5 ms·

Xxxterm, a minimalist web browser

59 points by mboroi 15y ago

stevengg 15y ago
the link seems to be dead
- bodo_leer 15y ago
  For the lazy people: http://freecode.com/projects/xxxterm http://freecode.com/projects/xxxterm (Google Search, second result)
- nicwest 15y ago
  same for me, A brief google turned up this: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/2011-10-12-162712_1280x705_scrot.png http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/2011-10-1...
nyellin 15y ago
Despite the name, xxxterm is not a cli web browser. If you clicked looking to browse the internet in your terminal, try w3m. It also has vi shortcuts.
- mooism2 15y ago
  I presume that despite the name it's also not full of porn or violence.
  - ufo 15y ago
    But [TheInternetIsForPron](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheInternetIsForPorn http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheInternetIsForP...)
- there 15y ago
  xterm is for text, xxxterm is for porn.
gcr 15y ago
If you like Xxxterm but feel like it isn't quite your cup of tea, try one of these other similar alternate web browsers: - Luakit: http://luakit.org/projects/luakit/ http://luakit.org/projects/luakit/ My favourite in this list. Just webkit + lightweight lua shell. Infinitely customizable. - Surf: http://surf.suckless.org/ http://surf.suckless.org/ From the same people who created wmii and dwm - Uzbl: http://uzbl.org/ http://uzbl.org/ Haven't had much luck with this one, but it's quite interesting. A while back, there was some work into getting this to play nice with emacs (google: Ezbl)
- nyellin 15y ago
  If you want vim-like browser, try Pentadactyl: http://dactyl.sourceforge.net/pentadactyl/ http://dactyl.sourceforge.net/pentadactyl/ You can mappings, like this one, which will take you from a comments page on Hacker News to the actual article: :autocmd LocationChange news.ycombinator.com map g1 :js openUILinkIn($(".title a")[0], "current")<CR> From https://github.com/aantn/castle/blob/master/home/.pentadactylrc https://github.com/aantn/castle/blob/master/home/.pentadacty...
  - mboroi 15y ago
    Nice tip. At one point I used and loved Vimperator and then migrated to Pentadactyl, but ultimately got fed up with Firefox's bloat and memory management issues.
    - nyellin 15y ago
      Same. I sadly used Chrome to post that comment, but I'll be back one day.
      - squidsoup 15y ago
        I'd recommend checking out Firefox Aurora (http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/aurora/ http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/aurora/) - Firefox is really looking great these day. The new native developer tools are coming along nicely and hopefully will prove more stable than Firebug.
DrCatbox 15y ago
Is there a configuration for this browser, or another micro-browser, which has anti-tracking, anti-social, adblock and flashblock built in? Would be cool to store the history outside of the browser, in a kind of standard format. Im not sure if it is easy enough to extract firefox history from its sqlite3 db. It would also be cool to switch where to store history/activitiy very fast, for example "send to home computer" or save for later synching with your other browsing profile...
- zokier 15y ago
  Something like Mozilla Weave: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Weave http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Weave ?
- Alistra 15y ago
  save_global_history If set the global history will be saved to ~/.xxxterm/history when quitting and restored at startup. See the KEY BINDINGS section above for how the global history is accessed. Global history is not saved to disk by default. from the manual, the history is a file, if you really want you can merge it manually
- fungi 15y ago
  > Im not sure if it is easy enough to extract firefox history from its sqlite3 db install http://code.google.com/p/sqlite-manager/ http://code.google.com/p/sqlite-manager/ point it to history file in you profile directory > It would also be cool to switch there is sync built in. anyone know a good library for accessing? pref python. edit: when i say i want a library i mean a client library for accessing data stored on sync server. want to build a page that displays my bookmarks.
- gwern 15y ago
  sqlite3 isn't that hard to work with, you know; for example, I only spent an hour or two writing a script to extract recently visited URLs from Firefox (http://www.gwern.net/Archiving%20URLs#browser-history http://www.gwern.net/Archiving%20URLs#browser-history) and I don't even know SQL.
- 15y ago
vinayan3 15y ago
Lynx. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx_(web_browser) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx_(web_browser) This is the most minimal browser I've ever used. It doesn't even have javascript. A lot of the web isn't supported on it due to the lack of javascript support.
- conformal 15y ago
  heh, am a fan of lynx since it's in openbsd's base install. "what do you mean your site isn't optimized for viewing with lynx!?!"
wtallis 15y ago
For a browser that seems to be built with security and privacy as top priorities, it seems to be missing some obvious features. How do you allow first-party scripts and cookies while still blocking third-party scripts and cookies? Does it support surrogate scripts like NoScript does, to deal with sites that actively try not to work when you block ads and tracking scripts? Where's the AdBlock-style blacklist?
- conformal 15y ago
  we have another project, adsuck ( https://opensource.conformal.com/wiki/adsuck https://opensource.conformal.com/wiki/adsuck ), that blocks ads via DNS proxying. it can be setup to proxy DNS requests for a single host, e.g. a laptop, or on a network perimeter, e.g. a firewall, and it works by using blacklists to map DNS requests for 'bad' sites to return a NXDOMAIN. this way the ad images and their associated js are never downloaded or executed. see http://rlwpx.free.fr/WPFF/hosts.htm http://rlwpx.free.fr/WPFF/hosts.htm for more info about the blacklists. you're right to point out that there is not yet a way to separate 1st and 3rd party scripts, but the cookies are handled by the xxxterm.conf setting cookie_policy = no3rdparty there is no handling for surrogate scripts atm. i can say that i personally don't bother with sites that require advertisements for viewing but i can understand the desire to do so. feel free to post feature requests or bugs at https://opensource.conformal.com/flyspray/index.php?project=5 https://opensource.conformal.com/flyspray/index.php?project=... .
  - qjz 15y ago
    DNS blacklisting is useful and has its place, but I would expect a secure-by-default browser to not load any resources from domains outside the one in the requested URL (like lynx) and to provide a simple way to selectively whitelist external resources for that domain only (like the RequestPolicy Firefox extension). That's one important omission from your otherwise impressive list of features that will probably make me stick with Firefox + Vimperator + RequestPolicy.
  - wtallis 15y ago
    A blanket ban on third-party cookies or third-party scripts is not enough. You need to be able to specify which third-party domains are trusted. There are lots of decent sites that need to be able to load assets from a different domain in order to be functional, but which also like to load Google Analytics, or set cookies from Omniture (2o7.net). These aren't ads, but are still things I'd like to block. Many sites also break if you don't load GA, hence the need for surrogate scripts. If you dismiss and don't try to support the secure use of sites that exhibit any of the above behavior, then your browser doesn't have anything to offer users that care about privacy and security. Privacy doesn't have to be the antithesis of compatibility.

