Software:vimb
| File:Vimb screenshot.png vimb does not include graphical control elements
except an address bar. | |
| Original author(s) | Daniel Carl |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Daniel Carl, Robert Timm, et al. |
| Initial release | 19 September 2012.[1] |
| Stable release | 3.2.0
/ 17 June 2018 |
| Written in | C |
| Engine | WebKitGTK+ |
| Operating system | Unix-like |
| Type | minimalist web browser |
| License | GNU GPL version 3 |
| Website | fanglingsu |
vimb is a minimalist web browser[2][3] primarily developed by Daniel Carl. The user interface of vimb does not include any graphical control elements except an URL address bar and a command bar; although using a mouse is possible, the intent of vimb is to be controlled entirely via keyboard shortcuts and so called autocommands.[4]
History
The first commit to the project repository is titled "Start of project."[1] from September 19, 2012. The small code base in this commit suggests that the project was started in the same timeframe as the commit was made, with the first release following as version 0.1.1 on October 28, 2012.[5] From the first release all versions 0.x, 1.x and 2.x use Webkit version 1 for the GTK+ framework, while versions 3.0 and newer use Webkit2,[6] although with a reduced feature set,[7] while some features, like automatic commands having already been added back.
Features
vimb is "inspired by Vimprobable, a browser that takes a modal approach similar to the vim editor"[8] and features a very minimalistic user interface with only a URI bar and a command bar visible at the bottom of its window by default. Like most programs for Unix-like systems, its behaviour can be heavily customized via a configuration file and "nearly every configuration can be changed at runtime with Vim like set syntax".[9] For example, the command bar can be hidden when not invoked, which leaves all canvas space except the URI bar for the webpage being displayed, which some people with smaller screens appreciate. As a browser targeted at users of tiling window managers, vimb does not support some features users of mainstream browsers consider integral, such as the ability to organise webpages in tabs,[2] which is something commonly left to the window manager. However, for use in traditional window managers, i3 supports xembed and therefore be used with the software tabbed, a "simple generic tabbed fronted to xembed aware applications".[10] Being aimed at console enthusiasts and experienced users, vimb takes over much of the user interface design philosophy from vim, hence the name: "If your are familiar with vim [...] the use of vimb would be a breeze, if not we missed our target.[9] Additionally, vimb supports bookmarks, history recording and cookies, which is noteworthy for minimalist browsers, with all of the former being saved in simple human- and machine-readable text files that can be manipulated and processed very easily. vimb does not support search engine integration by default, but with so-called shortcuts it is possible to achieve the former with one line added to the configuration file. With shortcuts, the user opens a URI prompt and enters the shortcut name (followed by a space and an optional argument if desired), with the possibility of the omission of the shortcut name for one default shortcut that can be set freely.
While using a mouse is possible in vimb (and sometimes necessary for some types of overlapping frames and some JavaScript-based content), a comfortable keyboard-driven navigation on modern web pages introduced the need for a different approach than most mainstream programs support (e.g. repeated tab-presses to select a Hyperlink) and a few projects with similar goals have used a technique called hinting, which "marks links, form fields and other clickable elements to be clicked, opened or inspected"[9] by assigning labels to hyperlinks from a user-defined set of characters, the numbers 0-9 by default that need to be entered in the displayed order to activate the hint. The mode is activated by pressing a key.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "fanglingsu/vimb". https://github.com/fanglingsu/vimb/tree/12b628a8aa3b7df67487f426fcb2fe2a32e2def5. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "A Brief Guide to vimb: the vim-like web browser". http://blog.eight45.net/2016/12/26/vimb.html. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
- ↑ jeaye (23 August 2015). "Vimb on Slackware". https://blog.jeaye.com/2015/08/23/vimb/. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
- ↑ "The goal of vimb is to build a completely keyboard-driven, efficient and pleasurable browsing-experience." https://github.com/fanglingsu/vimb/tree/12b628a8aa3b7df67487f426fcb2fe2a32e2def5
- ↑ "fanglingsu/vimb". https://github.com/fanglingsu/vimb/releases/tag/0.1.1. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
- ↑ Webkit is considered obsolete and insecure and its use is discouraged, see https://blogs.gnome.org/mcatanzaro/2016/02/01/on-webkit-security-updates/
- ↑ "webkit1 is not supported anymore and we started porting it to webkit2. Now the vimb 3.0.alpha with a reduced featureset is ready to use." - vimb official website
- ↑ "vimb". http://thedarnedestthing.com/vimb. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 vimb official website, as of 2018-05-16
- ↑ https://tools.suckless.org/tabbed/ as of 2018-05-16
External links
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