Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Afternoon, gang.

I thought it was probably about time I started a new thread for this, rather than "tagging-onto" the end of @ndujoe1 's thread.....especially given that I'm now using this fairly regularly myself. So; this will be the place to find the Brave-portable browser from now on.

I don't know how they've done it, but despite being based around Chromium - like every other 'clone' - the Brave team have somehow managed to make their browser open considerably faster than 'vanilla' Chromium. And that's very welcome.

Chromium-based browsers are on the whole becoming a very smooth experience all round. I liked them right from the word "go", nearly 15 years ago, but never thought they'd become quite this good.

Absolutely everything here works as expected.....and, as I discovered a little while back, the built-in video-chat client is in fact simply a re-badged "JitsiMeet". Which, in my humble opinion, is by far & away the very best of the open-source offerings..!

So; overall, an extremely competent browser.

-----------------------------------------------

We're currently at v1.50.121 - based around Chromium v112.

The 'portable' package will always be found here:- https://mega.nz/folder/CPxnQQIJ#9jWxpqpaKUWCFjA-ayteQQ

I shan't be keeping the repo package up-to-date any longer; instead, I will leave this to the user to run the updater when they first download it.

As always:-

• Download

• Unzip

• Move the extracted 'portable' directory anywhere you like, though preferably outside the 'save'

• Click to enter

• Click on 'LAUNCH' to run it entirely as a portable application - the profile is, as usual, created inside the portable directory. For greater system integration, a Menu entry may be added using the supplied scripts, if one is required

---------------------------------------------

Brave-portable now has a built-in updater, courtesy of @fredx181 . You'll find the 'UpdateBrave' script in the top level of the portable, alongside the 'LAUNCH' & Menu-entry scripts. Please read the 'UpdateReadMe' file, as this explains how to use it.

---------------------------------------------

Remember; these things run quite happily from a flash drive, or other external drive.....so long as it's suitably formatted with a Linux file-system.

Enjoy. Any feedback, y'all know where to find me; I'm never very far away.

Mike.

I have putting it off for a while now but i took the bait and downloaded and ran your portable.
Runs great.
He is a bit overwhelming with the settings and uses acronyms i am not aware...IFPS...
Overall it is fast and competent..Need a sort of setup guide because i am not certain if an adblock extension is required with this as brave seems to handle the ads just fine on it's own.

Definately different from the rest of the chromium clones.I really need to do some research on some of these settings and it includes it's own flags as well..

Quick to start up but might be a bit too much for my tastes.But i will keep him around and do a bit of dabbling to see how the wind blows.

Thank you for this.

xenial wrote: ↑Sat Jun 18, 2022 10:30 am

Quick to start up but might be a bit too much for my tastes.But i will keep him around and do a bit of dabbling to see how the wind blows.
Thank you for this.

Yes, this browser starts up lightning fast. Ridiculously fast actually, almost instantaneously. I'm keeping it on hand, though I've literally been able to do everything I want with LibreWolf's standard appimage, symlinking the profile folder outside the pupsave, so LibreWolf stays in sync with my different puppies. I also use @mikewalsh's Ungoogled Chromium anytime I need to log in to google, which I do as infrequently as humanly possible.

Brave is a great option to run basically 'clean' with no addons, as I have LibreWolf's theme tweaked and various useful addons installed like 'print-pdf,' 'uBlock,' and 'color-changer.'

But as you say, Brave is a little different and takes some re-learning.

Well, I'm now realizing that both Ungoogled-Chromium-portable, and Brave-portable have the one similar issue, that is they don't let me download. I'm always confused by that spot thing, and I remember at one time in the distant past I was using the permission changer script which seemed to work on one OS and not the other, referring to jackalpup and fossapup, which are really pretty much the same. I restarted with fresh systems several times since then.

So what should I do differently to be able to download without 'permission denied' failure?

I think this is one of the reasons I always stick with LibreWolf appimage. I can update quickly by replacing the appimage, and with a symlinked profile folder, and a simple desktop file, it's always good to go.

