I found that the SerenityOS project also has a web browser with a completely new set of engines. It looks reasonably capable too.
Both LibWeb and LibJS are novel engines. I have a personal history with the Qt and WebKit projects, so there’s some inspiration from them throughout, but all the code is new. Not to mention, hundreds of people have worked on the codebase since I started it, all adding their own personal influences, so it’s definitely its own thing.
Edit: Here’s a recent interview with the creator Andreas Kling talking to Eric Meyer and Brian Kardell about the browser https://www.igalia.com/chats/ladybird
Edit 2: Here’s their August 2023 update video of the browser https://youtu.be/OEsRW3UFjA0
Edit 3: Looks like the project was recently sponsored $100k USD from Shopify https://awesomekling.substack.com/p/welcoming-shopify-as-a-ladybird-sponsor
It’s quite impressive!
Note: I don’t know anything about the politics of the SerenityOS project or the people behind it.
SerenityOS and Ladybird are extremely impressive. Andreas comes across as very likeable and the community he’s built seems cool.
There’s a pervasive idea in the programmer community that it’s impossible to make a modern web browser unless you’re a top 10 tech corporation. I love that they’re challenging that and showing that all it takes is a handful of volunteers with good programming chops and a bunch of elbow grease.
A worrying number of people in engineering don’t seem to think software is worthwhile unless you can expect to compete for majority market share with the incumbents. If “hacker” is to be taken as a title of honour, I think it belongs to the ones who make things without expecting to take over the world.
And the project has seemingly helped Andreas stay sober, which is pretty heartwarming.
EDIT: 2 years later, we regret to inform you the milkshake duck is…
