[HN Gopher] Qutebrowser: A keyboard-driven, Vim-like browser
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Qutebrowser: A keyboard-driven, Vim-like browser
        
       Author : AbuAssar
       Score  : 124 points
       Date   : 2024-12-08 12:06 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (github.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
        
       | sylware wrote:
       | Please, tackle the _real_ issue: we need an implementation of a
       | modern 'web browsers' using a 'simple computer language' (for
       | instance C99+, namle C99 with few bits of c11 for modern
       | architecture programming).
        
         | dotancohen wrote:
         | I understand the sentiment, but who are the "we" who "need"
         | that?
        
           | sylware wrote:
           | Humanity, not AI bots.
        
         | bramhaag wrote:
         | Why do "we" need this?
        
           | ramon156 wrote:
           | Because "we" need a browser that doesn't need a rewrite in
           | the next 20 years
        
             | sylware wrote:
             | big tech is evily smart: since everything is open source,
             | they are still doing vendor lock-in via grotesque and
             | absurd complexity and size, breaking little things here and
             | there, or using unspecified part which is "implementation
             | defined" etc. Not seeing that is borderline blindless than
             | a lack of perspective.
             | 
             | Open source is far from being enough anymore, we (the
             | humanity) need lean open source (including that bloody SDK,
             | which excludes de-facto ultra-complex computer language
             | like c++/rust/java/etc).
        
           | sylware wrote:
           | See above.
        
         | orbisvicis wrote:
         | Don't forget lisp! This is particularly relevant because of the
         | Nyxt browser which was also recently posted here.
         | 
         | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisp_machine
         | 
         | Also c23 is supposed to have better unicode support but I've
         | never really bothered internalizing the "translation character
         | set" and whatnot.
        
           | sylware wrote:
           | Come on, this was about the language syntax, not some
           | external massive util library. Ofc, this web engine would
           | implement mostly its own utils, since dependency on external
           | kludge like unistring or ICU or even worse harfbuzz(c++!)...
           | would nullify the advantage to depend on a simple computer
           | language.
           | 
           | I did not look that much into it but I can bet that 'lisp'
           | browser is actually just a 'lisp front-end' to big tech web
           | engines... namely a scam, please prove me wrong.
           | 
           | I would write a browser in RISC-V assembly with a small macro
           | pre-processor, but the issue with the web is its infinite
           | scope killing any non big tech, real-life, alternative
           | attempt, and not for the good reasons.
        
         | ComputerGuru wrote:
         | Who is "we" and why do we need it in a "simple" language prone
         | to memory errors where people have to non-portably reinvent
         | every wheel?
         | 
         | Signed,
         | 
         | someone that writes and distributes apps/tools written in "less
         | simple" languages and apps/tools written in zero-dependency and
         | even libc-free C.
        
         | sourcepluck wrote:
         | Nyxt already exists, and fits your description perfectly
        
           | sylware wrote:
           | Indulge me and let me be lazy and answer this question: Is
           | Nyxt _NOT_ just a front-end to one of the Big Tech web
           | engines? (blink|geeko|webkit)
           | 
           | I would be super pleased to be wrong...
        
             | sourcepluck wrote:
             | Oh sorry, just realised I replied to my own comment instead
             | of yours :D see my response above!
        