59 points by mboroi 15y ago

stevengg 15y ago

the link seems to be dead

bodo_leer 15y ago
For the lazy people: http://freecode.com/projects/xxxterm http://freecode.com/projects/xxxterm (Google Search, second result)
nicwest 15y ago
same for me, A brief google turned up this: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/2011-10-12-162712_1280x705_scrot.png http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/2011-10-1...

nyellin 15y ago

Despite the name, xxxterm is not a cli web browser. If you clicked looking to browse the internet in your terminal, try w3m. It also has vi shortcuts.

mooism2 15y ago
I presume that despite the name it's also not full of porn or violence.
- ufo 15y ago
  But [TheInternetIsForPron](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheInternetIsForPorn http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheInternetIsForP...)
there 15y ago
xterm is for text, xxxterm is for porn.

gcr 15y ago

If you like Xxxterm but feel like it isn't quite your cup of tea, try one of these other similar alternate web browsers: - Luakit: http://luakit.org/projects/luakit/ http://luakit.org/projects/luakit/ My favourite in this list. Just webkit + lightweight lua shell. Infinitely customizable. - Surf: http://surf.suckless.org/ http://surf.suckless.org/ From the same people who created wmii and dwm - Uzbl: http://uzbl.org/ http://uzbl.org/ Haven't had much luck with this one, but it's quite interesting. A while back, there was some work into getting this to play nice with emacs (google: Ezbl)

nyellin 15y ago
If you want vim-like browser, try Pentadactyl: http://dactyl.sourceforge.net/pentadactyl/ http://dactyl.sourceforge.net/pentadactyl/ You can mappings, like this one, which will take you from a comments page on Hacker News to the actual article: :autocmd LocationChange news.ycombinator.com map g1 :js openUILinkIn($(".title a")[0], "current")<CR> From https://github.com/aantn/castle/blob/master/home/.pentadactylrc https://github.com/aantn/castle/blob/master/home/.pentadacty...
- mboroi 15y ago
  Nice tip. At one point I used and loved Vimperator and then migrated to Pentadactyl, but ultimately got fed up with Firefox's bloat and memory management issues.
  - nyellin 15y ago
    Same. I sadly used Chrome to post that comment, but I'll be back one day.
    - squidsoup 15y ago
      I'd recommend checking out Firefox Aurora (http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/aurora/ http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/aurora/) - Firefox is really looking great these day. The new native developer tools are coming along nicely and hopefully will prove more stable than Firebug.

