Rambler Browser

A fast, lightweight web browser for the GNOME desktop, built with modern web standards in mind. Rambler combines the efficiency of Zig with the power of WebKit to deliver a seamless browsing experience that integrates beautifully with your GNOME workflow.

Warning

This project is an experimental browser and is not currently considered stable for day-to-day production use.

📋 Requirements

System Dependencies

• OS: Linux (GNOME desktop recommended)
• GTK: 4.0 or later
• Libadwaita: 1.0 or later
• WebKitGTK: 6.0 or later
• GLib: 2.0 or later

Development Requirements

• Zig: 0.16.0-dev.195 or compatible
• pkg-config: For finding system libraries

Install Dependencies

Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential pkg-config \
  libgtk-4-dev libadwaita-1-dev libwebkitgtk-6.0-dev

Fedora

sudo dnf install gcc pkg-config gtk4-devel \
  libadwaita-devel webkitgtk6.0-devel

Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S base-devel pkg-config gtk4 \
  libadwaita webkitgtk-6.0

🔧 Installation

Build from Source

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/senonide/rambler.git
   cd rambler

2. Build the project

   zig build

3. Run Rambler

   zig build run

🚀 Usage

Basic Navigation

• New Tab: Ctrl+T or click the + button
• Close Tab: Ctrl+W or click the × on the tab
• Navigate: Use Back/Forward buttons or Alt+←/Alt+→
• Reload: Ctrl+R or F5
• Focus URL Bar: Ctrl+L

First Launch

Rambler starts with a welcome page that helps you get started. Simply enter a URL or search term in the address bar to begin browsing.

Data Storage

Rambler stores its data in a .rambler directory in your current working directory. This includes:

• Cookies and session data
• Local storage for websites
• Cache for faster loading
• Settings and preferences

Key Components

• BrowserApplication: Manages app lifecycle and GTK integration
• BrowserWindow: Main UI window with navigation controls
• TabData: Individual tab management with WebKit WebViews
• StorageManager: Handles persistent data and WebKit context
• Logger: Centralized logging for debugging and monitoring

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Whether you're fixing bugs, adding features, or improving documentation, your help is appreciated.

Getting Started

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature
3. Make your changes following our coding standards
4. Test your changes: zig build test
5. Commit your changes: git commit -m 'Add amazing feature'
6. Push to your fork: git push origin feature/amazing-feature
7. Open a Pull Request

Coding Guidelines

• Follow Zig's style conventions
• Use meaningful variable and function names
• Add comments for complex logic
• Keep functions focused and small
• Write tests for new functionality
• Follow GNOME HIG for UI changes

🗺️ Roadmap

Version 0.1.0 (Current)

• Basic tabbed browsing
• Navigation controls
• WebKit integration
• GNOME/Libadwaita UI
• Memory optimization
• Persistent storage

Version 0.2.0

• Bookmark management
• History system
• Download manager
• Keyboard shortcuts customization
• Search engine configuration

Version 0.3.0

• Sync capabilities
• Advanced privacy controls

📄 License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.

The GPL v3 ensures that Rambler remains free and open source software, and that any derivatives must also be open source.