           | sourcepluck wrote:
           | Nyxt is basically a front-end to the Big Tech web engines,
           | yes, but one that (I think sincerely, from my not-overly-
           | technical standpoint) attempts to re-empower the user.
           | 
           | I didn't understand your original point about needing "a
           | modern web browser" with "a simple language" (I'm not sure it
           | was clear, by itself...), but I read your other comments, and
           | I understand your point better now, I think.
           | 
           | I agree that "open source" itself is absolutely not enough,
           | and that another prerequisite to fighting for practical
           | computing freedom is to have "human"-sized tools. Fully on
           | board with that (I wonder if you've seen the malleable
           | systems forum, actually...).
           | 
           | I think Nyxt would love to provide that, eventually, and are
           | trying to fight that fight, on a stacked battleground, in an
           | imperfect world.
           | 
           | For example, gopher and gemini are supported. And they're
           | trying to support different renderers. They're trying to make
           | the browser fully configurable and programmable as far as
           | they can, in spite of the shortcomings of the web.
           | 
           | Tell me if this is completely beside your point, but in case
           | it helps you in seeing what they're about, have a look at:
           | 
           | https://nyxt-browser.com/article/command-line-programs.org
           | 
           | Or, much more technical, too technical for me, and it's a bit
           | dated so the exact design might have changed, but maybe
           | you'll get something from the overview nonetheless:
           | 
           | https://nyxt-browser.com/article/technical-design.org
           | 
           | Maybe that's not enough, and you think the solution has to be
           | more radical, but I don't know what it would be, other than a
           | new set of networking protocols comes along and somehow
           | supercedes the ones we have now. Which could happen, I don't
           | know, I'm only still only learning about the ones we
           | currently have :D
           | 
           | Also, have you seen surfraw? Or do you have examples of the
           | kind of thing you'd like to see being attempted in the wild?
           | I'd be curious to see them.
           | 
           | p.s. I responded to a point you made 8 days ago about email
           | in a different thread
           | [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42287607] and thought
           | I'd say to you here in case you'd be interested in
           | elaborating over there!
        
             | sylware wrote:
             | This was a ironic comment: the grotesque and absurd
             | complexity and size of a Big Tech engine (google
             | blink/geeko | apple webkit) with their SDK (c++ compilers,
             | gcc/clang) kill any "real-life" attempt at interop. You
             | would need many, MANY good devs, for a significant amount
             | of time to maybe acheive 'real-life' compatibility in,
             | pheeew, some significant amount of time... if ever... And
             | even when you get something "working", don't forget they
             | control also the online services requiring their pieces of
             | software... namely those guys will have to play cat and
             | mouse about interop: permanent little changes on Big Tech
             | services (more or less justified) and Big Tech web engines,
             | breaking any other alternatives... I think you get the
             | picture.
             | 
             | And that is exactly the same issue with the c++ language
             | syntax and its compilers (that would be the same issue with
             | other complex computer languages like rust/java/etc).
             | 
             | Seriously, I would go for a modular implementation directly
             | in 64bits RISC-V assembly with a very small macro-
             | preprocessor (because, moving the complexity from the
             | language syntax to the macro-preprocessor would be
             | riduculous).
             | 
             | That's why, from this perspective, those small attempts are
             | kind of pointless and even somewhat dishonnest since, in
             | the end/'real-life', they are just font-ends of Big Tech...
             | 
             | The email people did see the DNS "barrier" coming: it has
             | always supported literal IPv4 addresses (and a similar IPv6
             | literal has been in specs for ages).
             | 
             | Using the "excuse" of spam/phishing of script kiddies, they
             | blocked IPv4 literal support and ignored the subsequent
             | IPv6 literal support. If I recall well, IPv4 literal
             | support was a thing on google mail a few years ago (even
             | IPv6 if I recall properly), it means it was explicitely
             | blocked.
             | 
             | Then to get SMTP interop with them: you MUST rent/pay for a
             | domain name, and in the last few years, very slowly but
             | surely (I did live it, horrible), the DNS registars did
             | stop working without a Big Tech web engine (they were
             | working fine with lynx or links or netsurf, namely
             | noscript/basic (x)html, which is more than enough, actually
             | even overkill).
             | 
             | Basically, they have big services, and they made sure that,
             | slowly and in the end, you must use their software for
             | their services, and they could not careless of the small
             | alternatives even if the internet protocols did account for
             | this. This is compuserve/AOL all over again. The
             | remaining/surviving "small" did just cave in and is part of
             | the problem now.
             | 
             | The only sane way out of this "dominance" is to restore
             | interop with simple , but good enough to do the job, and
             | really stable in time protocols. And restoring 'interop'
             | won't happen asking nicely: only hardcore _technical_
             | regulation can do it now.
             | 
             | All is about technical interfaces: the very hard part is
             | they must be simple and stable in time, _while doing a good
             | enough job_. Ofc, things may significantly change,
             | significant new usages can arise... then new simple and
             | stable in time technical interfaces will have to be
             | designed (but one or a small number of average devs should
             | get it implemented in a reasonable amount of time), or new
             | simple and stable in time "layers" added an an existing
             | technical interface (the core of the dynamic web is
             | noscript with basic (x)html forms, and I think it is
             | already way too complicated). A set of layered and modular
             | technical interfaces, but all simple and stable in time.
             | Ofc, if there are billions of interfaces required to
             | support a basic use case, there is something wrong
             | somewhere...
             | 
             | I did reach a point where I would not be even surprised if
             | they did shadow-pay hackers to bring down any simple and
             | stable alternatives.
             | 
             | It far from easy to deal with all of this.
        
