commit 5d8c4834b1054e73a26e4cea89981092c677b1b2
parent d2f27f496e2de922d9ccbd63e57c2287d7e9621b
Author: Paco Esteban <paco@onna.be>
Date: Tue, 7 May 2019 19:22:51 +0200
New article about stawing away from the browser.
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1 file changed, 287 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
diff --git a/content/browser-dependency.md b/content/browser-dependency.md
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+title: Trying to avoid browser dependency.
+author: paco
+date: 2019-05-07
+css: style.css
+
+XXmenuXX
+
+---------
+# Trying to avoid browser dependency.
+2019-05-07
+
+Web browsers are almost the only GUI programs I use. They are also the most
+bloated and vulnerable programs one can have installed on desktop/laptop.
+
+Those browsers have to handle a lot of external code that comes from the
+websites visited. Not only static html (which is already problematic in some
+cases) but also JavaScript, which has to be interpreted and run in your machine
+with the obvious risk.
+
+Is not only a matter of security, but also privacy. Almost every website out
+there is tracking you in some way or another. Or worst, is using one of the big
+companies to track you, which makes their profiling even easier ...
+
+And then there's the _ups!_ moments like the recent [Firefox bug][1] that
+deactivated all the user plugins. The worst part in my opinion is trying to fix
+the thing using the _"Studies system"_, which already has a reputation ...
+
+The other big browser, Chrome is not free of all this stuff. They spy on you
+directly without even hiding it.
+
+Here you can find a series of techniques to use web browsers as little as
+possible.
+
+## Basic browsing
+
+For basic stuff, like sites that are mostly text as Wikipedia or others, one
+can use a text based browser like [lynx][2]. This becomes impossible with sites
+that make heavy use of JavaScript or sites that require captcha to login ... In
+that case, the only alternative I can think of is use a conventional browser
+with plugins like uBlock Origin or Privacy Badger.
+
+## Bookmarks
+
+There are some ways of have your bookmarks totally independent from a browser.
+I choose to use [shiori][3]. It's a terminal utility that you can use to add,
+search, or open bookmarks. It also has a web interface if you prefer that.
+
+A simple search can be done like this:
+
+ shiori search keyword
+
+You cal also specify tags in the search with `-t`. Then you can open it in your
+default browser with:
+
+ shiori open id
+
+Take a look at `help`, it's really easy.
+
+You can also import/export bookmarks in html format as most browsers
+understand, so migrating to/from `shiori` is quite easy.
+
+## Downloads
+
+Whenever I can, I use [curl][4], `ftp(1)` or [wget][5] from the command line with
+direct links. If using a text based browser, then it should have its own way of
+dealing with downloads.
+
+Some sites do not like user that do not use conventional browsers, as those are
+more difficult to track (not impossible, just a bit more difficult). Some of
+them block requests that don't come from _"regular"_ user agents, so it's
+usually a good idea to configure your tools to identify themselves as Mozilla
+Firefox or Google Chrome. Most of the times that is enough.
+
+If using bittorrent to download stuff, the problem is to find a torrent website
+that is not completely full of crap and you can just take the magnet links
+(because you should be using magnet links). Try to use API calls if your
+favourite tracker allows it.
+
+I usually use [rarbg][6]. You have a lot of alternatives to interact with its
+[api][7]. A long time ago I did some Perl module for it called
+[Rarbg::torrentapi][8]. Then I use a sort of interactive script to search
+torrents on the terminal, it pairs with [transmission][9] to send the magnet
+links directly to the torrent client.
+
+ #!/usr/bin/env perl
+
+ use v5.24;
+ use strict;
+ use warnings;
+ use Rarbg::torrentapi;
+ use Getopt::Long;
+ no warnings 'experimental';
+
+ sub usage {
+ say
+ "Usage: $0 [--list] [--search <string>] [--categories <category>] [--limit <n>]";
+ say "\t--list\t\t\tlists last added torrents sorted by seeds.";
+ say
+ "\t--search <string>\tsearches for <string> and returns sorted by seeds";
+ say
+ "\t--category [movies|tv|music|xxxx]\tuses those categories (defaults to movies)";
+ say "\t--limit [25|50|100]\tShows 'n' results (defaults to 25)";
+ exit 1;
+ }
+
+ my $tapi = Rarbg::torrentapi->new();
+ my $counter = 0;
+ my $search = "";
+ my $list;
+ my $result;
+ my $raw_category = '';
+ my $category;
+ my $limit = 25;
+
+ GetOptions(
+ "search=s" => \$search,
+ "list" => \$list,
+ "category=s" => \$raw_category,
+ "limit=i" => \$limit
+ ) or usage();
+
+ given ($raw_category) {
+ when ( $_ eq 'movies' or $_ eq 'tv' ) {
+ $category = $raw_category;
+ }
+ when ( $_ eq 'music' ) {
+ $category = '2;23;24;25;26';
+ }
