Nordstjernen web browser

[andreasr]

Nordstjernen 1.0.1 released! https://nordstjernen.org/release-1-0-1.html

And following this release I have been working on multi process rendering separating the renderer and the GUI so that each tab gets it's own OS process, using http and shared memory as the synchronization mechanism.

https://github.com/nordstjernen-web/nordstjernen/

Thank you for all the feedback. (Sorry about the account issues, I have been super busy making this browser recently)

[therube]

I take it, that this browser is not expected to be able to run on Windows 7 x64 (cause 1.0 did not)?

[andreasr]

Nordstjernen should work on Windows. The .exe is not signet yet, so you might have to right-click on the .exe, then Properties, and then "allow" or "remove blocking". Nordstjernen will soon be on Windows Store.
Please report any issues you might have with the Pale Nordstjernen.

[therube]

nordstjernen-windows-x86_64_101.zip
Win7 x64, Sandboxie 5.33.6 (& yes, I know it is all old)

From what I can find, dcomp.dll is a Win8+ item?

Code: Select all

---------------------------
nordstjernen-browser.exe - System Error
---------------------------
The program can't start because dcomp.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem. 
---------------------------
OK   
---------------------------

(cause 1.0 did not)

Actually, that was 0.7.0 that I had looked at.

[andreasr]

Nordstjernen 1.0.3 released.

https://github.com/nordstjernen-web/nordstjernen/releases/tag/1.0.3

https://nordstjernen.org/release-1-0-3.html

605925596-555630d5-9116-4a0e-b4d6-e49eb2ead457.png

On Windows it requires at least Windows 10 because of GTK 4.

[Gemmaugr]

Nordstjernen 1.0.3 released.

Will this work on my Windows (95) ?

[Night Wing]

Nordstjernen 1.0.3 released.

Will this work on my Windows (95) ?

I'm guessing it will not because "andreasr" stated on Windows, it requires at least Windows 10 because of GTK 4.

[Gemmaugr]

I'm guessing it will not because "andreasr" stated on Windows, it requires at least Windows 10 because of GTK 4.

Ah, I totally missed the text under the image. Got it.
It was just a test of sorts anyway. I don't even use Win 95 anymore.

[jobbautista9]

Nordstjernen 1.0.3 released.

It's no longer in a single process? Well there goes my short-lived interest...

Also you've claimed before that no JavaScript JIT means W^X would be possible but this is not true. The SpiderMonkey in UXP has supported W^X from the very beginning despite it using JIT; Firefox's did it from version 46 (before UXP's fork point), and only disabled it by default on all platforms in version 116 (except OpenBSD where W^X is mandatory) because they saw the performance trade-off not being worth it (probably because their support for W^X is designed for a single-process model in the first place, but it looks like the alternate method which would be designed for multiple proce introduces overhead across all processes too anyway).

[andyprough]

Nordstjernen 1.0.1 released! https://nordstjernen.org/release-1-0-1.html

And following this release I have been working on multi process rendering separating the renderer and the GUI so that each tab gets it's own OS process, using http and shared memory as the synchronization mechanism.

https://github.com/nordstjernen-web/nordstjernen/

Thank you for all the feedback. (Sorry about the account issues, I have been super busy making this browser recently)

This has been an interesting side-discussion, but it apparently has nothing to do with UXP and now there have been multiple complaints from long-time forum members that the postings either looks suspicious or irrelevant, that some of the posts and nearly all the work looks likely to have been AI generated, and in any case promotions for this project probably don't belong on this forum. So why don't you spend some time telling us why we should continue to host this discussion - Are there any planned future connections between your project and UXP? Are you presently using or planning to use some UXP technology in this project?

You've been pretty good about answering questions as best you can and trying to interact with our developers in this thread, so please tell us a reason to leave this thread open, something that has to do with the technology that this forum is here to support. If there are no connections then we will soon be closing this thread and you will need to find other outlets for announcing your releases.

