5 ms·

macOS Packaging for Ungoogled-Chromium

73 points by keepamovin 2y ago

barryp 2y ago
I've been grabbing macOS builds of Chromium from the Playwright project (https://playwright.dev https://playwright.dev) The download URL follows this template https://playwright.azureedge.net/builds/chromium/{revision}/chromium-mac.zip To find the current revision, look in https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/playwright/main/packages/playwright-core/browsers.json Today I'm seeing { "name": "chromium", "revision": "1151", "installByDefault": true, "browserVersion": "132.0.6834.32" }, So I'd grab https://playwright.azureedge.net/builds/chromium/1151/chromium-mac.zip After unzipping, mark the file as runnable with xattr -d com.apple.quarantine Chromium.app
lukaslukas 2y ago
Can anyone explain to me why? I can see that I can already install it from the original repository as well?
- crest 2y ago
  Google's interests don't align with yours so taking something that infeasible to rewrite yourself like a modern browser and only ripping out the worst parts is a useful alternative?
  - MarcoZavala 2y ago
    [dead]
- throw646577 2y ago
  Not sure why this is an HN post at all, but I think the link points to the packaging build setup for the ungoogled binaries, rather than the binaries themselves.
- BtM909 2y ago
  Isn't the original repo linking to this one? The only thing I notice, is that this one is notarized by Apple.
- rvnx 2y ago
  Ungoogled Chromium is a project originating from China and maintained there. The main reason it originally exists is because Google services are unavailable there, but you still want to use Chrome. Some of the developers are really skilled and passionated there because they need this tool themselves.
  - Ahrotahn 2y ago
    > Ungoogled Chromium is a project originating from China and maintained there. I don't know Eloston well enough to comment on the first half of that statement but the second half is certainly not true for the core repo!
    - _njyk 2y ago
      I needed some Chromium devs for a project so I contacted a few of the active maintainers on different platforms. Eventually had to give up: "sorry no I'm living in China, too complicated", which is sad because some of the people seemed really nice and smart. From the public information, you can only guess based on the names: One example: https://web.archive.org/web/20200920040602/https://mentors.debian.net/package/ungoogled-chromium/ https://web.archive.org/web/20200920040602/https://mentors.d... or https://space.bilibili.com/439205819 https://space.bilibili.com/439205819 (seems also smart and nice). I'm sure there are many counter-examples as well. It's not good or bad, just very logical that people who don't want Google are the ones who get a HTTP timeout or a lockup every time they try to send a request to Google.
spiderfarmer 2y ago
Just use Safari.
- arccy 2y ago
  you mean the IE of the 2020s?
  - geden 2y ago
    Have used most browsers since 1993. As an end user Safari is not comparable to how IE was. Safari has been my daily driver for a decade. Clean, integrated well into MacOS. Just works. I only have to crack out Chrome for the odd awkward website that’s usually terrible in all sorts if other ways, apart from poor testing. Like a bad bank.
    - tucnak 2y ago
      Safari is great if your idea of a browser is from 2010's. Safari is not really on top of modern Web standards which is a shame because it really does have clean UI, albeit not too many options for power-users. No extension ecosystem, etc. They were right to question _some_ standards, but other than that they're simply behind. There's a reason Chromium moved on from WebKit, and many misgivings of Safari could probably be traced back to it being hard to develop / maintain.
      - celso 2y ago
        How is Safari "behind" modern standards? Seems pretty up to date, if not ahead in come cases, to me. https://caniuse.com/?compare=chrome+134,safari+18.2,firefox+136&compareCats=CSS,HTML5,JS,JS%20API,Other,Security,SVG https://caniuse.com/?compare=chrome+134,safari+18.2,firefox+...
        tucnak 2y ago
        See the last table. By what extent of imagination it is "up to date"? Not to mention that many "Partials" in the second table are really more on the "No" side, like Push API. But yeah, it's not even the matter of WebGPU, or whatever, Safari doesn't support SVG favicons still... P.S. Surprised how far back Firefox had fallen, actually.
alexseman 2y ago
[dead]
mangecoeur 2y ago
Seems like a lot of effort to go to rather than just use Firefox or Safari...
- tucnak 2y ago
  Why would you use Firefox—that would be supporting Mozilla, or Safari—as they correctly pointed out in the comments—the IE of 2020's? Have you actually seen Firefox source code? It's horrible; not one bit surprising that Chromium won! This is also why there's rich ecosystem of browsers around it. Brave comes to mind; built-in ad-blocker is not half bad, not to mention they're committed to v2 extension APIs, deserving praise. I've been really happy with it. Not sold on most products they're trying to sneak in there like Search, or the AI things, however as occasional crypto user, I'd found the built-in Wallet real handy. Vivaldi? I was told it's quite popular with streamers and so on. Edge from Microsoft, too. What does Firefox have going for it? LibreWolf? Tor Browser? Edit: mobile Firefox is still superior, I think, because extensions.
  - aeonik 2y ago
    Firefox and Safari are nothing like IE. IE used to crash ALL the time, and a lot of those crashes could be triggered by really nasty vulnerabilities in ActiveX which had kennel level access in Windows.
    - tucnak 2y ago
      I'd never suggested Firefox is akin to IE. Safari is, however, as it's tied to macOS. You cannot use it on Linux, and nobody really uses it on Windows. You cannot use it on Android. It's hopelessly behind on many modern Web standards, too. In that sense it's totally IE-like. Cross-platform is a must for a modern browser platform.
      - troupo 2y ago
        > It's hopelessly behind on many modern Web standards, too. Chrome-only APIs are not "modern web standards".
samsari 2y ago
I might be out of touch, wasn't Chromium itself originally "ungoogled Chrome"?
