How I use spot for browsing

[mow9902]

This is not a recommendation or advice about how you should use spot for browsing, but simply an explanation of how I use it, and I am sharing it in case it is of interest to anyone else.

I use several different browsers for different tasks, and almost all of the time I use them as the root user. I know...there are many who will point out the potential security implication of this. (Perhaps foolishly) I believe myself savvy enough to understand the risks and avoid them with good browsing practices.

However, there are some situations where I need to click on a link where I don't really get the opportunity to ensure that the purported destination is as expected - e.g.

• In an application I might click on the 'help' or 'check for update' options, or the 'visit the website' option

• I might click on a link in an email

• I may download some attachment from the web which opens automatically using the default browser
  etc

These are the situations where I want to use spot for the browser - so this is what I have done:

• I use LibreWolf (the appimage) as my default browser

• I store the LibreWolf.AppImage in my "applications" directory along with all the other apps I use

• In that directory I have a symlink LibreWolf pointing to the LibreWolf Appimage I am currently using

-This symlink has been assigned to user spot using the 'chown' command eg chown -h spot:spot LibreWolf
-I have created a small script named run-librewolf-spot.sh and assigned it to spot using the 'chown' command
-This script executes the command - run-as-spot /mnt/home/my-applications/programs/LibreWolf/LibreWolf --profile /home/spot/.librewolf "$@" &

When the script is first executed it will create the file .librewolf in /home/spot

I know that some people would not like this because it adds the librewolf profile into the save folder/file and increases it's size. But - I like it this way because if I ever have to restore my save folder/file from a backup, then this default browser profile is also restored and I don't have to do anything extra.

• In /usr/local/bin/defaultbrowser I have changed the command to execute this script eg exec /mnt/home/my-applications/programs/LibreWolf/run-librewolf-spot.sh "$@"

• In the menu Setup - Set Default Apps - I have set the default browser to /mnt/home/my-applications/programs/LibreWolf/run-librewolf-spot.sh

So, whenever I click on a link which invokes the default browser (usually done by executing the xdg-open command) it will open the link in my 'spot' user version of LibreWolf.

Whenever I want to update the LibreWolf appimage,

• I delete the current appimage (or rename it to .previous)

• then after downloading the latest appimage I use the 'chown' command to assign it to the spot user ie chown spot:spot LibreWolf.x86.AppImage

That's it. Any application or link invoking the default browser will be opened in the spot version of LibreWolf.

[pp4mnklinux]

Wow, what a good explanation.

I did something similar with slimjet. I used @mikewalsh portable versión (based in slimjet 39) and changing the slimjet folder I updated it, but...

... after versión 41 this method doesn't work.

Do u know why?

If any one wanna try and develop a portable versión of Slimjet 45 it could be fantastic.

Thanks in advance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Link to official versions of slimjet:
https://www.slimjetbrowser.com/release/archive/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(I made a v44.0.2 slimjet portable versión but suddenly it stopped working and I went back to v41)

Link to slimjet v44.0.2 for easyos:
viewtopic.php?t=12803

[mow9902]

@pp4mnklinux

I am using fossapup64 9.6 with kernel 6.0.12

Slimjet is just a little different - mainly because (in my experience) it wants to be launched via the supplied "flashpeak-slimjet" wrapper. Also it is a normal 'directory of programs' rather than an appimage.
Not a problem - after copying the slimjet programs into your desired directory (eg /root/my-applications/ ...or whatever you use), then I just edit the (usually) last line in 'flashpeak-slimjet' wrapper so it reads what I want eg:

exec -a "$0" "$HERE/slimjet" --user-data-dir=/home/spot/slimjet --disk-cache-dir=/home/spot/.cache/cache-slimjet --ignore-certificate-errors --no-sandbox --test-type "$@" &

This worked fine for me with slimjet version 44.0.2.0
I'm certainly no expert on this (or any browser) ..so I don't know if using the --no-sandbox option 'negates' the restricted spot functionality or not - but I do know that it won't load without it. You will need to check with others who are more knowledgeable on this point.

[pp4mnklinux]

Thanks @mow9902 , I'll try it as soon as I will back at home.

Thanks a lot again.

