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Uzbl

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Uzbl
Original author(s)Dieter Plaetinck, et al.
Stable release
0.9.1[1]Edit this on Wikidata / 27 October 2016;7 years ago(27 October 2016)
Repository
Written inC,Python
EngineWebKit
Operating systemUnix-like
TypeWeb browser
LicenseGPL-3.0-only[2]
Websitewww.uzbl.org

Uzblis a discontinuedfree and open-sourceminimalistweb browserdesigned for simplicity and adherence to theUnix philosophy.Development began in early 2009 and is still considered inalphasoftware 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 still inalpha stage.Uzbl was originally designed forArch Linux,but operates with otherLinux distributionsandBSDsystems. 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 aminimalistbrowser.[6]As of 2019, further development for the project is discontinued.[5]

Design[edit]

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 barsorgraphical 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_tabbedfortabbed browsingsupport. For interaction it can read input fromstandard input(FIFOpipe) or fromPOSIX local IPC socketor it can be passedtext filessuch as aconfiguration file.This design is intentional, allowing for more customization.[who?]

Uzbl browser fully passing theAcid3 test

Features[edit]

Uzbl uses theWebKitlayout engine, and therefore inherits support for many web standards, includingHTML,XML,XPath,Cascading Style Sheets,ECMAScript(JavaScript),DOM,andSVG,passing theAcid3browser test.[8][9]Web kit supportsNetscape-style plugins such asAdobe Flash PlayerandMPlayer.[10]

Numbered links feature enabled for keyboard navigation

Uzbl's design focuses onkeyboard control and hot keys,although it also supportsmouse and other pointing deviceinput. Like thepentadactylandvimperator[11]Firefox extensions, Uzbl employs a mode-based interface derived from theviandVim 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 portthrough 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.

History[edit]

The idea of creating a new web browser started in spring 2009 on theinternet forumsof 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 theDebianunstable repository branch[13]and was migrated to its testing branch on October 2, 2009.[14]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Release 0.9.1".27 October 2016.Retrieved21 June2018.
  2. ^Uzbl LICENSE filefromGitHub.
  3. ^abPerrin, Chad (2010-11-15)."Try the uzbl browser if you're tired of feature bloat".TechRepublic.Archived fromthe originalon 2010-11-23.Retrieved2019-02-20.21 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.
  4. ^ab"howtos".Uzbl Wiki.Archived fromthe originalon 2010-02-27.Retrieved2010-03-03.
  5. ^ab"What is the official status of this project? #408".GitHub.
  6. ^"Software Review: 2009 LnF Awards".Arch Linux Magazine.January 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 2010-02-16.Retrieved2010-03-13.
  7. ^"Uzbl – a browser that adheres to the Unix philosophy".
  8. ^abVervloesem, Koen (2009-07-15)."Uzbl: a browser following the UNIX philosophy".LWN.net.Eklektix, Inc.Retrieved2010-03-03.
  9. ^"A quick comparison of Linux web browsers".2009-06-22. Archived fromthe originalon 2009-06-26.Retrieved2010-03-03.
  10. ^"WebKitFeatures".WebKit Wiki.Retrieved2010-03-03.
  11. ^abBataille, Benoit (2009-05-12)."Uzbl: un navigateur internet, rien qu'un navigateur internet"[Uzbl: a web browser, just a browser] (in French).Retrieved2010-03-03.
  12. ^ab"Arch Philosophy/Structure Applied to a Browser".Arch LinuxBBS.2009-04-19.Retrieved2011-12-27.
  13. ^Ritter, Stefan (2009-09-21)."Accepted uzbl 0.0.0~git.20090826-1 (source i386)".debian-devel-changes(Mailing list).
  14. ^Debian testing watch (2009-10-02)."uzbl 0.0.0~git.20090826-1 MIGRATED to testing".uzbl(Mailing list).

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toUzbl.
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