| Arachne | |
|---|---|
  Arachne GPL web browser using its VESA and CGA display modes, respectively | |
| Developers | Michael Polák[1] and contributors |
| Initial release | 22 December 1996; 28 years ago (1996-12-22) |
| Stable release | 1.99 / 23 December 2021; 3 years ago (2021-12-23) |
| Preview release | none [±] |
| Written in | C |
| Operating system | DOS,Linux |
| Type | Internet suite |
| License | GPL-2.0-only |
| Website | www web |
Arachne is anInternet suite containing a graphicalweb browser,email client, and dialer.[2] Originally, Arachne was developed by Michal Polák[1] under his xChaos label, a name he later changed into Arachne Labs. It was written inC and compiled usingBorland C++ 3.1.[3] Arachne has since been released under theGPL asArachne GPL.
Arachne primarily runs onDOS-based operating systems, but there are also builds available forLinux.[4] The Linux version of Arachne utilizes SVGALib, allowing it to function without requiring a display server.
Arachne supports many file formats, protocols and standards including video modes fromCGA 640×200 in monochrome toVESA 1024×768 in high color mode (65536 colors). It is designed for systems that do not have anywindowing system installed.[5]
Arachne supports multiple image formats includingJPEG,PNG,BMP andanimated GIF. It supports a subset of theHTML 4.0 andCSS 1.0 standards, including full support for tables and frames.[6] Supported protocols includeFTP,NNTP forUSENET forums,POP3,SMTP andGopher. Arachne includes a full-fledged TCP/IP connection suite, which has support for some dial-up and Ethernet connections. However, Arachne has no support forJavaScript,[2]Java[2] orSSL. Arachne can be expanded with the use of add-ons for such tasks as watchingDivX movies, playingMP3 files,IRC chat,RSS and viewingPDF documents. Arachne also supportsDOS Gateway Interface (DGI), a unique feature similar toCommon Gateway Interface (CGI) scripting on the client.
The first version of Arachne with a known release date was 1.0 Beta 2, which was released on 22 December 1996. The final and official version by Arachne Labs was 1.70R3 for DOS (released 22 January 2001) and 1.66 beta for Linux (released 20 July 2000). While there have been several more DOS versions,[7][8] Linux development lay dormant until 24 May 2008 when a beta version 1.93 for Linux[9] was released. The current DOS version, maintained by Glenn McCorkle, is 1.99 as of 23 December 2021. In 2006, there also was an experimentalDPMI port of Arachne by Udo Kuhnt, named DPMI Arachne.
Arachne supports a limited subset of stylesheets and HTML. Known support as of version 1.93:[6]
| Style | Aliases | Options |
|---|---|---|
| color | #rgb or #rrggbb or a color name | |
| background-color | background | #rgb or #rrggbb or a color name |
| font-size | %, px, pt | |
| font-style | i[talics] | |
| font-weight | b[old] | |
| text-decoration | font-decoration | u[nderline] |
xChaos software licensed the source code of Arachne toCaldera UK in 1997. Caldera UK addedNovell's dialer andTCP/IP stack,JavaScript,SSL, implemented their own support for frames, added support for animated GIFs, audio output, printing on a multitude of printers, an optional on-screen keyboard for mouse and touch panel usage (SoftKeyboards), user profiles, and they completely changed the design of the browser (customizable), usingAllegro for graphics. Also, they ported it to compile as a 32-bit protected mode extended DOS application (utilizingDPMI usingDJGPP, a GNU compiler for DOS),[10] while Arachne is a 16-bit application. This program was sold asDR-WebSpyder in 1998; the name was to associate it withDR-DOS, which Caldera owned at the time.
When Caldera had transferred DR-DOS to its branch companyCaldera Thin Clients, which renamed itself intoLineo in 1999, the browser was referred to under the nameEmbrowser.[11][12] Since 2000, the Linux port of the browser has been calledEmbedix Browser.
[…] 1.2_beta7 2002-05-03 […] 1.41b 2006-06-13 […] 1.43_beta2 2002-05-03 […] 1.47b 1999-08-21 […] 1.66_beta 2002-05-03 […] 1.70 2002-05-03 […] 1.73 2006-06-13 […]