       | graiz wrote:
       | Chrome extension - vimium does the same thing. I've been using it
       | for years.
        
         | bramhaag wrote:
         | Qutebrowser fixes the main issue I have with Vimium: you cannot
         | control the browser itself well. Vimium does not work in
         | certain places due to limitations imposed by web extensions and
         | this is incredibly frustrating for me.
        
         | Timothee wrote:
         | I've used both for many years. I've stopped using qutebrowser
         | because it has some limitations due to be a bit behind on the
         | web engine, which leads to problems with some sites. I still
         | think it's brilliant.
         | 
         | I wouldn't say they do the same thing exactly. Vimium is
         | similar to a vim-mode in something like VS Code, while
         | qutebrowser is more like Vim itself. The Vim "spirit" is built-
         | in and is the expectation rather than a layer added on top. The
         | qutebrowser UI, already minimalistic, is also very configurable
         | and scriptable.
         | 
         | The flip side to me is that some of the experience will be
         | nicer with Chrome, the same way VS Code can be nicer and easier
         | to manage.
        
           | porphyra wrote:
           | Configuring the qutebrowser UI is a major reason I used
           | qutebrowser for some years. I love ricing my system and
           | saving screen real estate with a minimal UI bloat is nice.
        
           | The-Compiler wrote:
           | > I've stopped using qutebrowser because it has some
           | limitations due to be a bit behind on the web engine, which
           | leads to problems with some sites.
           | 
           | Assuming you're on Linux, that's usually more of a problem
           | with Linux distributions being behind on QtWebEngine. Though
           | yeah, sometimes things are tight with QtWebEngine only
           | updating their Chromium baseline once every 6 months. I try
           | to ship workarounds (in the form of polyfills) with
           | qutebrowser when I know about breakage, but usually for me
           | things run smoothly.
        
             | Timothee wrote:
             | No, I'm on macOS. I think my main issue was with videos
             | that didn't always play correctly. Can't remember exactly
             | but I think either on Reddit or Twitter, it was just not
             | reliable.
        
               | The-Compiler wrote:
               | Ah, I see. That's not due to the Chromium version though,
               | it's because the Chromium that comes with Qt releases
               | (which is what's shipped in qutebrowser releases) is
               | built without proprietary codec support.
               | 
               | Unfortunately, support for proprietary codecs like MP4
               | and such requires building Qt from sources, and would
               | also require me to acquire licenses for them all (I
               | believe they're free until a certain number of
               | distributions, but also with all the indirect ways you
               | can get qutebrowser, I can hardly even provide that
               | information).
               | 
               | This isn't an issue on Linux, because those licenses have
               | some sort of exception in the sense of "if shipped with
               | an operating system or its packages".
               | 
               | Homebrew seems to build its Qt packages against system
               | ffmpeg with proprietary codecs enabled, and there's an
               | issue open which would at least allow you to build a
               | custom build against that:
               | https://github.com/qutebrowser/qutebrowser/issues/4127
               | 
               | Maybe I should look into whether I'd be allowed to
               | redistribute such builds (or what kind of paperwork I'd
               | need to do for it). Unfortunately there's a lot on my
               | plate, and macOS/Windows are admittedly somewhat second-
               | class citizens as I don't use those myself.
        