+ default {
+ $category = 'movies'
+ }
+ }
+
+ if ($search) {
+ $result = $tapi->search(
+ { sort => 'seeders',
+ limit => $limit,
+ category => $category,
+ search_string => $search
+ }
+ );
+ }
+ elsif ($list) {
+ $result = $tapi->list(
+ { sort => 'seeders',
+ limit => $limit,
+ category => $category
+ }
+ );
+ }
+ else {
+ usage();
+ }
+
+ if ( ref($result) eq 'ARRAY' ) {
+ foreach my $t ( @{$result} ) {
+ printf(
+ "%d -> %s (%.2f GB # %d seeds)\n",
+ $counter, $t->title, $t->size / 1073741824,
+ $t->seeders
+ );
+ $counter++;
+ }
+ }
+ elsif ( ref($result) eq 'Rarbg::torrentapi::Error' ) {
+ die "[*] We got an error: $result->{error}";
+ }
+ else {
+ die "[*] Unexpected Error";
+ }
+
+ print "Input selection, separated by spaces. (Ctrl+C to quit) ";
+ my $selection = <STDIN>;
+ chomp $selection;
+
+ if ( $selection =~ m/\d{1,2} ?/ ) {
+ my @selections = split( / /, $selection );
+ foreach my $s (@selections) {
+ say "[*] You selected: " . $result->[$s]->title;
+ say " [-] sending magnet to transmission:\n"
+ . $result->[$s]->download;
+ my $magnet = $result->[$s]->download;
+ `transmission-remote MYTORRENTHOST --authenv -a $magnet`;
+ }
+ }
+ else {
+ die "selection is not a number!";
+ }
+
+## RSS feeds
+
+The best solution I found for this is [newsboat][10]. You can use it directly
+(providing a list of feeds to pull from) or connecting it to a supported
+external service like [ttrss][11]. I happen to have access to a `ttrss`
+installation, so I use that and also have the Android app on my phone. That way
+I keep track of what I have read/seen.
+
+`newsboat` allows you to configure the browser it will use to open links. I
+find useful to have a wrapper script as configured browser, so it routes the
+different kinds of links to different programs, and defaults to a web browser
+if needed. I also use it for other stuff on the command line, is pretty
+convenient.
+
+ #!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+ ext="${1##*.}"
+ videoSites="youtube.com|youtu.be|diode.zone|peertube.social"
+ videoFiles="mkv mp4 gif webm mpd"
+ audioFiles="mp3 flac"
+ imageFiles="png jpg jpeg"
+
+ if echo "$imageFiles" | grep -q -w "$ext"; then
+ feh -q "$1" & disown
+ elif echo "$videoFiles" | grep -q -w "$ext"; then
+ mpv --really-quiet --pause --keep-open "$1" & disown
+ elif echo "$audioFiles" | grep -q -w "$ext"; then
+ # I like podcasts and the like to open on a small terminal
+ urxvtc -geometry 60x6 -e mpv --pause --keep-open "$1" & disown
+ elif echo "$@" | grep -q -E "$videoSites"; then
+ mpv --really-quiet --pause "$1" & disown
+ else
+ firefox --private-window "$1" > /dev/null 2>&1 & disown
+ fi
+
+And then you tell `newsboat` to use it like so:
+
+ browser "/path/to/my/script/linkhandler.sh %u"
+
+## Images
+
+You can use [feh][12] to see links to images. It just works.
+
+It can also be used to set up your background image on simple window managers,
+invoked from `.xinitrc` or `.xsession`
+
+## Videos (and streaming)
+
+A good alternative to watch videos and streaming on the browser is [mpv][13]. It
+has integration with [youtube-dl][14] (which not only "understands" youtube
+links, but many many more). With a bit of configuration you won't need the
+browser for video any more. Here is my `~/.config/mpv/mpv.conf`
+
+ # sound works better like this on OpenBSD
+ ao=sndio
+ # try gpu accelerated video
+ vo=gpu,xv
+ # full screen by default
+ fs=yes
+ # user agent ... because the web sucks.
+ user-agent="Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; rv:60.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/60.0"
+ # moarrr cache
+ cache=yes
+ cache-default=8192
+ # no 4k monitor so limit to best 1080
+ ytdl-format=bestvideo[height <= 1080]+bestaudio/best
+ # do not send that through the HE tunnel (ignore if you do not have this)
+ ytdl-raw-options=force-ipv4=
+
+Keep in mind that some streams might not work with mpv under OpenBSD (my OS of
+choice). That's because `ffmpeg` does not come with DASH demuxing compiled in
+by default. I sent a patch to the port maintainer some time ago. I hope it will
+be commited soon. In the mean time contact me if you need that functionality
+and I'll send you the patch and instructions.
+
+## Conclusion
+
+So those are the programs I use to try to stay away from the browser as much as
+possible. If you have other alternatives or suggestions, contact me and I'll
+add them here.
+
+---
+[1]: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1548973
+[2]: https://lynx.invisible-island.net/
+[3]: https://github.com/RadhiFadlillah/shiori
+[4]: https://curl.haxx.se/
+[5]: https://www.gnu.org/software/wget/
+[6]: https://rarbg.com/
+[7]: https://torrentapi.org/
+[8]: https://metacpan.org/pod/Rarbg::torrentapi
+[9]: https://transmissionbt.com/
+[10]: https://newsboat.org/
+[11]: https://tt-rss.org/
+[12]: https://feh.finalrewind.org/
+[13]: https://mpv.io/
+[14]: https://youtube-dl.org/
+
+Last update: XXlastXX
