wb web browser

Tue Jun 4 23:18:21 EDT 2013

John: Read Brandon's response to Doug in a previous message. I suspect
you can use your current X but I don't think you want to run with your
current firefox installed. See Brandon's message for details.

On Tue, 4 Jun 2013, covici at ccs.covici.com wrote:

> If I am using another frame buffer, will this prevent me from installing
> the xvfd?  Also, I have firefox already on the system, what will happen
> if I try to install clifox?  Also, what is the URL to get clifox?
>
>
> Kirk Reiser <kirk at reisers.ca> wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 4 Jun 2013, Don Raikes wrote:
>>
>> so knowing that I should include gnome/gdm and then install Clifox is good to know.
>>
>> You currently only need to have xvfb installed along with python to
>> use clifox. The installation script will pull down and install the
>> most recent nightly build of firefox.
>>
>> There is a mailing list wb-subscribe at linux-speakup.org will get you
>> added to the list.
>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Brandon McGinty-Carroll [mailto:bmmcginty at bmcginty.hopto.org]
>>> Sent: Tuesday, June 04, 2013 1:51 PM
>>> To: Speakup is a screen review system for Linux.
>>> Subject: Re: wb web browser
>>>
>>> Responses are below.
>>> Kirk, if you read this, feel free to correct me as needed.
>>>
>>> Brandon McGinty-Carroll
>>>
>>> On Tue, Jun 04, 2013 at 11:47:54AM -0400, Doug Smith wrote:
>>>> Hi, everyone.  I have recently heard about a javascript/ajax capable
>>>> browser somehow associated with the speakup project.  I cannot find out anything about it on the web, but i am wondering if it would be ok to ask for some information.
>>> Ask away.
>>>>
>>>> You don't know how much this will help me out.  If this works, I will
>>>> soon be free from the evils of the graphical world.  You don't know
>>>> what a blessing this will be.  I have a few questions I need to ask about this browser before I remove my gnome desktop and the rest of what goes with it and have to try to reinstall.
>>> First, don't remove Gnome, GDM, or the like.
>>> This solution isn't going to fix you right up, and I'd hate to put you in the position of not being able to access what you need to.
>>> The old project was called wb. It was a hand-crafted monstrosity, running Google's JS engin, and a python-based HTML parser.
>>> Imagine trying to catch an eliphant in a butterfly net. That was what wb was trying to do with the web.
>>> It worked, but not for the needed sites.
>>> Let's not relive those days, shall we?
>>> The new browser is called Clifox.
>>> It is a layer between your text-based console and the firefox web-browser.
>>> Firefox runs via xvfb, and runs a plugin called MozRepl, that gives access to Firefoxes internal structure.
>>>>
>>>> 1. Do you have distribution-specific packages available for wb? I am
>>>> using debian testing and everything that works in the console is working like a dream on here, but the desktop screenreader is out.
>>> Sounds familiar. I've got GUI issues you wouldn't want to believe on this debian stable machine.
>>> We don't have OS specific packages as of now. We've got a shell script that installs the browser.
>>>>
>>>> 2. What all kinds of media and whatever can this browser handle?
>>> Currently, it handles webpages, no more, no less.
>>> When I get someone with a working copy of Orca and a GUI, we'll figure out how to get a CLI copy of flash installed, and what we need to do to play other media types.
>>>>
>>>> 3. Is wb as capable of handling imbedded multimedia as, for example, firefox or something like that?
>>> See above.
>>>>
>>>> 4. What about multimedia streams like radio stations and the like?
>>> See above. If firefox can do it, clifox should be able to, given a way to install multimedia plugins without an interactive GUI installer.
>>>>
>>>> 5. Does wb use helper programs like vlc or mplayer to handle all the different kinds of media that can be found on the web?
>>> See above.
>>>>
>>>> 6. Does it have integration for starting mutt on mailto links on web sites?
>>> It does not currently, though there is code for content-type detection and mailcap usage.
>>>>
>>>> 7. How well does wb work with speakup?
>>> It's cli based, so as well as can be expected. We need to add in highlighting for better cursor tracking.
>>>>
>>>> 8. Is the interface more like w3m which I am really familiar with or does it resemble some other browser such as links or lynx, the cat or whatever?
>>> If you have used windows, it is an attempt to emulate browsers on that platform.
>>> Images and links are positioned on new lines; keystrokes will be used to move from element to element.
>>> W3M is _probably the closest in my opinion.
>>>>
>>>> 9. I hope wb will have some way to keep all those nose-pieces that run
>>>> the web sites from trying to track the movements on their sites.  I don't personally think they have the right to people's browsing habits.
>>> We can do only what Firefox allows for privacy.
>>> However, feel free to add functionality as you need it.
>>>>
>>>> 10 Can wb be used with surfraw as the browser used when you do a, for
>>>> example,
>>>>
>>>> google fusion reactor
>>>>
>>>> Will wb come up as the browser for this search?
>>>>
>>> Probably not. We use NCurses as our GUI toolkit, and I haven't enabled other modes of webpage output.
>>> The surfraw project looks awesome, though. Hadn't heard of it before.
>>> Again, feel free to add features, or pay me to add them.
>>> I happily accept bribes, or coffee. Large amounts of coffee.
>>>> 11. If wb is not in a stable version yet, do you have an expected time frame for when it will be?
>>> Time frames are nasty things to commit to, especially with something this large.
>>> Development is ongoing.
>>> Feel free to pull changes from git, and poke and prod me as needed.
>>> Kirk Reiser has also been developing Clifox.
>>>>
>>>> 12. If wb is in a currently stable release, where can I get it?
>>> It isn't "stable,", but feel free to give it a shot.
>>> You will need git and python2.6+.
>>> git clone http://bmcginty.hopto.org/clifox.git
>>> Be warned.
>>> Because of the configuration that Clifox uses, your current Firefox profiles will be erased.
>>> I will work on this soonest, as I can see it becoming quite an issue.
>>> Your settings/cookies/passwords Will Be Completely Gone, Forever.
>>> Begging nor bribes will get them back.
>>> Backup your ~/.mozilla directory before running the install.sh script!
>>>>
>>>> Thank all of you for any information you can give me.  I just heard
>>>> about this a few days ago and have been on a quest for it ever since.
>>>> I hope to have it on here and working as soon as possible.  I hope to see wb packaged for various distributions as soon as possible so that others can enjoy the freedom to, as the song says, "Say goodbye to guiwood."
>>> That's the goal for sure.
>>> In the long run, though, I'd love to see GUI's get fast enough so that we can mainstream our software usage.
>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Thanks.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Doug Smith: Special Agent
>>>> S.W.A.T  Spiritual Warfare and Advanced Technology Forever serving our
>>>> LORD and SAVIOUR, JESUS CHRIST.
>>>>
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>>
>> --
>> Well that's it then, colour me gone!
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>

-- 
Well that's it then, colour me gone!