         | lillesvin wrote:
         | Been using Vimium for years too and it's great, but it's really
         | not the same. The late, great Vimperator extension was more
         | comparable to QuteBrowser but it stopped functioning (on
         | Firefox) when they switched from XUL to web extensions.
         | 
         | Vimium mainly gives you keyboard navigation, but QuteBrowser
         | removes the address, tab and bookmark bars and instead gives
         | you keyboard access to everything via the very Vim-like status
         | bar at the bottom. Incidentally this also frees up quite a bit
         | of vertical screen real estate, which is a big deal to me.
         | Browser settings, scripts, etc. are also all accessible via the
         | keyboard -- Vim style.
         | 
         | Edit: The lack of a solid Bitwarden integration in QuteBrowser
         | is kind of hurting though.
        
       | dijit wrote:
       | I really enjoy using qutebrowser.
       | 
       | It's a shame that I often end up using more than 100GiB of RAM
       | with a few dozen tabs, almost like it leaks memory. I'm aware of
       | the inherent fragmentation of memory with python over time- so
       | could be that.
       | 
       | There's also been a few times where the limitations of using
       | qtwebengine (chromium wrapper) underneath were frustrating -
       | though I can barely remember what they are at this point.
       | 
       | The python config is great too, I use it to disable javascript
       | conditionally. :)
       | 
       | Theres also some magic feeling when pressing "o" and having
       | access to the world.
        
         | cma wrote:
         | Was it 100GiB of RAM, or 100GiB of forked processes sharing
         | lots of memory pages? Python reference counting destroys forked
         | process sharing, but only for the the Python parts.
        
           | dijit wrote:
           | actual usage, 100G of resident memory.
        
       | shimonabi wrote:
       | When I tried to install the Windows release, I got a message that
       | it contains the Vigram.A virus.
        
         | The-Compiler wrote:
         | See https://github.com/qutebrowser/qutebrowser/issues/8389 -
         | unfortunately there's a lot of stupid false-positives
         | especially with PyInstaller (packaging a Python application
         | into an .exe). Happens a few times a year, unfortunately there
         | isn't much I can do other than submitting a report to Microsoft
         | and hoping they'll react -\\_(tsu)_/-
        
         | _kst_ wrote:
         | I got the same thing and worked around it by installing the
         | previous release.
        
       | shubhamkrm wrote:
       | Oh! This takes me back. I used it as my primary browser during
       | the Firefox 57 saga, and continues to use it for over an year.
       | The developer was very responsive to bug reports, and fixed the
       | issues right away. Unfortunately, I moved away from the Linux
       | ecosystem as my primary computing environment, but I would still
       | recommend this if someone wants to try a Vim-based browsing
       | experience and is willing to try out a new browser.
        
         | The-Compiler wrote:
         | FWIW there are Windows/macOS builds too.
        
         | JadeNB wrote:
         | > I used it as my primary browser during the Firefox 57 saga
         | 
         | As an early lover of Firefox, I'm sorry to see its progression
         | away from its ideals, and can't keep track of which part of the
         | saga happened when. Was that when they removed XUL?
        
       | iLoveOncall wrote:
       | How is this not extremely inefficient to use? I guess you can use
       | the "hints" as shown in
       | https://github.com/qutebrowser/qutebrowser/blob/main/doc/img...
       | but this is such a poor experience I can't fathom someone wanting
       | this.
       | 
       | All browsers already support keyboard shortcuts for 90% of the
       | common browser operations (next / previous page, focusing the
       | address bar, etc.), and anything on the page itself seems like a
       | massive chore (except scrolling, which browsers also support).
        