Have a nice day, my friend.-

CHEERS

@pp4mnklinux

I am using fossapup64 9.6 with kernel 6.0.12

Slimjet is just a little different - mainly because (in my experience) it wants to be launched via the supplied "flashpeak-slimjet" wrapper. Also it is a normal 'directory of programs' rather than an appimage.
Not a problem - after copying the slimjet programs into your desired directory (eg /root/my-applications/ ...or whatever you use), then I just edit the (usually) last line in 'flashpeak-slimjet' wrapper so it reads what I want eg:

exec -a "$0" "$HERE/slimjet" --user-data-dir=/home/spot/slimjet --disk-cache-dir=/home/spot/.cache/cache-slimjet --ignore-certificate-errors --no-sandbox --test-type "$@" &

This worked fine for me with slimjet version 44.0.2.0
I'm certainly no expert on this (or any browser) ..so I don't know if using the --no-sandbox option 'negates' the restricted spot functionality or not - but I do know that it won't load without it. You will need to check with others who are more knowledgeable on this point.

[pp4mnklinux]

Hi @mow9902 :

I tried to follow all your instructions, I worked with a fresh slimjet install, with the old one, with... and it was impossible for me made this software works.

I thought the error could be in the linked installation directories, so I modified those links, I tried to use absolute links, I used @mikewalsh portable slimjet 39 as a master, I... I... I... nothing.

Sometimes, the problem appears when you use your google profile, so I stopped using it, I use a new google account, I used... a lot of thing but nothing happened.

I sent you ( @mow9902 ) mail privately and to your mail account, I hope you can read them.

Please, if any of you can achieve a 44 or 45 slimjet portable browser, please , share it so the rest of us can use it (It has really useful characteristics)

Thanks a lot for your time.

CHEERS.

[fredx181]

Hi @mow9902 :

I tried to follow all your instructions, I worked with a fresh slimjet install, with the old one, with... and it was impossible for me made this software works.

I thought the error could be in the linked installation directories, so I modified those links, I tried to use absolute links, I used @mikewalsh portable slimjet 39 as a master, I... I... I... nothing.

Sometimes, the problem appears when you use your google profile, so I stopped using it, I use a new google account, I used... a lot of thing but nothing happened.

I sent you ( @mow9902 ) mail privately and to your mail account, I hope you can read them.

Please, if any of you can achieve a 44 or 45 slimjet portable browser, please , share it so the rest of us can use it (It has really useful characteristics)

Thanks a lot for your time.

CHEERS.

Not sure, you want slimjet run as root ? If so:
Probably you need to change to this too near the top in 'flashpeak-slimjet' wrapper (if all these lines are not already commented out) :

Code: Select all

# Kent@FlashPeak:
# Check current user
#if [ "`whoami`" = "root" ]; then
#  echo "Don't run this as root."
#  exit;
#fi

Then you should be able to run as root with the --no-sandbox option.

[pp4mnklinux]

@fredx181 .-

I tryed to do what u told me, but I made some errors, it doesn't work.

Can u send me the correct program folder so I only need to copy and start using it?

Please.

[fredx181]

@fredx181 .-

I tryed to do what u told me, but I made some errors, it doesn't work.

Can u send me the correct program folder so I only need to copy and start using it?

Please.

Sorry, I tested v39 earlier running as root and was fine, now upgraded to newest v 44.0.5.0 and from what I tested it's no good to run it as root (had many crashes during testing), so looks like it's really required to run as unprivileged user (spot) (that way I had no crashes).

[pp4mnklinux]

Hi, @fredx181 , I'll try to download it and test it on my computer (Where did you upload the portable version with slimjet 45? Can you post the link? )

Thanks a lot for your work and help (only one more question.- Is there any way to star it always as spot - That is, click and run, haha)

THANKS AGAIN !!!

[mow9902]

@pp4mnklinux

You said:

Hi @mow9902 :

I tried to follow all your instructions, I worked with a fresh slimjet install, with the old one, with... and it was impossible for me made this software works.

I thought the error could be in the linked installation directories, so I modified those links, I tried to use absolute links, I used @mikewalsh portable slimjet 39 as a master, I... I... I... nothing.

Sometimes, the problem appears when you use your google profile, so I stopped using it, I use a new google account, I used... a lot of thing but nothing happened.