- serial_dev 2y ago
  Chromium still includes features and integrations with Google, and telemetry going to Google.
- matvore 2y ago
  Chromium is merely Chrome with only the open source parts. Chromium components are still implemented in a Google-controlled repo. So it has Google-oriented features and defaults.
  - MuffinFlavored 2y ago
    1. Google Chrome 2. Chromium 3. Ungoogled Chrome? 4. Ungoogled Chromium? 5. Googled Chromium? How does it differ from regular Chromium?
    - matvore 2y ago
      Note I work for Google and I've contributed to Chromium, though I'm not necessarily an expert on Chromium forks. 1. Google Chrome This is offical Chrome you download from google.com and also comes on ChromeOS devices. 2. Chromium This is what you get when someone builds Chromium from the official repo without access to confidential source. Source is confidential for various reasons, and some code that seems should be confidential actually isn't, like Android-for-ChromeOS integration, some of which is here: https://crsrc.org/c/chrome/browser/ash/arc/ https://crsrc.org/c/chrome/browser/ash/arc/ 3. Ungoogled Chrome? This seems a contradiction of terms. Only Google can build Chrome, so they are not likely to e.g. set Bing as default or remove Google password manager support. 4. Ungoogled Chromium? A particular project run by a particular team which forks Chromium and removes pro-Google behavior and settings. 5. Googled Chromium? I don't know the original context of the use of this term, but possibly this just refers to official Chrome.
trackofalljades 2y ago
What would be a driving reason to use this versus Brave?
- phendrenad2 2y ago
  According to Mozilla's "Firefox vs Brave" page, the foremost reason is Brave's ad blocking might be too good and block pages you don't want to block.
  - immibis 2y ago
    The ones that give Google money to Mozilla, presumably - but there are other problems with Brave.
- mortalkastor 2y ago
  Because brave has a questionable business model where they, on one hand, block third party ads and trackers, and on the other inject their own ads, tied to their BAT cryptocurrency (the latter part being opt-in IIRC). They also: - added their own affiliate codes when visiting some sites [1] - installed VPNs without consent [2] which also taints their privacy focused posture. [1] https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/8/21283769/brave-browser-affiliate-links-crypto-privacy-ceo-apology https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/8/21283769/brave-browser-aff... [2] https://www.androidpolice.com/brave-browser-windows-vpn-without-user-consent/ https://www.androidpolice.com/brave-browser-windows-vpn-with...
vouaobrasil 2y ago
I think it'd be better just to use Firefox, because it's still a better platform for uBlock origin.
- rhokstar 2y ago
  This ^^^^. For those who want increased data privacy and ad blocking with extensions, Firefox continues to provide proper support for manifest V2 (MV2).
  - vouaobrasil 2y ago
    Yeah, my only hope is that it stays that way. Unfortunately, the web has become so complex that browsers continually have to be updated for security reasons, and hence we are at the mercy of Mozilla not to weaken at the behest of Google.
    - immibis 2y ago
      Fortunately in this regard, Google will soon be legally barred from paying Mozilla, and Mozilla will cease to exist.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
RockstarSprain 2y ago
A bit concerned about this warning (1): "IMPORTANT: These binaries are provided by anyone who are willing to build and submit them, they are NOT official. Because these binaries generally not reproducible, authenticity cannot be guaranteed. For your consideration, each download page lists the GitHub user that submitted those binaries." Given one does not compile their own version, wouldn't this make the privacy trade-off vis-à-vis generic Chromium unacceptable? (1) https://ungoogled-software.github.io/ungoogled-chromium-binaries/ https://ungoogled-software.github.io/ungoogled-chromium-bina...
- 1kaizen 2y ago
  Yea. Why cant github actions build these artifacts?
  - keepamovin 2y ago
    Because of the code signing for macOS
    - Brian_K_White 2y ago
      That is chef's kiss right there. Security or authenticity is prevented by a security or authenticity policy.
      - thih9 2y ago
        This is common. Sometimes a security policy works (e.g. a password length requirement may cause people to come up with stronger password) and sometimes people consider it excessive and prefer to work around it (e.g. a password length requirement may cause people to write the password down on a sticky note and attach it to the computer screen).
    - winkelmann 2y ago
      I haven't tried it myself, but it seems like that should be possible? > You can sign Xcode apps within your continuous integration (CI) workflow by installing an Apple code signing certificate on GitHub Actions runners. https://docs.github.com/en/actions/use-cases-and-examples/deploying/installing-an-apple-certificate-on-macos-runners-for-xcode-development https://docs.github.com/en/actions/use-cases-and-examples/de...
tgv 2y ago
There's also https://github.com/macchrome/macstable/releases https://github.com/macchrome/macstable/releases (which offers ungoogled Chrome, not Chromium). Not signed.
lobochrome 2y ago
I recommend Orion from the magi guys. Blazing fast - and webextensions
indulona 2y ago
i miss the old opera with presto engine. they had the best web browser in times when IE was still the king. then firefox took over and was good. then google got involved, took over khtml and made chrome and now there is only chrome with different skins and icons and firefox is not that good any more.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
miohtama 2y ago
Just use Firefox. It is also a better browser.
diimdeep 2y ago
only after ungoogled-chromium I realised how dumb chrome omnibar without glued google autocomplete is, it not configurable at all and visited/bookmarked local search simply does not work. it is abismal compared to librewolf (firefox) but chromium feels faster and with better video files handling compared to firefox
ahmetozer 2y ago
I switched back to firefox works fine