However, I'm really wanting to use Brave-portable and Ungoogled-Chromium.

I've also been toying with the Min Browser which I installed from a debian package. That's an interesting browser, though not sure if I like it yet.

@geo-c
Hi,
I had a similar issue with downloads and i discovered it was in relation to a setting within chromium in regard to allowing multiple file downloads.It is a setting within chromium/brave itself.

Sorry if not much help but it cured it for me.Also it could be a permissions issue within spot although i am quite sure you are aware of this.

geo_c wrote: ↑Mon Jun 27, 2022 5:02 am

Well, I'm now realizing that both Ungoogled-Chromium-portable, and Brave-portable have the one similar issue, that is they don't let me download. I'm always confused by that spot thing, and I remember at one time in the distant past I was using the permission changer script which seemed to work on one OS and not the other, referring to jackalpup and fossapup, which are really pretty much the same. I restarted with fresh systems several times since then.

So what should I do differently to be able to download without 'permission denied' failure?

I don't have a working version of Puppy on this laptop, but if spot set up similarly to a multiuser system you will have a directory for user spot, which if like a multiuser system will likely be at /home/spot. Since you are talking about using Chromium as spot then any downloads from there would have to end up in a directory that has appropriate permissions for use by user spot. So if spot home directory is in /home then ls -al should likely show that directory /home/spot is owned by user spot with user permissions rwx. Likewise for say /home/spot/Downloads.
You can actually save to any directory you wish as long as you give spot the appropriate permissions to wherever the directory is. For example, in similar run-as-spot type situation, when I want to save to a plugged in usb stick I usually create a directory on it specially for spot use (whilst I am user root). Let's say it was /mnt/sdb1/anydir.

I'd simply use the following command to make spot have ownership rights:

mkdir -P /mnt/sdb1/anydir
chown -R spot:spot /mnt/sdb1/anydir

The -R won't be necessary if anydir is a newly made directory, but will cover the case if you wish spot to have ownership access to an already created directory that already contained subdirectories and files. The -R simply means 'Recursive' such that spot then owns the whole directory and all its contents (subdirs, files and so on). That usually gives spot rwx permissions to that directory and its subdirectories so downloads from Chromium will work to any of these locations.

Similarly /home/spot (if there is such) should be owned by spot, but if not:

chown -R spot:spot /home/spot

would make sure spot was the owner (assuming chown command works in usual way on a Puppy system, which I imagine it will).

Of course you wouldn't make spot the owner of any directory that must be owned by user root (e.g. /etc or /usr and other main system directories in the hierarchy, but as long. as you don't change permissions of system directories and files you have complete control over the matter, and it is fine to have an outer directory owned by user root but a specially created subdirectory owned by say 'spot'; e.g. /mnt/sdb1 owned by root but /mnt/sdb1/anydir owned by spot).

In summary, when chromium fails to download it likely means you have things set up such that it is trying to download to a directory owned by root; best then to go to Chromium -> Settings -> Advanced -> Downloads and make sure the download directory is either owned by spot or set it to be "Ask where to save each file before downloading" - that's what I usually do).

@geo_c :-

The PermissionChanger utility I put together is available as a standalone .pet. However, as wiak is saying, you do need to make sure spot has ownership rights to the /spot/Downloads directory.

More recent Pups all have a /home directory, with /spot within it. This is analagous to the /home/user directory that is standard practice in mainstream distros. I usually remove the existing /root/spot/directory, then sym-link /home/spot across to /root/spot, and reset permissions accordingly (even the sym-link will need resetting with 'chown'). This has the advantage of satisfying those apps that insist on running as a 'normal user'; even with /root/spot set to 'spot' ownership, they'll turn their nose up at the '/root' part, and refuse to behave!

Almost invariably, if you copy a Puppy - or any portion thereof - to any other Puppy, anything that DID have spot permissions will get changed back to root ownership, and the permissions will need resetting again.

If you want the standalone PermissionsChanger, let me know, and I'll let ya have the link for it.

