http://www.uzbl.org/ http://www.uzbl.org/ - who said that out of all the minimalist browsers out there, he thinks Luakit is the best, and even recommends it over his own.
- techne42 10y ago
  I recently switched from LuaKit to Qutebrowser and haven't looked back: https://qutebrowser.org/ https://qutebrowser.org/ The project is actively developed (author recently did some crowdfunding to work on the project full time: [1]), and work is underway to support QtWebEngine as a backend (Blink/Chromium-based rendering engine). [1]: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/qutebrowser-a-keyboard-focused-vim-like-browser https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/qutebrowser-a-keyboard-fo...
  - deckiedan 10y ago
    Wow - that's brilliant. I have used firefox + pentidactyl for ages, on and off, but usually end up removing it as it mucks up web dev stuff too frequently. But this for a daily browser and then firefox for heavyweight stuff looks cool. Thanks!
    - e12e 10y ago
      FWIW, I'm currently trying out VimFX (largely because vimperator has yet to be ported forward to work with latest firefox nightlies) - and while I'm not certain I like all the decisions the project makes (I probably want more of a vi(m) monster) - the project is well thought out, and the decisions are motivated - not random. And it appears a much simpler, more compact and self-contained project that vimperator/pentadactyl (note, I've only seriously looked at modifying VimFX - and the dev documentation is excellent): https://github.com/akhodakivskiy/VimFx https://github.com/akhodakivskiy/VimFx https://github.com/akhodakivskiy/VimFx/blob/master/documentation/tools.md https://github.com/akhodakivskiy/VimFx/blob/master/documenta...
gkya 10y ago
I'm in love with the hypothetical browser that has the security features of xombrero and lacks GTK.
- ryan-c 10y ago
  Is that sarcasm? Xombrero has broken TLS validation that's vulnerable to MitM script injection.
  - gkya 10y ago
    No it's not, that vulnerability is a WebKit vulnerability, AFAIK fixed in WebKit. The browser has nice features for controlling script, cookie, plugin use and data exposed to servers, that is what I refer to as "security". I don't know if it's still affected by that bug or not.
- ams6110 10y ago
  Is xombrero still being developed? I used it for quite a while and liked it but the lack of updates made me think it was probably falling behind on security. Granted WebKit is the biggest part of that.
  - gkya 10y ago
    > Is xombrero still being developed? AFAICT, no. I actually did some work on the build process to sanitise it for fixing some stuff later (use bmake on tree root and use a single platform.h with ifdefs instead of cd $OS && make stupidity, which the author of xombrero seems to like; tested only on freebsd tho), but I didn't have any spare time for that yet.
myf 10y ago
there was a talk about the state of luakit recently and the original author has created its dedicated organization and migrated the codebase. So there's some new interests in developing it future, adding webkit2 supports etc. this fork at https://github.com/aidanholm/luakit https://github.com/aidanholm/luakit has seen some new developments on the webkit2 front.
drakenot 10y ago
I've used a number of these lightweight webkit / vim browsers. I really enjoy them but they don't seem to last very long. I've probably used 5 different ones in the past.
- chowes 10y ago
  Same. And I also do this with distros, window managers, etc. I find myself bouncing back and forth between convenience and simplicity - the grass is always greener.
stirner 10y ago
For those who prefer simple code along with a simple interface, there is surf [1], a thin C wrapper around WebKitGTK+. [1] http://surf.suckless.org http://surf.suckless.org
ironic_iconic 10y ago
It seems rather dishonest to push a few commits to an unmaintained project and then pander for attention on Hacker News.
- fit2rule 10y ago
  Maybe its an attempt to gain like-minded contributors? I'm certainly interested in pushing the project forward, and wouldn't have thought about it if it weren't for a HN article about it today .. or is HN only supposed to be about the cool, finished, new stuff, always and only?

92 points by vmorgulis 10y ago

The project seems to be quite dead? My favorite is dwb, which is not dead yet (tm) but not that active, too: http://portix.bitbucket.org/dwb/ http://portix.bitbucket.org/dwb/

gh02t 10y ago
QuteBrowser is a good replacement for dwb. It's [very] actively developed and also uses QtWebkit instead of Webkit-gtk. https://github.com/The-Compiler/qutebrowser https://github.com/The-Compiler/qutebrowser

stevekemp 10y ago

This project has been dead for some time, unfortunately. As has the more interesting idea the idea of a lua-based mail-client using Luakit: http://dieter.plaetinck.be/post/luamail_a_mail_client_built_into_luakit/ http://dieter.plaetinck.be/post/luamail_a_mail_client_built_... That said I did write a console-based mail-client with lua support: https://github.com/lumail/lumail2/ https://github.com/lumail/lumail2/