         | IshKebab wrote:
         | My theory is that some people see use of a mouse as a sign of
         | noobery - which is true in some cases! Who do you think is more
         | pro - the person who clicks Edit->Copy, or the person who
         | clicks Ctrl-C?
         | 
         | So their lizard brain thinks "mouse=stupid, keyboard=smart" and
         | then they optimise for a sense of superiority.
        
           | vunderba wrote:
           | Or you know could be:
           | 
           | - a user who prefers to minimize switching from mouse to
           | keyboard, or vice versa
           | 
           | - a user who has some RSI issues related to the index finger
           | when clicking a mouse
           | 
           | etc. etc.
           | 
           | But no, let's go with the deliberately antagonistic strawman.
        
           | nosioptar wrote:
           | I prefer the keyboard due to severe tendonitis in my wrist
           | and arthritis in my hands. I can use a keyboard all day with
           | no problem. A few hours with a mouse leaves me all swollen
           | and in pain.
        
             | IshKebab wrote:
             | I used to get what I _thought_ was RSI. I mean it _was_
             | RSI. I tried all sorts of weird keyboards and mice (don 't
             | bother with vertical mice, they suck).
             | 
             | What it turned out to be in the end was a poor desk setup.
             | My desk wasn't deep enough so I wasn't resting my forearms
             | on it very well, and I had a crap chair.
             | 
             | With a deep desk and a fancy mesh chair (HM Mira; expensive
             | but worth it), I haven't had any issues since.
             | 
             | Maybe that's not the case for you but it's just a
             | suggestion. Definitely made me suss of all the ergonomic
             | keyboards and mouse - they made zero difference, and a
             | better chair and desk completely solved the issue.
        
               | mariusor wrote:
               | I wonder why you'd imagine that ergonomic input devices
               | would solve a problem with your seating arrangement? I
               | think generally they solve issues that are left after
               | posture has been fixed.
        
               | IshKebab wrote:
               | Here, I'll highlight the bit you missed:
               | 
               | > _What it turned out to be in the end_
        
               | mariusor wrote:
               | I was probably fixated on this:
               | 
               | > Definitely made me suss of all the ergonomic keyboards
               | and mouse
        
           | jwiz wrote:
           | Switching back and forth between keyboard and mouse is a
           | pain. I used QB a lot at my last job but current one has too
           | many things which need passwords entered frequently so I am
           | reduced to vimium and chrome.
        
         | greggyb wrote:
         | If you are looking at a link you want to follow, you press a
         | single hotkey (default 'f'), and just type the two letters that
         | appear directly where you're looking. If you want to open a lot
         | of links in the background, e.g. if you're looking at the front
         | page of HN, you can use the rapid follow action (default ';r')
         | and just type a couple letters for each link you'd like to
         | follow.
         | 
         | Personally, this is much easier on my RSI than mousing to each
         | link. Especially on a laptop with a trackpad.
         | 
         | Additionally, the browser is fully configurable in Python, to a
         | much greater degree than what you get from Firefox or Chrome.
         | 
         | One seemingly small thing that I find quite convenient is that
         | I can use reader mode or open a PDF and still keep hjkl for
         | scrolling. I also use Tridactyl in Firefox, but Firefox's
         | reader mode and opening PDFs turns disable extensions in the
         | tab, so you can't use these scrolling keys.
         | 
         | As for next and previous page, I think you're referring to
         | history navigation forward and back. Qutebrowser includes
         | built-in functionality to navigate in multi-page documents to
         | the next page and previous page, e.g. documentation sites or
         | html books. That shortcut is '[[' for previous and ']]' for
         | next. So, for example, if I am on this section of SICP:
         | https://sarabander.github.io/sicp/html/1_002e3.xhtml#g_t1_00...
         | and I press ']]' I immediately go to
         | https://sarabander.github.io/sicp/html/Chapter-2.xhtml#Chapt...
         | . This happens regardless of browser history. "Back" and
         | "Forward" are different from "Previous" and "Next". I do not
         | know of a similar piece of functionality in other mainstream
         | browsers.
         | 
         | This is all highly opinionated. I like vim-style shortcuts. I
         | vastly prefer the experience of using qutebrowser (or a vim-
         | like extension for another browser) over using a mouse
         | exclusively or a mouse and keyboard mixed.
         | 
         | If you, or someone else, prefers a different style of
         | interaction with the browser, that's fine. It's not about right
         | or wrong or better and worse, at least not in the abstract.
         | It's about a user interaction paradigm that works well for an
         | individual.
        