I sent you ( @mow9902 ) mail privately and to your mail account, I hope you can read them.

Please, if any of you can achieve a 44 or 45 slimjet portable browser, please , share it so the rest of us can use it (It has really useful characteristics)

Thanks a lot for your time.

I have uploaded slimjet v44 to mediafire - you can download the tar file from here: https://app.mediafire.com/r1du2kjbc7n72

steps:
1. download the tar file and extract it into a directory of your choice - put it somewhere outside of the savefolder
2. navigate to /home/spot and create a directory "slimjet"
3. open a terminal window in /home/spot
4. change the ownership of the (newly created) slimjet directory to 'spot' with the command 'chown spot:spot slimjet
5. navigate to the directory where you extracted the tar file
6. open a terminal and run ./flashpeak-slimjet. I have edited the last line of this file to point the user-data directory to /home/spot/slimjet

This works for me.

Also - you should not refer to this as "portable" because although the program directory is outside of the savefolder, the spot profile (slimjet) still exists within the directory /home/spot/slimjet folder you created.

[pp4mnklinux]

Hi @mow9902 , thanks for answering so fast... and so complete.

I tested it but it gives me errors (the soft hang on). Tomorrow I'll try it again (if my work allows me).

Thanks a lot for your interest. Have a nice day.

´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´
N.b.- I'm working with EasyOs Escarthgap/daedalus 6.4 (the problem could be there)

Edited:

I will continue, but first results show the error whith Slimjet is there and with versions newer than SlimJet41.

(Slimjet 44 worked ok with EasyOS previous versions it works correctly, the problems appeared with 6.4, sniff, sniff)

Thanks a lot

(It could be the time to stop trying to update Slimjet, and work with SlimJet41)

[fredx181]

For me the newer slimjet version 44 is no good, it crashes for example when switching to search engine DuckDuckGo.
Anyone experienced the same or similar ?

Slimjet crash

2024-10-31_11-59-59.gif (94.92 KiB) Viewed 966 times

[pp4mnklinux]

I don't know what to do with it, so.... I gonna forget it (and this hurts me a lot... haha)

Sometimes it works, sometimes doesn't...

Sometimes I can do what I want... Sometimes can't

I need a secure browser and I can't waste my time.

[media]

[/media]

[rockedge]

@fredx181 the same exact thing is happening with Slimjet as you are experiencing in NoblePup64

The last error generated in the example below seems to occur when selecting the search engine!

Code: Select all

root@pedge210:/opt/slimjet$ /opt/slimjet/flashpeak-slimjet --no-sandbox
[154927:155061:1031/091351.858894:ERROR:object_proxy.cc(576)] Failed to call method: org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.Get: object_path= /org/freedesktop/UPower: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name org.freedesktop.UPower was not provided by any .service files
[154927:155061:1031/091351.859563:ERROR:object_proxy.cc(576)] Failed to call method: org.freedesktop.UPower.GetDisplayDevice: object_path= /org/freedesktop/UPower: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name org.freedesktop.UPower was not provided by any .service files
[154927:155061:1031/091351.860095:ERROR:object_proxy.cc(576)] Failed to call method: org.freedesktop.UPower.EnumerateDevices: object_path= /org/freedesktop/UPower: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name org.freedesktop.UPower was not provided by any .service files
MESA: error: ZINK: vkCreateInstance failed (VK_ERROR_INCOMPATIBLE_DRIVER)
glx: failed to create drisw screen
[155000:155000:1031/091353.830428:ERROR:viz_main_impl.cc(166)] Exiting GPU process due to errors during initialization
MESA: error: ZINK: vkCreateInstance failed (VK_ERROR_INCOMPATIBLE_DRIVER)
glx: failed to create drisw screen
[155098:155098:1031/091353.936304:ERROR:viz_main_impl.cc(166)] Exiting GPU process due to errors during initialization
[155001:155027:1031/091354.743471:ERROR:ssl_client_socket_impl.cc(878)] handshake failed; returned -1, SSL error code 1, net_error -100
[155001:155027:1031/091354.752402:ERROR:ssl_client_socket_impl.cc(878)] handshake failed; returned -1, SSL error code 1, net_error -100
Created TensorFlow Lite XNNPACK delegate for CPU.
[155001:155027:1031/091405.003625:ERROR:ssl_client_socket_impl.cc(878)] handshake failed; returned -1, SSL error code 1, net_error -100
[154927:154927:1031/091405.367537:ERROR:CONSOLE(1767)] "Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read properties of null (reading 'style')", source: chrome://newtab/ (1767)
[155001:155027:1031/091416.553068:ERROR:ssl_client_socket_impl.cc(878)] handshake failed; returned -1, SSL error code 1, net_error -100
[bad_variant_access.cc : 44] RAW: Bad variant access
[154927:154927:1031/091438.811326:FATAL:bad_variant_access.cc(44)] Check failed: false. Bad variant access