Mike.

mikewalsh wrote: ↑Mon Jun 27, 2022 10:51 am

@geo_c :-

The PermissionChanger utility I put together is available as a standalone .pet. However, as wiak is saying, you do need to make sure spot has ownership rights to the /spot/Downloads directory.

More recent Pups all have a /home directory, with /spot within it. This is analagous to the /home/user directory that is standard practice in mainstream distros. I usually remove the existing /root/spot/directory, then sym-link /home/spot across to /root/spot, and reset permissions accordingly (even the sym-link will need resetting with 'chown'). This has the advantage of satisfying those apps that insist on running as a 'normal user'; even with /root/spot set to 'spot' ownership, they'll turn their nose up at the '/root' part, and refuse to behave!

Almost invariably, if you copy a Puppy - or any portion thereof - to any other Puppy, anything that DID have spot permissions will get changed back to root ownership, and the permissions will need resetting again.

If you want the standalone PermissionsChanger, let me know, and I'll let ya have the link for it.

Mike.

Thanks guys. Let me tackle this one point at a time in order of perceived probability:

• "copy a Puppy" - If you mean copy a savefile using a file manager, I do that daily, usually more than once. If merely copying the save as opposed to say only using the pupsave backup routine, resets the spots permissions, then I'd say that's likely my problem.

• Fossapup and Jackalpup are set up as you point out, with a /home/spot/Downloads structure, and a symlink in /root to the /home/spot directory. So I'm wondering if you're suggesting I should delete the currently symlinked /root/spot and re-symlink it.

• I'm not well versed in using the chown command, but I'll work with the chown suggestion @wiak gave, and see what I get. Maybe I should start there before deleting the current /root/spot symlink.

• chromium allowing multiple file downloads - I don't see that setting in Ungoogle Chromium's normal settings, perhaps that's in the chrome:config deeper settings.

AND...

doing chown on the /home/spot directory did the trick. I suppose I should do the same to the /root/spot symlink just in case some application needs to use it.

So the question is: Does copying a pupsave reset the spot directory permissions? Should I use rsync instead with the 'copy hard link' and 'copy symlink' options?

I've been thinking about using rsync scripts to copy and move my pupsaves rather than even using 'pupsave-backup' as I have been using rsync scripts to keep my data files congruent across devices and storage media.

geo_c wrote:

So the question is: Does copying a pupsave reset the spot directory permissions? Should I use rsync instead with the 'copy hard link' and 'copy symlink' options?

Using e.g. cp -a spot /pathto/destination should preserve ownership of files and folders, using rsync will too with right options.

fredx181 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 27, 2022 7:33 pm

Using e.g. cp -a spot /pathto/destination should preserve ownership of files and folders, using rsync will too with right options.

Just to be clear, is the cp -a spot command only for spot owned directories? If I'm copying an entire pupsave directory it will have /root ownership, and /spot ownership, so it will be a mix, and therefore the cp -a spot command may not apply in that case, correct? TBH I don't fully understand some of the switch descriptions in the cp command --help file. I see the -a option is for archiving all, but I don't know the extent of the permissions preservation in the archive.

The cp -a spot is just example, if you do e.g cp -a /pupsave /destination/ , everything will be preserved (ownership, permissions) in /destination same as in /pupsave .

Thanks @fredx181, that's very helpful.

And back to Brave, so I don't hi-jack the thread, since the Download permission is now working, I went ahead and installed my standard set of addons, and it's a very nice browser. I like the way it has Tor built in, though I really never use it, still a great option.

One thing I wish Chrome clones would include is a 'never save history' option like LibreWolf, or at least a clear history on exit. That always has to be done manually.

Other than that the combination of LibreWolf, Ungoogled Chromium, and Brave kind of covers the browser bases for me. I used to like Palemoon, and I hope that the work continues there, but the last releases kind of killed it for me for the time being.

@geo-c
Hi,
Brave does clear all data upon exit.In the advanced tab of the clear history window.
Settings--more-tools-clear history.

xenial wrote: ↑Mon Jun 27, 2022 9:43 pm

@geo-c
Hi,
Brave does clear all data upon exit.In the advanced tab of the clear history window.
Settings--more-tools-clear history.