Touche 10y ago
Why do you think it's dead? Most recent update is 3 days ago.
- dubcanada 10y ago
  It appears that mason-larobina has ressurected it. There are a bunch of commits then it's nothing until 2014.
  - wink 10y ago
    Yes, there were a few commits recently, but doesn't look like it's suddenly awesome again. That said, I really have to try it again. I used to use it extensively (1-2 years ago) as one of my off-browsers (prefer that to profiles) but at some point most bigger websites (like Facebook) were wonky.
- supernintendo 10y ago
  True, but not a lot of contributors these days it seems.
- technomancy 10y ago
  Even if Luakit itself is getting commits, last I checked the underlying webkit code it's based on doesn't get security updates, so as much as I would like to use it; it's really not a good idea: https://blogs.gnome.org/mcatanzaro/2016/02/01/on-webkit-security-updates/ https://blogs.gnome.org/mcatanzaro/2016/02/01/on-webkit-secu...
fit2rule 10y ago
Its an interesting project - so encouraging people to check it out, even if its 'antiquated', means there's a higher likelihood of someone checking it out, and then contributing to the project to bring it forward .. so while its good to know that there are delinquencies in how far back the code goes vis a vis security fixes, its still a positive thing to encourage people to check it out - and possibly contribute. I, for one, welcome the luakit revival that may happen as a result ..

sivers 10y ago

Just yesterday I spoke with the creator of the Uzbl browser - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzbl https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzbl + http://www.uzbl.org/ http://www.uzbl.org/ - who said that out of all the minimalist browsers out there, he thinks Luakit is the best, and even recommends it over his own.

techne42 10y ago
I recently switched from LuaKit to Qutebrowser and haven't looked back: https://qutebrowser.org/ https://qutebrowser.org/ The project is actively developed (author recently did some crowdfunding to work on the project full time: [1]), and work is underway to support QtWebEngine as a backend (Blink/Chromium-based rendering engine). [1]: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/qutebrowser-a-keyboard-focused-vim-like-browser https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/qutebrowser-a-keyboard-fo...
- deckiedan 10y ago
  Wow - that's brilliant. I have used firefox + pentidactyl for ages, on and off, but usually end up removing it as it mucks up web dev stuff too frequently. But this for a daily browser and then firefox for heavyweight stuff looks cool. Thanks!
  - e12e 10y ago
    FWIW, I'm currently trying out VimFX (largely because vimperator has yet to be ported forward to work with latest firefox nightlies) - and while I'm not certain I like all the decisions the project makes (I probably want more of a vi(m) monster) - the project is well thought out, and the decisions are motivated - not random. And it appears a much simpler, more compact and self-contained project that vimperator/pentadactyl (note, I've only seriously looked at modifying VimFX - and the dev documentation is excellent): https://github.com/akhodakivskiy/VimFx https://github.com/akhodakivskiy/VimFx https://github.com/akhodakivskiy/VimFx/blob/master/documentation/tools.md https://github.com/akhodakivskiy/VimFx/blob/master/documenta...

gkya 10y ago

I'm in love with the hypothetical browser that has the security features of xombrero and lacks GTK.

ryan-c 10y ago
Is that sarcasm? Xombrero has broken TLS validation that's vulnerable to MitM script injection.
- gkya 10y ago
  No it's not, that vulnerability is a WebKit vulnerability, AFAIK fixed in WebKit. The browser has nice features for controlling script, cookie, plugin use and data exposed to servers, that is what I refer to as "security". I don't know if it's still affected by that bug or not.
ams6110 10y ago
Is xombrero still being developed? I used it for quite a while and liked it but the lack of updates made me think it was probably falling behind on security. Granted WebKit is the biggest part of that.
- gkya 10y ago
  > Is xombrero still being developed? AFAICT, no. I actually did some work on the build process to sanitise it for fixing some stuff later (use bmake on tree root and use a single platform.h with ifdefs instead of cd $OS && make stupidity, which the author of xombrero seems to like; tested only on freebsd tho), but I didn't have any spare time for that yet.

myf 10y ago

there was a talk about the state of luakit recently and the original author has created its dedicated organization and migrated the codebase. So there's some new interests in developing it future, adding webkit2 supports etc. this fork at https://github.com/aidanholm/luakit https://github.com/aidanholm/luakit has seen some new developments on the webkit2 front.

drakenot 10y ago

I've used a number of these lightweight webkit / vim browsers. I really enjoy them but they don't seem to last very long. I've probably used 5 different ones in the past.

chowes 10y ago
Same. And I also do this with distros, window managers, etc. I find myself bouncing back and forth between convenience and simplicity - the grass is always greener.

stirner 10y ago

For those who prefer simple code along with a simple interface, there is surf [1], a thin C wrapper around WebKitGTK+. [1] http://surf.suckless.org http://surf.suckless.org

ironic_iconic 10y ago

It seems rather dishonest to push a few commits to an unmaintained project and then pander for attention on Hacker News.

fit2rule 10y ago
Maybe its an attempt to gain like-minded contributors? I'm certainly interested in pushing the project forward, and wouldn't have thought about it if it weren't for a HN article about it today .. or is HN only supposed to be about the cool, finished, new stuff, always and only?