[1031/091438.817857:ERROR:elf_dynamic_array_reader.h(64)] tag not found
Trace/breakpoint trap

[mikewalsh]

@rockedge / @fredx181 :-

Yah. Huh. Y'know, this is getting a wee bit silly.....n'est-ce pas?

First Midori, now Slimjet. Two decent browsers, both of which have been working flawlessly for a long time with Puppy. Midori decided to go with just about the very newest glibc it's possible to employ, and which very few distros are yet using. Now Slimjet.....also going for a much bigger step-up with the glibc, and apparently using some weird compile config stuff that seems to make it almost unusable for us.

As Fred and I found out, when building the portable version of Slimjet (the last one I managed to 'portabilize'), it was a PITA to get up-and-running. That was mostly down to Slimjet employing an odd set-up within their wrapper-script.....something none of the other 'clones' have bothered with.

What IS going on with these browsers? I'd love to know.... These guys need to understand that by building their browsers in such a way that very few people can actually use them, they're simply shooting themselves in the foot.....'cos their user-base will steadily dwindle away to nothing. (You only have to visit the Slimjet forum occasionally, and see the sheer number of people that seem to be having no end of problems with the browser. It's not just us!)

This is why Chrome itself so often ticks all the boxes for me. Unlike most clones - based directly on the Chromium source-code, and needing fairly new versions of everything - Google take the opposite tack. They grab the source-code from the the Project, and immediately compile it against a much older build environment.....which keeps it available to the greatest number of users.

Mike.

[fredx181]

I don't know what to do with it, so.... I gonna forget it (and this hurts me a lot... haha)

Sometimes it works, sometimes doesn't...

Sometimes I can do what I want... Sometimes can't

I need a secure browser and I can't waste my time.

I can't waste my time.

It will cost you a lot of time having to launch slimjet again and again after crashing
C'mon, you gotta to be kidding... taking so many times crashing for granted... ? (saw your video), there are other browsers too, you know

[pp4mnklinux]

Excuseme ... I think I made an error not explaining that this video was used to show you that with slimjet 44.0.2 crashes were so frequent as with 44.0.5 as you mention in one of your posts @fredx181

Please.

Sorry, I tested v39 earlier running as root and was fine, now upgraded to newest v 44.0.5.0 and from what I tested it's no good to run it as root (had many crashes during testing), so looks like it's really required to run as unprivileged user (spot) (that way I had no crashes).

Excuse my fault, I will try to explain it with more details next time.... if so.

P.d.-This video also tries to answer your question, (Anyone experienced the same or similar ?) viewtopic.php?p=134631#p134631

=> A pic’s worth a thousand blethers

[fredx181]

Excuseme ... I think I made an error not explaining that this video was used to show you that with slimjet 44.0.2 crashes were so frequent as with 44.0.5 as you mention in one of your posts @fredx181

Please.

Sorry, I tested v39 earlier running as root and was fine, now upgraded to newest v 44.0.5.0 and from what I tested it's no good to run it as root (had many crashes during testing), so looks like it's really required to run as unprivileged user (spot) (that way I had no crashes).

Excuse my fault, I will try to explain it with more details next time.... if so.

P.d.- The video try to answer your question, (Anyone experienced the same or similar ?) it has not other reason.

looks like it's really required to run as unprivileged user (spot) (that way I had no crashes).

FYI, I'm taking that statement back, after further testing, running as root or as spot, or/and with v44.0.2 or v44.0.5 doesn't matter (from what I tested), it's often crashing !