[athenian200]

This has been an interesting side-discussion, but it apparently has nothing to do with UXP and now there have been multiple complaints from long-time forum members that the postings either looks suspicious or irrelevant, that some of the posts and nearly all the work looks likely to have been AI generated, and in any case promotions for this project probably don't belong on this forum. So why don't you spend some time telling us why we should continue to host this discussion - Are there any planned future connections between your project and UXP? Are you presently using or planning to use some UXP technology in this project?

I do think we should be clear that the AI-generated nature has nothing to do with us closing the thread if it happens, though, and more just that it's irrelevant to our community. I don't necessarily want to shut the door to someone using an LLM to generate something actually relevant to us, this just isn't. Overreacting to AI use for its own sake isn't something I want to see normalized here...

[andyprough]

I do think we should be clear that the AI-generated nature has nothing to do with us closing the thread if it happens, though, and more just that it's irrelevant to our community. I don't necessarily want to shut the door to someone using an LLM to generate something actually relevant to us, this just isn't. Overreacting to AI use for its own sake isn't something I want to see normalized here...

I agree, but if some of the posts and the code appear to be AI generated AND it has no connection to UXP, the combination could be an issue. We don't want to be hosting discussions and promotions for literal AI bots. Not that I'm accusing @andreasr of being an AI bot, I assume that any use of AI for their posting has to do with language translation into English, which I find very useful myself when translating from other languages. But you see where the combination of all factors could lead. We wouldn't want to be hosting marketing materials and links to code for literal AI bots and open the door to AI infestation.

[Moonchild]

I've been increasingly annoyed that we're pretty much being used as a publication platform here, so from that perspective I do want to see some more constructive links to our project, underlying tech and user community.

[athenian200]

I agree, but if some of the posts and the code appear to be AI generated AND it has no connection to UXP, the combination could be an issue. We don't want to be hosting discussions and promotions for literal AI bots. Not that I'm accusing @andreasr of being an AI bot, I assume that any use of AI for their posting has to do with language translation into English, which I find very useful myself when translating from other languages. But you see where the combination of all factors could lead. We wouldn't want to be hosting marketing materials and links to code for literal AI bots and open the door to AI infestation.

Since we don't have a substantial disagreement and I'm mostly uneasy about the anti-AI angle. I'll... just explain what I'd prefer to see instead. I'd prefer citations of rules that are in fact on the books, not vague anti-AI rhetoric and implications that it's a factor that will be considered. Maybe even an explicit statement to the contrary, something like, "After careful consideration, we find that this thread violates rule 7b against self-promotion. We don't have a problem with LLM use and that was not a factor in this decision, we would have done the same if someone had posted their Chromium fork or tried to revive a small browser engine like TkHTML here. Moreover, the description of General Discussion as a forum is 'General project discussion. Use this as a last resort if your topic does not fit in any of the other boards but it still on-topic.' The meaning of this is that we want posts here to be related to our project in some way, and as far as we can tell, Nordstjernen has no connection to UXP or Pale Moon and does not use any of our code."

I know, I know, that sounds like backseat moderating a little... but I hope you don't mind given that you are a new moderator and you will be guiding the community a bit, as a new authority figure. That is real responsibility, you know? And I've had to leave forums before because a moderator got appointed and took the community somewhere I didn't like. I doubt you would push me that far, you're a pretty reasonable guy, but I should admit I am sometimes sensitive to the way moderators frame things and the expectations they set for the community.

[andreasr]

I will behave. This is just a fun little project for me and I hope it's not too much trouble.

[Moonchild]

I will behave. This is just a fun little project for me and I hope it's not too much trouble.

The problem isn't the project itself. As you've seen I've been interested in at least checking it out briefly.
The problem I have is that this really skirts the use case of this forum, which is focused on Pale Moon, the underlying platform and engine, extensions, themes, the community around it and relevant other things that are related to or directly adjacent to Pale Moon and its siblings. I understand you want to promote Nordstjernen as far as possible to get more people to try it, but this just isn't the right channel to do so.
Considering you didn't give much of a reason to keep this open with your one-liner, I'm locking this thread and kindly ask that any further "release announcements" and similar not be posted on this forum. You're welcome to have constructive criticism about the technology involved in making it, bouncing ideas off of our community members in a constructive way, etc., but the unrelated product promotion stops here.

Thanks for understanding.