73 points by keepamovin 2y ago

I've been grabbing macOS builds of Chromium from the Playwright project (https://playwright.dev https://playwright.dev) The download URL follows this template https://playwright.azureedge.net/builds/chromium/{revision}/chromium-mac.zip To find the current revision, look in https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/playwright/main/packages/playwright-core/browsers.json Today I'm seeing { "name": "chromium", "revision": "1151", "installByDefault": true, "browserVersion": "132.0.6834.32" }, So I'd grab https://playwright.azureedge.net/builds/chromium/1151/chromium-mac.zip After unzipping, mark the file as runnable with xattr -d com.apple.quarantine Chromium.app

lukaslukas 2y ago

Can anyone explain to me why? I can see that I can already install it from the original repository as well?

crest 2y ago
Google's interests don't align with yours so taking something that infeasible to rewrite yourself like a modern browser and only ripping out the worst parts is a useful alternative?
- MarcoZavala 2y ago
  [dead]
throw646577 2y ago
Not sure why this is an HN post at all, but I think the link points to the packaging build setup for the ungoogled binaries, rather than the binaries themselves.
BtM909 2y ago
Isn't the original repo linking to this one? The only thing I notice, is that this one is notarized by Apple.
rvnx 2y ago
Ungoogled Chromium is a project originating from China and maintained there. The main reason it originally exists is because Google services are unavailable there, but you still want to use Chrome. Some of the developers are really skilled and passionated there because they need this tool themselves.
- Ahrotahn 2y ago
  > Ungoogled Chromium is a project originating from China and maintained there. I don't know Eloston well enough to comment on the first half of that statement but the second half is certainly not true for the core repo!
  - _njyk 2y ago
    I needed some Chromium devs for a project so I contacted a few of the active maintainers on different platforms. Eventually had to give up: "sorry no I'm living in China, too complicated", which is sad because some of the people seemed really nice and smart. From the public information, you can only guess based on the names: One example: https://web.archive.org/web/20200920040602/https://mentors.debian.net/package/ungoogled-chromium/ https://web.archive.org/web/20200920040602/https://mentors.d... or https://space.bilibili.com/439205819 https://space.bilibili.com/439205819 (seems also smart and nice). I'm sure there are many counter-examples as well. It's not good or bad, just very logical that people who don't want Google are the ones who get a HTTP timeout or a lockup every time they try to send a request to Google.

