278 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
278 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
# LibreWeb Browser
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LibreWeb is an **open-source decentralized web browser**, leveraging IPFS. What would you do different; if you could **reinvent** The Internet in 21st century?
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With all the knowledge and new technologies available today. I was inspired by Douglas Engelbart, Tim Berners-Lee and Ted Nelson as well as projects like IPFS, Jekyll, ARPANET and more.
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[](https://gitlab.melroy.org/libreweb/libreweb-browser/-/pipelines/latest)
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[](https://t.me/libreweb)
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[](https://matrix.to/#/#libreweb:melroy.org)
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[](https://gitlab.melroy.org/libreweb/libreweb-browser/-/milestones)
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[](https://docs.libreweb.org/)
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[](https://gitlab.melroy.org/libreweb/libreweb-browser/-/releases)
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*Note:* This project is still work in progress. However, we have a working [alpha version available](https://gitlab.melroy.org/libreweb/libreweb-browser/-/releases).
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LibreWeb is:
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- Free and open-source
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- Decentralized
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- Censorship resistant
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- Operating under Windows, Linux (macOS soon)
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## For Users
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### Download
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Just download the latest LibreWeb release and get started:
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* [Download the latest release](https://gitlab.melroy.org/libreweb/libreweb-browser/-/releases)
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### Documentation
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Visit the [dedicated documentation site](https://docs.libreweb.org) for *user* documentation.
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### How to Report issues
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**Reporting**
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Create a new issue in [GitLab Issues](https://gitlab.melroy.org/libreweb/libreweb-browser/-/issues).
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**Supporting**
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If you want to support a certain feature request or same bug that another user already reported, please let us know by using the "thumbs up" button.
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### How to Contribute
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You could help us with:
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- [Documentation](https://docs.libreweb.org)
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- Discussions on the [Telegram](https://t.me/libreweb) or [Matrix](https://matrix.to/#/#libreweb:melroy.org?via=melroy.org) groups
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- [Bugs & Feature requests](https://gitlab.melroy.org/libreweb/libreweb-browser/-/issues)
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- [Coding](https://gitlab.melroy.org/libreweb/)
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- [Sponsor us](https://docs.libreweb.org/project/sponsor/)
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[Read more how to contribute](https://docs.libreweb.org/project/contribute/) to the LibreWeb project.
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### Screenshots
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### Community
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Join our [Telegram group](https://t.me/libreweb) or [Matrix channel](https://matrix.to/#/#libreweb:melroy.org?via=melroy.org) and become part of our community!
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### Ideas / Features
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The current success criteria:
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- Everyone should be able to easily **read** and **create** a site/blog/news page and publish the content online (without minimal technical knowledge);
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- Built-in easy-to-use **editor** (whenever you want to publish some content without programming language knowledge);
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- **Decentralized** (no single-point of failure or censorship), like: P2P, DHT and IPFS;
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- *No* client-server approach (the client is also the server and visa versa) - think **mesh network**.
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- **Encrypted** transfers;
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- Data is stored **redundantly** within the network (no single-point of failure);
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- **Versioning**/revisions of content and documenents (automatically solves broken 'links', that can't happy anymore);
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- Publisher user should be able to add additional information about the document/page, eg. title or path (similar in how Jekyll is using the `YML` format for meta data)
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- Human-readable source-code (eg. `Markdown` format, could be extended as well);
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- You are in control about the layout and styling (just like with e-books);
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- Content is King;
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- Fast and Extensible!
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*Note:* Since HyperText (so is HTML) is not used, you can even ditch the HTTP protocol. However TLS, for encryption, can still be used.
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---
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The sections below are mainly relevant for software developers, who want to contribute or help the LibreWeb Browser project.
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---
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## For Developers
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Decentralized Browser is written C++ together with some [external libraries](/lib). LibreWeb is using the [cmark-gfm](https://github.com/github/cmark-gfm) library for example, which is used for CommonMark (markdown) parsing.
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We're using markdown as the source-code of the content/site. No HTML and JavaScript anymore, content is king after all.
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LibreWeb Browser is also using [Gnome GTK3](https://developer.gnome.org/gtk3/stable/) framework for the GUI. Using the C++ bindings, called [Gtkmm](https://gtkmm.org/en/).
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### Development Environment
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Personally, I'm using VSCodium editor, with the following extensions installed: `C/C++`, `CMake`, `CMake Tools`, `PlantUML`, `Markdown All in One`, `vscode-icons` and `GitLab Workflow`. But your local development setup is completely up to you.
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### Linux Build Dependencies
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For the **GNU/Linux build** you need at least:
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- GCC 9 or higher (Packages: `build-essential g++-9`)
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- CMake (Package: `cmake`)
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- Ninja build system (Package: `ninja-build`)
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- Libcurl (Package: `libcurl4-openssl-dev`)
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- GTK3/Gtkmm3 (Package: `libgtkmm-3.0-dev`)
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**Dependencies for testing:**
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* X virtual framebuffer (Package: `xvfb`)
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* Clang-format (Package: `clang-format`)
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*Note:* For cross-compiling towards Windows and building on macOS see "[Other platforms](#other-platforms)" section below.
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### Linux Build
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Clone the source-code with SSH (do not forget `--recurse-submodules`):
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```sh
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git clone --recurse-submodules -j5 git@gitlab.melroy.org:libreweb/libreweb-browser.git
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```
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Start the Linux build, which is using CMake and Ninja build system, using the wrapper script:
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```sh
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./scripts/build-lnx.sh
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```
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Optionally, use the VSCode `CMake Tools` extension to start the build or build with debug targets.
