[HN Gopher] Dillo web browser domain is for sale
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Dillo web browser domain is for sale
Author : marttt
Score : 60 points
Date : 2022-08-13 09:06 UTC (13 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (dillo.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (dillo.org)
| blippage wrote:
| I have a lot of respect for Dillo. It uses the FLTK, and is the
| very definition of "non-bloat". The real problem is that nearly
| all website render terribly. It just can't keep up with the
| complexity that it the modern web. It's a real shame.
|
| Lately I have become interested in the older protocols like
| Gopher, and some of the bulletin boards. There are some recent
| protocols that address the complexity of the web: Gemini and
| Spartan (which is Gemini without TLS, basically).
| marttt wrote:
| +1, it is also a joy to customize via the well-documented
| config file. E.g. adding custom search operators is very
| straightforward and flexible. With some unix-y thinking, one
| could probably also accomplish some other useful tricks on the
| address bar, simply by writing a string substitution one-liner
| into the rc file. Compare that to about:config, Add-ons, etc.
| Ha.
|
| I somehow also very much enjoyed the not-so-good rendering. One
| may get used to it, I guess; even become fond of it -- you'll
| become more focused on the content/text and less on the layout.
| YMMW, but I always disabled all CSS and images. Also, I only
| recently (after roughly a decade of Dillo usage) noticed the
| --fullwindow (-f) command line option. This gives an extremely
| nice HTML renderer that loads in a second.
|
| I've been curious about the tiny Picolisp language, which,
| IIRC, uses localhost-bound HTML as its default GUI (1,2).
| Sending Picolisp commands from a terminal window to a
| --fullwindowed Dillo instance would make a very cool
| environment.
|
| Dillo is lightweight, modular, one-thing-well. Extremely user-
| friendly, simple to tailor to one's needs. A project that has
| managed to avoid bloat for 22 years. Unix philosophy at its
| best. Also, the executable is 872kb. Compare that to, uh, some
| other browsers.
|
| It is probably my all time favorite browser for the X
| environment.
|
| Even if one finds its HTML capabilities lacking (I don't; I see
| it as a feature, not a bug), then maybe, thanks to the plugin
| architecture, it would make a nice renderer for e.g. Gemini.
|
| 1.
| http://rosettacode.org/wiki/GUI_component_interaction#PicoLi...
|
| 2. https://picolisp.com/wiki/?guiscripting
| nmz wrote:
| You could use it for both gopher[0]/gemini[1] as well.
|
| [0]:
| https://git.scuttlebot.io/%25n7g%2BJlKZjPV6CRfSQL5YUWk%2BxYg...
|
| [1]:
| https://git.scuttlebot.io/%25V0D7DtSnZyyAp1NbgOJF2ZAFMeUy9eX...
|
| The sad thing is having a pure web browser that intermixes
| correctly, perhaps something that uses tabbed, surf, and a
| dillo/luakit based thing for true "browser" support, browser in
| this case meaning: "supports more than http/https/html".
| bArray wrote:
| > The real problem is that nearly all website render terribly.
| It just can't keep up with the complexity that it the modern
| web. It's a real shame.
|
| I was thinking since quite a while now to write a wrapper
| around the Serenity OS browser [1] that supports JS, CSS and
| WASM, and passes ACID 3 tests [2].
|
| I did have a quick look at the source, but couldn't think of a
| nice way to wrap it as it's quite closely tied to the Serenity
| OS GUI.
|
| [1]
| https://github.com/SerenityOS/serenity/tree/master/Userland/...
|
| [2] https://lunduke.substack.com/p/serenityos-web-browser-
| passes...
| lionkor wrote:
| Isnt there an effort to port the serenity gui (LibGUI?) to
| *nix?
| Macuyiko wrote:
| You're in luck, Andreas has been hacking on that since a
| couple of months. They're calling the Linux version of the
| browser Ladybird: https://github.com/awesomekling/ladybird
| homarp wrote:
| brief discussion
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31987506
|
| The GH page also has "Experimental Android Build Steps"
| Cyberdog wrote:
| If Gemini interests you, I'd appreciate your feedback on an
| approach with similar goals I call KyuWeb:
| https://github.com/GarrettAlbright/KyuWeb
| SyneRyder wrote:
| Oh wow, I hadn't heard of Spartan, but it looks like what I'm
| after. Gemini is interesting, but I didn't like how TLS and
| Unicode rules out a lot of old retro machines from being able
| to access it.