This is true, but unless I'm doing it wrong, all of the categories have to be re-checked every time the browser is booted up. Which is kind of the same as having to use the clear history window every time.

Now then, gang...

It's update time again. Here's the Puppy-portable version of v1.40.107, released 8 days ago. There's two newer stable releases in the GitHub listings, released respectively 5 days and 3 days ago, but I can't give you these.....for the simple reason they're only available in Windows.exe files and Android .apks.

I mentioned this at the start of the thread; not all releases seem to be built in all platform's packages. Take it up with the Brave devs, not me!

---------------------------------------------------

As I mentioned in the Ungoogled_Chromium thread a little bit earlier, with the move by most dev teams to Chromium v103, it's the end of the road for the clones under Tahrpup64. Everything is just too old, and even the main shared library that contains the bulk of the code is now returning a "symbol lookup error", of a type I've not seen before.

The realistic base-line for natively running any of the clones has now got to be Xenialpup64, at an absolute minimum.....and in another couple of major releases, even this will like as not be too old. Google are starting to keep the code-base bang-up-to-date and compiled on the very newest systems with a vengeance now.

(The alternative is to run them in a newer Puppy 'chroot'.....quite feasible, given Pup's relatively small size and the fact that many of us now have more RAM & storage to play with than ever before. No need to slim the chrooted Puppy down - just run it as-is - the whole process is pretty simple, thanks to watchdog's pioneering use of chroots in Puppy. I use them extensively.)

-----------------------------------------------------

The download link will be found in post #1. As usual:-

• Download

• Unzip

• Move the portable directory anywhere you like.....though preferably, outside the 'save'

• Click to enter

• Use the 'LAUNCH' script directly to keep it completely portable. Or, scripts will add or remove a Menu entry from the portable's location, in the interests of greater system integration and ease-of-use...

Posting from it now. Enjoy, y'all!

Mike.

.....and another update to Brave-portable. We're now at v1.41.100 - based around Chromium v103.0.5060.134.

Just more of the same; fast-opening, stable, reliable, with the nifty features you've come to expect.

Links as usual in post #1, along with usage instructions as always.

Enjoy!

Mike.

Upgrade time again, boys & girls.

We're now at v1.43.81.....based around Chromium v104.0.5112.102.

Still as good as ever. Link as in post #1.

Enjoy...

Mike.

Morning, gang.

It's upgrade time again, so here's the Puppy-portable version of v1.44.108.

Now based around Chromium 106. Nothing startling to report.....basically more of the same Brave 'goodness'. I still maintain this browser seems to start noticeably quicker than most of the other clones.

------------------------------------------------

Download link as in post #1. Same as always:-

• D/l

• Unzip

• Place anywhere you like.....outside the 'save' is better.

• Click to enter

• Click 'LAUNCH' to fire it up

Scripts allow adding a Menu entry if one is needed. Otherwise, just run from the 'LAUNCH' script every time.

Have fun.

Mike.

Hello mike.
I downloaded from post one and updated brave but it is reporting as v1.43.81..not v1.44.108.
Just thought i would mention it mate.

thanks for your work.

xenial wrote: ↑Thu Oct 27, 2022 4:26 pm

Hello mike.
I downloaded from post one and updated brave but it is reporting as v1.43.81..not v1.44.108.
Just thought i would mention it mate.

thanks for your work.

@xenial :-

Hm. Odd. I thought I had uploaded the new version. Never mind; I've re-uploaded it again, so.....it should be the right one this time.

See how you get on with it. Let me know what happens. My MEGA a/c is misbehaving ATM; I've got a Rubbish bin full of discards that won't clear, for some reason....

Mike.

@mike walsh.

Working perfectly mike.
Thank you kind sir.

Brave is an absolute blast! Thank you

here is a little test im doing over time when im trying new browser versions

https://start.me/p/ekaokP/test

im on imppup 64 9.6.1 0n a lenovo ideapad gaming 3

kindly gnimmelf

Hello,
I installed Brave in Fossa 64.
Everything works fine except that I cannot open my e mail on https://www.gmx.fr/. I go to "connexion" but it doesn't open the window where I have to write my ID and password.

