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August 11th, 2024

Firefox Browser Ported to HaikuOS

Progress on porting Firefox to the Haiku operating system is ongoing, but rendering issues make the current version unusable. Developers are optimistic about resolving these problems and community enthusiasm remains high.

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Firefox Browser Ported to HaikuOS

Progress is being made on porting Firefox to the Haiku operating system, although the project is still in its early stages. Users have reported that the current version has significant rendering issues, preventing text from being displayed, which renders it unusable. Developers are optimistic that these issues can be resolved quickly, as the main application appears to be functioning. However, stability cannot be fully assessed until problems related to the Rust programming language are addressed, as recent updates to Rust have altered behaviors that previously caused undefined behavior in Firefox. Some developers are attempting to patch the latest LibreWolf source with Haiku patches, but they are encountering difficulties, particularly with missing Python packages. Despite these challenges, there is enthusiasm within the community, with some users expressing excitement about the potential of using Haiku more frequently once Firefox is fully operational. Screenshots of the browser indicate that it can render certain content without issues, although it is not yet available as a package for easy installation.

- Progress on porting Firefox to Haiku is ongoing but faces rendering issues.

- Current version is unusable due to text display problems.

- Stability assessment is pending resolution of Rust-related issues.

- Developers are working on patching LibreWolf with Haiku patches.

- Community enthusiasm remains high for the potential of Firefox on Haiku.

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AI: What people are saying
The comments reflect a mix of nostalgia, optimism, and technical concerns regarding the porting of Firefox to Haiku OS.
  • Many commenters appreciate the historical significance of Firefox's development in relation to BeOS and Haiku.
  • There is a general sense of excitement about having a modern browser available on Haiku, despite current rendering issues.
  • Some users express concerns about the stability and usability of the port, noting that it is not yet suitable for average users.
  • Several comments highlight the unique nature of Haiku as a non-Unix FOSS operating system and its potential future.
  • There are discussions about the need for modern technologies and features to enhance Haiku's capabilities.
Link Icon 20 comments
By @smallstepforman - 6 months
Some history about Firefox and BeOS. Before Firefox, there was Mozilla, which had a BeOS port (called Bezilla). Bezilla was bloated and slow. So the BeOS community tried to make a stripped version of Mozilla with only the browser (minus all the bloat). This project became an inspiration to do the same for Mozilla, and that product became Firebug (or something similar - edit phoenix, then firebird), which due to trademark conflicts got renamed to Firefox that we all know today. So in a round-a-bout way, we have come full circle after 20 years, Firefox is finally ported to the platform that inspired its creation.

Kind of poetic. We should write a 3-5-3 Haiku about this journey.

By @DaoVeles - 6 months
I have said it before, Haiku feels like it is simultaneously 20 years in the future and 20 years in the past. The interface is so incredibly snappy but there is a lot of basics missing such as WiFi support.

Seeing a modern browser supported does fill a big gap however. Who knows maybe one day through a series of silly unpredictable events it will be the OS of choice and running Ladybird browser in a similar fashion.

By @rvnx - 6 months
Beautiful to see such passion and great execution, especially for 20 years in a row.

It's like a piece of art.

I suspect the company that created BeOS actually lost the source-code and that's potentially the real reason they don't want to share, because from an economic perspective there does not seem anything of value there.

By @haunter - 6 months
That made me think how many non-Unix FOSS operating systems are out there? Haiku, FreeDOS, Genode, ReactOS, Plan9, AROS, and RISC OS comes to my mind quickly.
By @Springtime - 6 months
I seem to recall trying Firefox on HaikuOS circa ~2011, though searching around now it seems it was based on an outdated version at the time. Kudos for a modern port project.
By @smallstepforman - 6 months
Here is a more recent screenshot.

https://discuss.haiku-os.org/t/progress-on-porting-firefox/1...

By @return_0e - 6 months
I can't change the link now but this should be the correct link to the post: https://discuss.haiku-os.org/t/progress-on-porting-firefox/1...
By @actionfromafar - 6 months
Firefox ported to HaikuOS, before it's ported to Windows XP. :-)

(If you need a modern browser on XP, in the meantime try the Chrome port:

https://win32subsystem.live/supermium/ )

By @donatj - 6 months
The question of "Is it more stable than other browsers" being "It can't render text" is somewhat hilarious.

As of five years ago I still had an open ticket for a bug in BeOS Mozilla in their bug tracker from maybe the year 2000. I tried to search for it more recently and couldn't find it.

By @pornel - 6 months
This means Rust has also been ported to HaikuOS. Nice!
By @WesSouza - 6 months
Incoming MJD and Action Retro videos
By @vuna - 6 months
They didn't port it, but the first one (or rather the second one, but it doesn't matter) once we launched some new version via Wayland. So far, everything has not been tested enough and there are no implementations of different platform code, as a result of which it often crashes. This is still a draft port, not suitable for the average user. Someone wrote an article much ahead of time.
By @barbs - 6 months
Any word on when the next version is coming out? Looks like the latest version (R1/beta4) was released in December 2022.
By @throwme_123 - 6 months
Funny to see the main question in the forum is "How stable is it?" and does it crash less than other options.

Haiku is fantastic and seeing it still developed after 20 years is awesome.

But maybe it would benefit from some modern tech. Given the recent discussion on Swift for Ladybird, since huge parts of Haiku are written in C++ it might make sense to gradually introduce Swift to benefit from the language safety features.

By @Aleksdev - 6 months
Only took like 20 years!
By @ofrzeta - 6 months
wtf? Now I am switching! :-) Oh, I get it "The current status is that no text can be shown due to some rendering issues,so it is not usable at all" (nine days ago). Still, if you got Firefox you are ready for mainstream adoption.
By @jijojohnxx - 6 months
Great read. Thoughts on real-world impact?