Building eLinks Text-based Web Browser with (Some Sort of) JavaScript Support

Yesterday, I’ve spend some time trying to find a text-based web browser with support for JavaScript. Although I doubt many people would need that, I’ll post my findings, and show how to build and enable Javascript in eLinks web browser to access the web from a terminal in Linux (Ubuntu/Debian). Bear in mind that the implementation is far from complete, and most pages won’t work, at least for now. Initial research pointed me to three potential candidates: links2, w3m + w3m-js extension, and elinks. Links2 used to have JavaScript, but support was poor, so they decided to remove it. w3m-js is an experimental patch to add JavaScript to w3m, but the link is broken, so we are left with elinks. If you just want a text based web-browser, and do not care about JavaScript, you can just install links2, w3m, or elinks with apt-get. The versions I’ve tried in Ubuntu […]

VIA APC Rock and Paper Boards Now Officially Support Firefox OS

VIA has just announced a partnership with Mozilla for support and development of Firefox OS for APC Rock and APC Paper platforms based on WonderMedia WM8950 single core ARM Cortex A9 SoC. Firefox OS source code and documentation for the APC boards are available on the company’s apc-firefox-os github repository. To motivate the developer’s community, the company is also offering free APCs to developers that fix specific bugs. A first version was released on the 22nd of November 2013, with the following fixes: Updated firmware package to support HDMI hotplug as the solution from VIA Switched to latest base from Mozilla and using master branch for all Mozilla repos Support multiple hardware keyboard hot plug Fixed so that Mozilla soft home button can be enabled via settings Supports Ethernet cable hot plug Enabled SNTP with Ethernet network Set default display timeout to never Fixed some orientation bug due to migration to […]

Mozilla Unveils Firefox OS Developer Preview Phones

Mozilla has just announced an entry level developer phone for Firefox OS based on a Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 processor, 512 MB RAM, and 4GB Flash. You may think the specs are quite poor, but this actually makes sense since Firefox OS is initially destined at emerging markets. Here are the full specifications of  this smartphone (Codenamed Keon): CPU – Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 1Ghz System Memory – 512 MB RAM Storage – 4GB Flash + microSD slot Display – 3.5″ HVGA Multitouch Network – UMTS 2100/1900/900 (3G HSPA), GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (2G EDGE) Camera – 3 MP rear camera Misc – Wifi N, Light and proxmity Sensor, G-Sensor, GPS, MicroUSB Battery – 1580 mAh The phone supports over the air updates, and comes unlocked, so you can simply add your own SIM card. These developer phones are being developed by Geeksphone in partnership with Telefonica. If you don’t have the developer phone […]

B2G (Boot to Gecko) Video Demo at MWC 2012

B2G (Boot to Gecko) is an open source HTML5-based operating system targeting mobile devices by the Mozilla Foundation. This OS runs on top of Linux and uses Firefox as the web browser. You can get further details on my previous post “Mozilla Boot to Gecko (B2G) OS Is Coming to Your Smartphone“. As previously announced, Mozilla showcased B2G on a Samsung Galaxy S2 at Mobile World Congress 2012. Every apps are written in HTML5 including the camera application that uses HTML5 Media Capture and Canvas for real-time effects. Engadget was there and shot the video demo below. If you have a Samsung Galaxy S2, you can build and try it on your device. This is experimental, so there is always the risk of bricking your phone. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to […]

Mozilla Boot to Gecko (B2G) OS Is Coming to Your Smartphone

Mozilla, non-profit organization, well known for its Firefox web browser and Thunderbird mail client has recently moved to the mobile space with Firefox for Android browser for smartphones and tablets. However they intend to go even further by releasing a mobile operating systems named Boot to Gecko (B2G) competing directly with Android, iOS and Windows Phone. Mozilla mobile operating system will use web standards (like Tizen does) and the goal is to displace proprietary, single-vendor stacks for application development (e.g. Android, iOS, WP7).  The OS itself will relies on the Linux kernel and some open source libraries and the B2G applications will be written using HTML5/Javascript/CSS3 standard. Basically, it will boot Linux and use the Gecko engine (like in Firefox) to render application in a way similar to what Google does with Chrome OS. The HTML5-based user interface of B2G is called Gaia and is a collection of web apps. […]

Android Scores Last in Open Governance Index

Vision Mobile recently released a report about different open source projects analyzing their openness via their Open Governance Index. The full report (45-pages) examines: Open source cultural roots and working upstream vs downstream Open source licenses vs governance models Analysis and classification of governance models In-depth reviews of Android, Qt, Symbian, MeeGo, Mozilla, WebKit, Linux and Eclipse Best practices in creating an open source project The governance index is not only based on the percentage of source code that is open, but on the whole software development including the transparency of the decision making-process, the involvement of the community in all aspects of the project,  compliance requirements and more. There are a total of 13 metrics accross 4  area of governance: Access: availability of the latest source code, developer support mechanisms, public roadmap, and transparency of decision-making Development: the ability of developers to influence the content and direction of the […]