| Uzbl | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Uzbl running on Ubuntu | |
| Original authors | Dieter Plaetinck, et al. |
| Stable release | |
| Written in | C,Python |
| Engine | WebKit |
| Operating system | Unix-like |
| Type | Web browser |
| License | GPL-3.0-only[2] |
| Website | www.uzbl.org |
| Repository | |
Uzbl is a discontinuedfree and open-source minimalistweb browser designed for simplicity and adherence to theUnix philosophy. Development began in early 2009 and is still considered to be in analpha state by the developers. The core component of Uzbl is written inC, but other languages are also used, most notablyPython. All parts of the Uzbl project are released as free software underGNU GPL-3.0-only.
The name comes from the wordusable, spelled inlol speak.[3]
Development of Uzbl is in thealpha stage. Uzbl was originally designed forArch Linux, but operates with otherLinux distributions andBSD systems. Compilation guides are available forGentoo Linux,Ubuntu,MacPorts, andNix package manager.[4] The project is currently "abandoned" due to lack of time.[5]
Despite being in early stages of development, Uzbl has gained prominence as aminimalist browser.[6] As of 2019, further development on the project has been discontinued.[5]
Uzbl follows theUnix philosophy, “Write programs that do one thing and do it well. Write programs to work together. Write programs to handle text streams, because that is a universal interface.”[7] As a result, Uzbl does not contain many of the features of other browsers. Uzbl has none of its owntool bars orgraphical control elements, and does not managebookmarks, history, downloads, orcookies, leaving them to be handled by external programs or scripts. These scripts are typically user-written, although some are available for download likeuzbl_tabbed fortabbed browsing support. For interaction it can read input fromstandard input (FIFOpipe) or fromPOSIX local IPC socket or it can be passedtext files such as aconfiguration file. This design is intentional, allowing for more customization.[who?]
Uzbl uses theWebKit layout engine, and therefore inherits support for many web standards, includingHTML,XML,XPath,Cascading Style Sheets,ECMAScript (JavaScript),DOM, andSVG, passing theAcid3 browser test.[8][9] Web kit supportsNetscape-style plugins such asAdobe Flash Player andMPlayer.[10]
Uzbl's design focuses onkeyboard control and hot keys, although it also supportsmouse and other pointing device input. Like thepentadactyl andvimperator[11] Firefox extensions, Uzbl employs a mode-based interface derived from thevi andVim text editors. Rather than move the cursor to an address bar or a link, a user presses a hotkey to switch to "command" mode. From this mode the user may: select links in theview port through assigned keys (0 through 9 by default) or through typing an unambiguous string of the link text; navigate to another web page by typing its URL; modify settings; and perform other normal web-browsing tasks. While this mode-based interface creates an initially steeplearning curve, once learned it typically allows a user greater speed and convenience than many other browsers. Uzbl allows configuration of the hot keys used.
The idea of creating a new web browser started in spring 2009 on theinternet forums of Arch Linux.[12] Dieter Plaetinck started the development of the browser and was then supported by other developers.[8] The first code was published on April 21, 2009.[3][12] The product was usable after only two months of development .[11] Besides compilation guides for a series of Linux distributions andMac OS X/Darwin (Mac Ports) several pre-compiled binaries are available,[4] although officially there is not yet a version marked as stable. On September 21, 2009, Uzbl was accepted into theDebian unstable repository branch[13] and was migrated to its testing branch on October 2, 2009.[14]
21 April 2009 marked the first commit in the GitHub project for a browser called uzbl — lolcat spelling for "usable" — though the uzbl website's first news item dates to almost a month earlier.
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