[pp4mnklinux]

Aha, so frequent crashing I gonna use Slimjet V41 and forget updates, thanks for your help.

Have a nice day @fredx181

[mow9902]

Well I dunno ....version 44.0.2 works for me using either root or spot - per the setup I mentioned earlier. It does not seem to crash when searching. Here is a screen image of an instance running as spot:

[pp4mnklinux]

@mow9902

When I read your post, I thought, and..... usually it is better to start from 0/scratch than try to fix things, haha, so I did this and now SlimJet is working in my system.

I wrote a post about this (mostly to remember for the future, haha) so you can read it if you want.

(I must try this method with newer slimjet versions, but with 44.0.2 I am happy enough )

Thanks everybody for your help.
https://easyosinstall.wordpress.com/20 ... in-easyos/

[fredx181]

@mow9902

When I read your post, I thought, and..... usually it is better to start from 0/scratch than try to fix things, haha, so I did this and now SlimJet is working in my system.

I wrote a post about this (mostly to remember for the future, haha) so you can read it if you want.

(I must try this method with newer slimjet versions, but with 44.0.2 I am happy enough )

Thanks everybody for your help.
https://easyosinstall.wordpress.com/20 ... in-easyos/

I'm confused , in your blog you advice to install v42.0.2 :

Then you must go to slimjet official page, go to old versions download and download 42.0.2 https://www.slimjetbrowser.com/release/ ... /42.0.2.0/

But you say:

(I must try this method with newer slimjet versions, but with 44.0.2 I am happy enough )

And ... the screenshot in your above post it shows also 44.0.2, so ... ...
I still think that v44.0.2.0 and v44.0.5.0 are not ok, just one example, as I said earlier, when switching to another search engine than the default Bing it crashes.
Version 42.0.2 (or earlier) works fine though from what I tested.

[pp4mnklinux]

Yeah @fredx181 ,I must agree with you that it doesn’t work perfectly, but the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

As you mentioned, there are some elements that can lead to errors, but they can be worked around.

For example, it’s true that you can’t change the default search engine directly, but there’s a way to do it: go to Configuration/Customize and contro Settings, then Settings, then Omnibox, and there you can select the engine you prefer.

As I said, it’s not perfect, but it serves my needs.

Have a good day, and thank you for your feedback.

[fredx181]

Yeah @fredx181 ,I must agree with you that it doesn’t work perfectly, but the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

As you mentioned, there are some elements that can lead to errors, but they can be worked around.

For example, it’s true that you can’t change the default search engine directly, but there’s a way to do it: go to Configuration, then Settings, then Omnibox, and there you can select the engine you prefer.

As I said, it’s not perfect, but it serves my needs.

Have a good day, and thank you for your feedback.

Ah, ok you do it your way, fine ! (assuming that you now use version 44, right ?)
But... (you didn't reply about it), you gave the advice to run older version 42 in your blog . (btw, what about the script flashpeak-slimjet included in the v42, does it work for puppy users to run slimjet as root OR as spot ?, don't think so )
All together... my criticism: you gave the impression (e.g. according to your post with link to your blog) that all is fine with slimjet, but in reality it's not IMO (who wants a browser that crashes in many cases ?), sorry to say, and...
Have a nice day ! .

[darksun]

this post of mine only aims and wishes to stimulate critical thinking.

The web browser is one if not the most sensitive piece of software an OS runs, in fact users most always use them to manage email accounts, home banking and other financial and shopping services, social media, and the list goes on. Plus it is a huge piece of software, many megabytes in size, hence very prone to security holes.

- a non up to date (stable) version may contains known bugs that can be used for attacks;

- downloading web software re-packaged by a forum user and uploaded to a sharing website carry risks;

There are years of experience in the field and many developers that:

- implements software managers (eg apt) with security in mind with checks, certificates, validations, and so on, hence a user should take advantage of it if not done already. If not possible an user should fetch the software from the developers' website or official resources.

- make sure to publish updates that patches known (security) vulnerabilities and an user should always use the latest stable version of a web browser; in this topic I see chromium version 126 and despite been a Firefox users since ever, I am rather confident the stable chromium version is version 130 as of today.

this post of mine only aims and wishes to stimulate critical thinking.