Trying to build an Open Source browser in 2020
summary
Claim: a usable desktop browser is possible in 2020 with one developer and no budget by stitching OSS together. It uses Qt QML UI, Qt WebEngine (Chromium 80), CMake, Conan and GitHub Actions, and exposes licenses, tabs, navigation and downloads in a working demo. Surprises: Chromium builds take build time 3–4 hours on a dev laptop, Chromium in Qt lags months behind upstream, and keeping the engine current and licensed is the ongoing blocker. Packaging and auto‑update remain incomplete.
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chapters (41)
- 0:00Introduction
- 1:10Making a browser is expensive
- 1:47What does that money go for
- 2:20How do browsers make money
- 4:29No deal with Google
- 4:58Open Source
- 5:51Upsides
- 6:33Patricia Aas
- 8:48Why do you love browsers
- 10:25Browser landscape in 2020
- 13:01Back in 2018
- 13:22GPU isolation
- 13:37Chromium demo
- 13:53Making money
- 14:14Cancellations
- 15:08TurtleBrowsercom
- 15:42Theory
- 17:00GUI Framework
- 19:09Business Logic
- 19:33QML Component
- 21:39UI
- 22:01Desktop
- 22:13Cross platform
- 22:40Cmake
- 23:14dependency management
- 23:41conan
- 27:03GitHub Actions
- 29:25ConanCash
- 30:44Testing
- 31:22Licensing
- 34:04Licenses
- 36:51Tab bar
- 38:49Packaging
- 40:21Website
- 42:38What we need
- 45:48Imagine Style
- 48:05Updating Chromium
- 51:41Security
- 52:14Media
- 54:25Better release
- 55:49Century
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