|
| Looks like Spartan is already supported by the excellent
| Lagrange [1] Gopher/Gemini browser from v1.13 onwards, so I'm
| happy to discover this! Thanks for sharing!
|
| [1] https://gmi.skyjake.fi/lagrange/
| blippage wrote:
| Glad you found it useful. You don't have to use unicode if
| you don't want to, of course. Spartan uses the same gemtext
| format that Gemini does. A big appeal to me is that it's
| easier to write gemtext files that gophermaps. Gophermaps
| feel like a kludge in comparison.
|
| The cool thing about something like Spartan is that you could
| implement a browser on a microcontroller. HTML would be a
| lost cause. Imagine something like an ESP32 with a touch-
| screen. You could create a complete browsing device for less
| than 25 quid, say. Likewise for gopher.
|
| If I may be permitted a small plug, I have a forked version
| of the bombadillo browser here:
| https://gitlab.com/mcturra2000/bombadillo You can use it on a
| terminal. It allows you to browse Spartan, which the original
| does not. It also allows a printing facility, so that you can
| pipe output to another process.
| vanous wrote:
| I am happy this all works for you, but be aware that my
| (and many other peoples') first language requires me to use
| UTF-8 and after years of struggling I must say yay, utf is
| great!
| dredmorbius wrote:
| FWIW, I'd noted the domain was parked a couple of months ago:
|
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31745740
|
| No actual discussion at that time.
| lysergia wrote:
| H8crilA wrote:
| FWIW Safari's homepage is also sold to the highest bidder,
| currently Google. The price was $15B for 2021.
|
| https://9to5mac.com/2021/08/25/analysts-google-to-pay-apple-...
| pipeline_peak wrote:
| I find myself using reader mode Safari a lot on iOS.
|
| I wonder if it's feasible to write a browser from scratch that
| attempts to render just that.
| gurjeet wrote:
| Sad news :-(
|
| This is why I prefer the projects, at least the small ones, don't
| try to maintain a domain of their own. Sooner or later the domain
| will not be renewed, by mistake, loss of interest in maintaining
| infrastructure, or because the domain holder passes away, etc.
|
| I have changed the Wikipedia page to change the project's website
| to be http://dillo.sourceforge.net/
| amelius wrote:
| I'd like to see more projects that redefine the web.
|
| The fact that we're stuck at 3 or so browser engines shows that
| we've reached a dead end in terms of choice.
| balentio wrote:
| Gotta have time and/or money and then naturally further support
| in terms of other people to pull that kind of innovation off.
| RunningDroid wrote:
| Apparently most repos still point to this domain as the homepage
| for dillo: https://repology.org/project/dillo/information
| butz wrote:
| Sad to see small browsers go. They are very convenient for a
| quick read of simple HTML websites, as they start instantly and
| are very fast, as they usually do not support JavaScript. Good
| that NetSurf seems to be chugging along with minor updates in
| git, albeit there were no release for two years...
| Cyberdog wrote:
| Would love to see a macOS build of NetSurf. It's supported in
| theory but there's nobody doing builds currently so it probably
| requires a bit of finagling to actually get done. I tried to do
| it myself but I just wasn't smart enough.
| marttt wrote:
| Netsurf has also been ported to the Plan 9 OS fairly recently.
| https://github.com/netsurf-plan9/netsurf
| pipeline_peak wrote:
| See, that's the type of enthusiasm that concerns me. In this
| ever complex www, why would you sweat an ounce anywhere
| outside of trying to survive?
|
| There're 9 people using Plan 9.
| mhd wrote:
| > Sad to see small browsers go.
|
| I still miss Arena and Chimera...
| mrweasel wrote:
| That sucks, I have a weird fascination with Dillo. It didn't
| really seem like it was going anywhere, but still, it was nice
| knowing that it was out there.
| bmacho wrote:
| I loved their download section with the text
| Downloading Dillo Dillo is following an evolving
| software model where every new version shall be better than the
| previous one; there's no place for unstable releases, so just
| keep up with the latest one: dillo-3.0.5[0]
|
| I've found it inspirational. (Also they provided all the previous
| versions, just for case).
|
| ( Also I believe that virtually every software gets worse and
| worse and worse with time, I usually go for the first versions. )
|
| [0]:
| https://web.archive.org/web/20210212022912/http://www.dillo....
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(page generated 2022-08-13 23:01 UTC)