spiderfarmer 2y ago

Just use Safari.

arccy 2y ago
you mean the IE of the 2020s?
- geden 2y ago
  Have used most browsers since 1993. As an end user Safari is not comparable to how IE was. Safari has been my daily driver for a decade. Clean, integrated well into MacOS. Just works. I only have to crack out Chrome for the odd awkward website that’s usually terrible in all sorts if other ways, apart from poor testing. Like a bad bank.
  - tucnak 2y ago
    Safari is great if your idea of a browser is from 2010's. Safari is not really on top of modern Web standards which is a shame because it really does have clean UI, albeit not too many options for power-users. No extension ecosystem, etc. They were right to question _some_ standards, but other than that they're simply behind. There's a reason Chromium moved on from WebKit, and many misgivings of Safari could probably be traced back to it being hard to develop / maintain.
    - celso 2y ago
      How is Safari "behind" modern standards? Seems pretty up to date, if not ahead in come cases, to me. https://caniuse.com/?compare=chrome+134,safari+18.2,firefox+136&compareCats=CSS,HTML5,JS,JS%20API,Other,Security,SVG https://caniuse.com/?compare=chrome+134,safari+18.2,firefox+...
      - tucnak 2y ago
        See the last table. By what extent of imagination it is "up to date"? Not to mention that many "Partials" in the second table are really more on the "No" side, like Push API. But yeah, it's not even the matter of WebGPU, or whatever, Safari doesn't support SVG favicons still... P.S. Surprised how far back Firefox had fallen, actually.

alexseman 2y ago

[dead]

mangecoeur 2y ago

Seems like a lot of effort to go to rather than just use Firefox or Safari...

tucnak 2y ago
Why would you use Firefox—that would be supporting Mozilla, or Safari—as they correctly pointed out in the comments—the IE of 2020's? Have you actually seen Firefox source code? It's horrible; not one bit surprising that Chromium won! This is also why there's rich ecosystem of browsers around it. Brave comes to mind; built-in ad-blocker is not half bad, not to mention they're committed to v2 extension APIs, deserving praise. I've been really happy with it. Not sold on most products they're trying to sneak in there like Search, or the AI things, however as occasional crypto user, I'd found the built-in Wallet real handy. Vivaldi? I was told it's quite popular with streamers and so on. Edge from Microsoft, too. What does Firefox have going for it? LibreWolf? Tor Browser? Edit: mobile Firefox is still superior, I think, because extensions.
- aeonik 2y ago
  Firefox and Safari are nothing like IE. IE used to crash ALL the time, and a lot of those crashes could be triggered by really nasty vulnerabilities in ActiveX which had kennel level access in Windows.
  - tucnak 2y ago
    I'd never suggested Firefox is akin to IE. Safari is, however, as it's tied to macOS. You cannot use it on Linux, and nobody really uses it on Windows. You cannot use it on Android. It's hopelessly behind on many modern Web standards, too. In that sense it's totally IE-like. Cross-platform is a must for a modern browser platform.
    - troupo 2y ago
      > It's hopelessly behind on many modern Web standards, too. Chrome-only APIs are not "modern web standards".

samsari 2y ago

I might be out of touch, wasn't Chromium itself originally "ungoogled Chrome"?

serial_dev 2y ago
Chromium still includes features and integrations with Google, and telemetry going to Google.
matvore 2y ago
Chromium is merely Chrome with only the open source parts. Chromium components are still implemented in a Google-controlled repo. So it has Google-oriented features and defaults.
- MuffinFlavored 2y ago
  1. Google Chrome 2. Chromium 3. Ungoogled Chrome? 4. Ungoogled Chromium? 5. Googled Chromium? How does it differ from regular Chromium?
  - matvore 2y ago
    Note I work for Google and I've contributed to Chromium, though I'm not necessarily an expert on Chromium forks. 1. Google Chrome This is offical Chrome you download from google.com and also comes on ChromeOS devices. 2. Chromium This is what you get when someone builds Chromium from the official repo without access to confidential source. Source is confidential for various reasons, and some code that seems should be confidential actually isn't, like Android-for-ChromeOS integration, some of which is here: https://crsrc.org/c/chrome/browser/ash/arc/ https://crsrc.org/c/chrome/browser/ash/arc/ 3. Ungoogled Chrome? This seems a contradiction of terms. Only Google can build Chrome, so they are not likely to e.g. set Bing as default or remove Google password manager support. 4. Ungoogled Chromium? A particular project run by a particular team which forks Chromium and removes pro-Google behavior and settings. 5. Googled Chromium? I don't know the original context of the use of this term, but possibly this just refers to official Chrome.