DrCatbox 15y ago

Is there a configuration for this browser, or another micro-browser, which has anti-tracking, anti-social, adblock and flashblock built in? Would be cool to store the history outside of the browser, in a kind of standard format. Im not sure if it is easy enough to extract firefox history from its sqlite3 db. It would also be cool to switch where to store history/activitiy very fast, for example "send to home computer" or save for later synching with your other browsing profile...

zokier 15y ago
Something like Mozilla Weave: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Weave http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Weave ?
Alistra 15y ago
save_global_history If set the global history will be saved to ~/.xxxterm/history when quitting and restored at startup. See the KEY BINDINGS section above for how the global history is accessed. Global history is not saved to disk by default. from the manual, the history is a file, if you really want you can merge it manually
fungi 15y ago
> Im not sure if it is easy enough to extract firefox history from its sqlite3 db install http://code.google.com/p/sqlite-manager/ http://code.google.com/p/sqlite-manager/ point it to history file in you profile directory > It would also be cool to switch there is sync built in. anyone know a good library for accessing? pref python. edit: when i say i want a library i mean a client library for accessing data stored on sync server. want to build a page that displays my bookmarks.
gwern 15y ago
sqlite3 isn't that hard to work with, you know; for example, I only spent an hour or two writing a script to extract recently visited URLs from Firefox (http://www.gwern.net/Archiving%20URLs#browser-history http://www.gwern.net/Archiving%20URLs#browser-history) and I don't even know SQL.
15y ago

vinayan3 15y ago

Lynx. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx_(web_browser) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx_(web_browser) This is the most minimal browser I've ever used. It doesn't even have javascript. A lot of the web isn't supported on it due to the lack of javascript support.

conformal 15y ago
heh, am a fan of lynx since it's in openbsd's base install. "what do you mean your site isn't optimized for viewing with lynx!?!"

wtallis 15y ago

For a browser that seems to be built with security and privacy as top priorities, it seems to be missing some obvious features. How do you allow first-party scripts and cookies while still blocking third-party scripts and cookies? Does it support surrogate scripts like NoScript does, to deal with sites that actively try not to work when you block ads and tracking scripts? Where's the AdBlock-style blacklist?

conformal 15y ago
we have another project, adsuck ( https://opensource.conformal.com/wiki/adsuck https://opensource.conformal.com/wiki/adsuck ), that blocks ads via DNS proxying. it can be setup to proxy DNS requests for a single host, e.g. a laptop, or on a network perimeter, e.g. a firewall, and it works by using blacklists to map DNS requests for 'bad' sites to return a NXDOMAIN. this way the ad images and their associated js are never downloaded or executed. see http://rlwpx.free.fr/WPFF/hosts.htm http://rlwpx.free.fr/WPFF/hosts.htm for more info about the blacklists. you're right to point out that there is not yet a way to separate 1st and 3rd party scripts, but the cookies are handled by the xxxterm.conf setting cookie_policy = no3rdparty there is no handling for surrogate scripts atm. i can say that i personally don't bother with sites that require advertisements for viewing but i can understand the desire to do so. feel free to post feature requests or bugs at https://opensource.conformal.com/flyspray/index.php?project=5 https://opensource.conformal.com/flyspray/index.php?project=... .
- qjz 15y ago
  DNS blacklisting is useful and has its place, but I would expect a secure-by-default browser to not load any resources from domains outside the one in the requested URL (like lynx) and to provide a simple way to selectively whitelist external resources for that domain only (like the RequestPolicy Firefox extension). That's one important omission from your otherwise impressive list of features that will probably make me stick with Firefox + Vimperator + RequestPolicy.
- wtallis 15y ago
  A blanket ban on third-party cookies or third-party scripts is not enough. You need to be able to specify which third-party domains are trusted. There are lots of decent sites that need to be able to load assets from a different domain in order to be functional, but which also like to load Google Analytics, or set cookies from Omniture (2o7.net). These aren't ads, but are still things I'd like to block. Many sites also break if you don't load GA, hence the need for surrogate scripts. If you dismiss and don't try to support the secure use of sites that exhibit any of the above behavior, then your browser doesn't have anything to offer users that care about privacy and security. Privacy doesn't have to be the antithesis of compatibility.