           | bovine3dom wrote:
           | FWIW I got some of the way through embedding a PDF viewer in
           | Tridactyl [1] so that the keys would still work there, but I
           | backed off because I was a bit scared by how frequently
           | pdf.js gets updated. In Tridactyl it'd get updated about
           | twice a year so we might end up with unresolved security
           | issues.
           | 
           | Maybe there's a solution I've not thought of (CDN?).
           | 
           | [1] https://github.com/tridactyl/tridactyl/issues/541#issueco
           | mme...
        
           | Izkata wrote:
           | > press a single hotkey (default 'f'), and just type the two
           | letters that appear directly where you're looking
           | 
           | This has a mental speed bump that I really don't like, that
           | tends to make these features annoying to use: you have to
           | pause after hitting "f" to wait for those letters to appear,
           | read them, then type them.
           | 
           | Vimperator (the one that died with Firefox Quantum) handled
           | links where you'd hit "f" then type the text in the link
           | itself, with numbers to disambiguate if the filtering didn't
           | reduce it to one match. With no pause and the link text
           | already in your mind by the time you hit "f" it was very fast
           | and fluid to use, and I was very happy after learning
           | Tridactyl could be configured the same way.
           | 
           | Does this have the same thing?
        
             | mariusor wrote:
             | Yes, it does: set hint.mode numbers.
             | 
             | I don't remember if it's explained anywhere that once
             | hinting is started you can filter based on link text, alt
             | text, or a couple of other textual representations for
             | clickable elements.
        
       | ykonstant wrote:
       | I tried really hard with QB, and still use it for some tasks, but
       | the lack of Ublock Origin makes browsing random sites horrible.
       | People say the builtin ad blockers are good enough; for me, they
       | are not even remotely good enough :(
        
         | alrs wrote:
         | I've had good results running alt-browsers behind Privoxy.
         | 
         | https://www.privoxy.org/
        
       | dalai wrote:
       | It is a real pity that the major browsers don't support better
       | keyboard navigation out of the box. Due to work restrictions, I
       | can only really use firefox, chrome or edge and no
       | addons/extensions. There's a 14 year old ticket for firefox
       | (still open), but the reaction back then was that it is a niche
       | feature better suited for an addon.
        
       | monroewalker wrote:
       | I tried an extension once that provided these navigation
       | shortcuts for all the links on a page. It was really convenient
       | but then I was on an admin page for our team and accidentally hit
       | a couple keys that pressed some random button. The page was full
       | of buttons that had irreversible effects which were executed
       | without confirmation. Of course that's an issue itself for the
       | page but that's kept me from trying this again.
       | 
       | The convenience those shortcuts provide also makes it
       | concerningly easy to press something on accident. Much more
       | likely than accidentally clicking something. Having extra leader
       | keys or some other approach to reduce accidental presses would
       | detract from the convenience...
       | 
       | Curious if anyone else has run into this or configured their
       | setup in a way that maintains the convenience but reduces the
       | accident likeliness. Holding a modifier key or adding leader keys
       | actually does seem like I'd go a long way in reducing accidents
       | with minimal hit to effectiveness
        
         | michaelbuckbee wrote:
         | I've used the Vimium chromium extension for years and it has a
         | keypress to activate the search links and you can also disable
         | it per domain.
        