trackofalljades 2y ago

What would be a driving reason to use this versus Brave?

phendrenad2 2y ago
According to Mozilla's "Firefox vs Brave" page, the foremost reason is Brave's ad blocking might be too good and block pages you don't want to block.
- immibis 2y ago
  The ones that give Google money to Mozilla, presumably - but there are other problems with Brave.
mortalkastor 2y ago
Because brave has a questionable business model where they, on one hand, block third party ads and trackers, and on the other inject their own ads, tied to their BAT cryptocurrency (the latter part being opt-in IIRC). They also: - added their own affiliate codes when visiting some sites [1] - installed VPNs without consent [2] which also taints their privacy focused posture. [1] https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/8/21283769/brave-browser-affiliate-links-crypto-privacy-ceo-apology https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/8/21283769/brave-browser-aff... [2] https://www.androidpolice.com/brave-browser-windows-vpn-without-user-consent/ https://www.androidpolice.com/brave-browser-windows-vpn-with...

vouaobrasil 2y ago

I think it'd be better just to use Firefox, because it's still a better platform for uBlock origin.

rhokstar 2y ago
This ^^^^. For those who want increased data privacy and ad blocking with extensions, Firefox continues to provide proper support for manifest V2 (MV2).
- vouaobrasil 2y ago
  Yeah, my only hope is that it stays that way. Unfortunately, the web has become so complex that browsers continually have to be updated for security reasons, and hence we are at the mercy of Mozilla not to weaken at the behest of Google.
  - immibis 2y ago
    Fortunately in this regard, Google will soon be legally barred from paying Mozilla, and Mozilla will cease to exist.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

RockstarSprain 2y ago

A bit concerned about this warning (1): "IMPORTANT: These binaries are provided by anyone who are willing to build and submit them, they are NOT official. Because these binaries generally not reproducible, authenticity cannot be guaranteed. For your consideration, each download page lists the GitHub user that submitted those binaries." Given one does not compile their own version, wouldn't this make the privacy trade-off vis-à-vis generic Chromium unacceptable? (1) https://ungoogled-software.github.io/ungoogled-chromium-binaries/ https://ungoogled-software.github.io/ungoogled-chromium-bina...

1kaizen 2y ago
Yea. Why cant github actions build these artifacts?
- keepamovin 2y ago
  Because of the code signing for macOS
  - Brian_K_White 2y ago
    That is chef's kiss right there. Security or authenticity is prevented by a security or authenticity policy.
    - thih9 2y ago
      This is common. Sometimes a security policy works (e.g. a password length requirement may cause people to come up with stronger password) and sometimes people consider it excessive and prefer to work around it (e.g. a password length requirement may cause people to write the password down on a sticky note and attach it to the computer screen).
  - winkelmann 2y ago
    I haven't tried it myself, but it seems like that should be possible? > You can sign Xcode apps within your continuous integration (CI) workflow by installing an Apple code signing certificate on GitHub Actions runners. https://docs.github.com/en/actions/use-cases-and-examples/deploying/installing-an-apple-certificate-on-macos-runners-for-xcode-development https://docs.github.com/en/actions/use-cases-and-examples/de...

tgv 2y ago

There's also https://github.com/macchrome/macstable/releases https://github.com/macchrome/macstable/releases (which offers ungoogled Chrome, not Chromium). Not signed.

lobochrome 2y ago

I recommend Orion from the magi guys. Blazing fast - and webextensions

indulona 2y ago

i miss the old opera with presto engine. they had the best web browser in times when IE was still the king. then firefox took over and was good. then google got involved, took over khtml and made chrome and now there is only chrome with different skins and icons and firefox is not that good any more.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

miohtama 2y ago

Just use Firefox. It is also a better browser.

diimdeep 2y ago

only after ungoogled-chromium I realised how dumb chrome omnibar without glued google autocomplete is, it not configurable at all and visited/bookmarked local search simply does not work. it is abismal compared to librewolf (firefox) but chromium feels faster and with better video files handling compared to firefox

ahmetozer 2y ago

I switched back to firefox works fine