System Crafters

Browsers

By default, Guix does not have many options for browsers. However, with nonguix, Nix, Flatpak, or Docker, you have many more options. Nonfree options are indicated with a bold NF next to the heading, and this includes things not in the official Guix repositories.

If you have yet to set up Nix, and would like to, please visit the "Nix" page <placeholder>. Nix is the recommended way to install most nonfree software over Flatpak and Docker (allows for maintaining a declarative configuration.)

Table of Contents

Icecat

Icecat is the fully free (as in freedom) fork of Firefox. It usually lags behind by quite a few versions (using the Icecat ESR version,) but otherwise is a safer Firefox. It comes by default with quite a few add-ons, including LibreJS (explicitly asking you if you want to run nonfree JS), Searxes' (which allows you to choose which CDNs to enable), and a few others. Icecat has settings to disable unsafe options, such as WebGL and WebRTC. LibreJS can also be a major issue for websites, but can be disabled. If you do not need Chromium or Firefox, consider using Icecat.

Homepage: www.gnu.org/software/gnuzilla

Installation

Icecat is in the official repository, and has substitutes (no need to compile.)

Troubleshooting

No issues currently reported!

Firefox - NF

Firefox is an open source browser from Mozilla. One of the most popular browsers for GNU/Linux, many forks of Firefox exist to improve it and make it more private (such as Icecat or Librewolf.) Permission is needed to use the Firefox name from Mozilla, as well as other restrictions, which make it a restrictive package, even if it is open source software. This bars it from being in the official repositories.

Homepage: www.mozilla.org/firefox

Installation

You can install Firefox through Nonguix, Nix, Flatpak, and even Docker. To install through Nix, please view the "Nix" page <placeholder> and install as you would any other program (either declarative or imperative.)

The preferred way to install Firefox is through nonguix if you would like to keep your configurations in Scheme/Guix and are alright with compiling it, or Nix if you want a pre-compiled binary.

Troubleshooting

Firefox crashes when saving a file or uploading a file

If you do not have a GTK theme installed, Firefox will crash when performing actions with a file explorer (and potentially more processes.) Install a GTK theme in the same profile as your Firefox install to prevent this issue.

No audio in browser

Sometimes Firefox does not connect to Pulseaudio; solution currently unknown. Restarting the browser has fixed this every time for me. This issue does not occur commonly at all.

-Daniel

No WebGL

Firefox may not have any WebGL capabilities under certain combinations of installed packages or settings (such as WebRender.) No exact combination is documented that can replicate this, and I have yet to experience it again.

-Daniel

Ungoogled Chromium

If you prefer Chromium to the Firefox family of browsers but want to maintain your safety and privacy, look no further. Ungoogled Chromium is "Google Chromium, sans integration with Google." Ungoogled Chromium has numerous patches to Chromium and enhancing features.

Homepage: github.com/Eloston/ungoogled-chromium

Installation

Ungoogled Chromium is in the official repository, and has substitutes (no need to compile.)

Troubleshooting

No issues currently reported!

Nyxt

Nyxt is a "keyboard-oriented, infinitely extensible web browser designed for power users." It is written in Common Lisp, and has keybindings for Emacs, vi, and CUA. Put simply, it is a "Common Lisp based Qutebrowser." Everything is configurable in Lisp, and the browser itself is based on buffers instead of tabs, and uses WebKit and WebEngine. It does not currently have support for WebExtensions, but is underway.

Homepage: nyxt.atlas.engineer

Installation

Nyxt is in the official repository, and has substitutes (no need to compile.)

Troubleshooting

No HTML video

Ensure that you have the following packages installed:

"gst-libav"
"gst-plugins-bad"
"gst-plugins-base"
"gst-plugins-good"
"gst-plugins-ugly"

Qutebrowser

Qutebrowser is a keyboard and vi focused browser. It is written and configured in Python. It is similar to dwb and Nyxt. Tab and adblocking support is built in.

Homepage: qutebrowser.org

Installation

Qutebrowser is in the official repository, and has substitutes (no need to compile.)

Troubleshooting

No issues currently reported!

Chromium - NF

Chromium is an open-source browser from Google. Unless you need it, Ungoogled Chromium is recommended over regular Chromium to better protect your privacy and add enhancements.

Homepage: www.chromium.org

Installation

Chromium is not in the Guix repositories, but can be installed from Nix or Flatpak (might be possible through other methods.)

Troubleshooting

No issues currently reported!

Brave - NF

Brave is a privacy-oriented Chromium-based browser. It features its own cryptocurrency, BAT, and has features such as IPFS built in.

Homepage: brave.com

Installation

Brave is not in the Guix repositories, but can be installed through Nix or Snap.

Troubleshooting

No issues currently reported!

Reporting Issues

If you have any issues with these browsers, please open an issues at the wiki repository at GitHub: github.com/systemcrafters/wiki-site. Your issues help us solve and document them for everyone!