         | fleaaa wrote:
         | With Vimium, you can toggle the type to navigate mode so that
         | it doesn't invoke unwarranted shortcut
        
       | sourcepluck wrote:
       | Someone was triggered by the Nyxt post getting so much
       | attention... =D
       | 
       | I like Qutebrowser very much, though. Used it for a good spell
       | and was very happy. I'd some bug I couldn't fix which was driving
       | everything really bonkers, but I honestly did not investigate it
       | that hard, I'd been using it for a while at that stage (over a
       | year, I'd guess, anyway) and was ready to move on and try
       | something different, so I solved that bug the old fashioned way.
       | 
       | Nyxt scratches the same itch now, but moreso, and it has Common
       | Lisp behind it, which is much more interesting [to me
       | _personally_!] than Python.
        
         | einpoklum wrote:
         | Must be the cutting-edge-pun-not-intended browser compeition
         | day...
        
       | fleaaa wrote:
       | Vimium does the same but it's just an extension so you can keep
       | the goodies without switching the browser
        
       | w4rh4wk5 wrote:
       | The README mentions some ad-blocker integration. Is there an
       | element zapper (click on element on the page to remove it
       | temporarily)?
        
         | The-Compiler wrote:
         | The devtools let you do that FWIW.
        
       | bheadmaster wrote:
       | Florian Bruhin (AKA the-compiler, the author of qutebrowser) is
       | one of the kindest and most dedicated open-source maintainers
       | I've ever had the pleasure to interact with.
       | 
       | I've used qutebrowser extensively in the past, and reported a few
       | bugs, each of which has been met with interest and engagement.
       | Some of them even uncovered bugs in the upstream software (e.g.
       | QtWebEngine) which were reported there.
       | 
       | I eventually stopped using it when YouTube ads became too
       | invasive, and went back to Firefox + Vimium + uBlockOrigin. I
       | sometimes miss the programmibility of qutebrowser, but Vimium at
       | least gives me the basic Vim-like browsing features.
        
         | The-Compiler wrote:
         | <3
        
       | einpoklum wrote:
       | 1. It's QtWebEngine + Python tying the chrome together.
       | 
       | 2. I wonder... how good is its Right-to-Left support?
        
         | The-Compiler wrote:
         | RTL support should be as good as Chromium's for web contents
         | (as QtWebEngine is based on Chromium), and as good as Qt's for
         | the UI. Admittedly I never tested, but if you notice something
         | in the UI that doesn't look right, I'd be happy to have a look
         | and see if there's something that can be improved there.
        
       | metta2uall wrote:
       | I'd love to use this but a key problem seems to be that they
       | don't get updated as soon as a security fix is released, which
       | for browser engines is quite often...
        
         | The-Compiler wrote:
         | Note that on Linux, the browser engine (QtWebEngine) is
         | installed/updated separately from qutebrowser. They have a new
         | feature release (updating to a new Chromium baseline) every 6
         | months, with patch releases backporting security fixes every
         | 1-2 months. Not optimal, but some Linux distributions also
         | backport security fixes as soon as they happen, which is much
         | more often: https://codereview.qt-
         | project.org/q/project:qt/qtwebengine-c...
         | 
         | Then there is the issue of "stable" Linux distributions (mostly
         | Debian/Ubuntu) which never get those updates to you
         | unfortunately, and don't seem to care about those being
         | security-relevant either. Not much either qutebrowser and Qt
         | can do about that sadly, but you can install Qt from somewhere
         | else, e.g. from the PyQt binary builds if you don't mind losing
         | proprietary codec support:
         | https://qutebrowser.org/doc/install.html#tox
         | 
         | As soon as a new Qt/PyQt is out, there is usually also a new
         | qutebrowser release bundling it for Windows/macOS releases.
        
       | krobelus wrote:
       | Amazing project, very useful
        
       | sunshine-o wrote:
       | Qutebrowser is a prime example of how to fix the user experience
       | of a somehow not optimal software (the web browser).
       | 
       | Of course you need to understand vi as a prerequisite, a few
       | hours to configure it and maybe a few weeks to really get you use
       | to it.
       | 
       | But damn the benefits after are enormous.
       | 
       | Congratulations to the developers !
        
         | The-Compiler wrote:
         | Thanks for the nice words! :)
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2024-12-09 23:02 UTC)