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#### Linux Packaging
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*Note:* Linux packages are already [available under releases](https://gitlab.melroy.org/libreweb/libreweb-browser/-/releases).
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To build a release target yourself including packaging under GNU/Linux, use: `./scripts/build-lnx-prod.sh`
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Root access is required when building Linux packages; add `/opt/mxe/usr/bin` to the secure_path using: `sudo visudo`.
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### Unit testing (Linux)
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To execute the **unit tests** you can configure with `cmake -DUNITTEST:BOOL=TRUE` and build. Execute: `ctest` command in the `tst` target directory.
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Or just use script:
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```sh
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./scripts/build-run-tests.sh
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```
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### C++ Coding Style Guidelines
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#### Automated Clang Format
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We use our [own Clang LLVM C++ Programming Style Format](.clang-format), using [clang-format](https://clang.llvm.org/docs/ClangFormat.html) command.
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To automatically comply to our style format execute following script (inplace edits are performed for you):
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```sh
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./scripts/fix-format.sh
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```
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Check only for errors, run: `./scripts/check-format.sh`
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#### Guidelines
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First we try to use the [Google C++ Style Guide](https://google.github.io/styleguide/cppguide.html) as basis.
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Next, we also tend to follow the popular [C++ Core Guidelines](http://isocpp.github.io/CppCoreGuidelines/CppCoreGuidelines) as much as possible.
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### Doxygen
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See latest [Developer Documentation](https://gitlab.melroy.org/libreweb/libreweb-browser/-/jobs/artifacts/main/file/build_docs/docs/html/index.html?job=doxygen).
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Doxygen is build by default. You can disable the doxygen build, if you want, using: `cmake -DDOXYGEN:BOOL=FALSE ..`
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### Memory check
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First **build** the (Linux) target including *debug symbols*. Binary should be present in the `build/src` folder.
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Next, check for memory leaks using `valgrind` by executing:
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```sh
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./scripts/valgrind.sh
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```
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Or to generate a memory usage plot in [massif format](https://valgrind.org/docs/manual/ms-manual.html), execute:
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```sh
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./scripts/valgrind-plot.sh
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```
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## Other platforms
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### Microsoft Windows
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We are [**cross-compiling**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_compiler) towards **Windows** using GNU/Linux.
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#### Windows Build Dependencies
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- [MXE Gtkmm3 / Curl Binary packages](mxe.cc) (static build using Meson build with GCC11, see below for more info)
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- CMake (Package: `cmake`)
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- Ninja (Package: `ninja-build`)
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- Nullsoft Scriptable Install System (Package: `nsis`)
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For more information and the latest pre-build GTK3 Windows download, please my other [GTK 3 bundle repo](https://gitlab.melroy.org/melroy/gtk-3-bundle-for-windows).
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**Note:** We're currently busy trying to upgrade the [whole GTK stack](https://github.com/danger89/mxe/tree/update_gtk).
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We used the following build command to get the Windows dependencies and MXE cross-compilation toolset:
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```sh
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make gtkmm3 curl -j 16 MXE_TARGETS='x86_64-w64-mingw32.static' MXE_PLUGIN_DIRS='plugins/gcc10'
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```
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*NOTE:* Soon we need gcc11, but GTK3 upstream needs to create a new release that fixes the GCC11 builds.
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Add the following line to the end of the `~/.bashrc` file:
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```bash
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export PATH="/opt/mxe/usr/bin:$PATH"
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```
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#### Windows Cross-compile Build
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Please, be sure you meet all the requirements above. So your MXE environment should be ready in: `/opt/mxe/usr`.
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To start the *cross-compile* build towards Windows 64-bit (using GNU/Linux as host) you can use the commands below.
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Build a Windows development release:
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```sh
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./scripts/build-win.sh
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```
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#### Windows Packaging
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*Note:* Windows Installer is already [available under releases](https://gitlab.melroy.org/libreweb/libreweb-browser/-/releases).
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Build a production release + packaging with [NSIS Installer](https://sourceforge.net/projects/nsis/), execute the following:
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```sh
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./scripts/build-win-prod.sh
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```
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For more info, see also: [Packaging readme](packaging.md).
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### Apple MacOS / Darwin
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#### MacOS Build Dependencies
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- Xcode (`xcode-select --install`)
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- Brew (`/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)"`)
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- CMake (brew: `cmake`)
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- Libcurl (brew: `curl`)
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- Gtk3/Gtkmm3 (brew: `gtkmm3`)
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- GTK Mac Integration (brew: `gtk-mac-integration`)
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- Ninja (brew: `ninja`)
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#### MacOS Build
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We're currently using [GitHub Actions](https://github.com/LibreWeb/libreweb-browser/blob/master/.github/workflows/macOS-build.yml) for the [macOS build](https://github.com/LibreWeb/libreweb-browser/actions/workflows/macOS-build.yml). You could already download the artifact if you want, but do not expect the runtime to work.
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*Note:* **Packaging towards MacOS is still in progress**.
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For more info, see also: [Packaging readme](packaging.md)
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## License
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LibreWeb Browser is licensed under [the MIT license](./LICENSE) ([more info](https://choosealicense.com/licenses/mit/)).
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## LibreWeb Research
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For [research document](https://gitlab.melroy.org/libreweb/research_lab/-/blob/master/research.md) plus findings including explanation (like [diagrams](https://gitlab.melroy.org/libreweb/research_lab/-/blob/master/diagrams.md)) see the:
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- [LibreWeb Research Lab Project](https://gitlab.melroy.org/libreweb/research_lab/-/tree/master)
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