Just a guess. But check the settings, both Brave's defaults and that of any add-on. The guess is that (perhaps for reasons of security) the front-page, https://www.gmx.fr/ passes off login to another page. Maybe requiring setting a 3rd party cookie?

FWIW, Iron gets further, showing a clickable 'Accept' button; but stays on that GUI with a spinner which never ends.
Ungoolged-Chromium and firefox --without any addons-- gets you to content.

Along with the actual content Ungoogled-Chromium displays advertisements with photos of attractive women and text such as 'Meet on Line'. Guessing again, the filter of other web-browsers blocking those ads may be practicing 'over-kill'.

Extracted the latest to my 'data' partition. Works OOTB (nice to have cache size limits in the launch script) in pretty standard frugal installs of the current S15Pup64 and VoidPup64, both running with LXDE/PCManFM ydrvs, and in a minimized non-savefile non-adrv, non-bdrv, non-fdrv, ydrv (7.9 MiB) driven FP64_CE_radky6 install. Imported my bookmarks from ungoogled/slimjet smoothly, and cleaning up the Brave twinkle and setting up a 'newtab' page, fonts/backgrounds, and the Qwant and MetaGer search engines wasn't bad. Runs well but all the underlying Brave stuff makes me a bit nervous, maybe needlessly so. Ungoogled-chromium continues to serve well and I've made my peace with the barebones nature of it. All of the SlimJet64s since 35.0.3.0 fail on youtube and one of our banks balks at the chromium version in Slimjet64 v35.0.3.0, hence the dalliance with un-googled and Brave.

Thanks again,

Morning, gang.

Okay. Here's the most recent 'stable' release of Brave-portable for Puppy; v1.46.153 - based around Chromium 108.0.5359.128.

Just as fast and snappy as ever; if anything, it seems a touch faster still. I'm not investigating, and I'm certainly not complaining! And just as reliable...

------------------------------------------------------

You can find the new release at the link in post #1, as always. Usual caveats apply:-

• Download

• Unzip

• Place anywhere you like, though outside the 'save' is best

• Click to enter

• Click 'LAUNCH' to fire it up

Scripts permit the addition/removal of a Menu entry, should one be required.

Enjoy.

Mike.

Yep, just as advertised Posting from it now in my minimized FP64_CE_radky6 install.

Thanks again,

Trying to make this work in a pristine FP64 9.6

mikewalsh wrote: ↑Mon Jan 09, 2023 2:00 am

You can find the new release at the link in post #1, as always. Usual caveats apply:-

• Download

Done.

• Unzip

Done.

• Place anywhere you like, though outside the 'save' is best

Left it in /root/Downloads. Should be good enough for a test.

• Click to enter

Done.

• Click 'LAUNCH' to fire it up

Done. Does nothing. When lauched from command line fires up an eror message:

# /root/Downloads/Brave-portable64/LAUNCH
ash: exec: line 7: /root/Downloads/Brave-portable64/brave/brave: Permission denied

Checked the brave binary. It's executable.
Checked the script run-as-spot and found the offending command in line 82: exec '"$CMD"'
Piped $CMD to Geany to see what it looks like:

/root/Downloads/Brave-portable64/brave/brave --user-data-dir=/root/Downloads/Brave-portable64/PROFILE/spot/Brave-Browser --disk-cache-size=5000000 --media-cache-size=5000000 --allow-outdated-plugins

Looks OK to me, so ran the command from command line.
No dice. Next error message:

[25043:25043:0109/151632.911911:ERROR:zygote_host_impl_linux.cc(100)] Running as root without --no-sandbox is not supported. See https://crbug.com/638180.

Ahhh...,needs --no-sandbox. I'm almost there. Added --no-sandbox argument to the command, and Bingo!. Finally a browser window,
but with a bizarre warning. "Stability and security will suffer"
Mike, you either need more caveats or more code to make this process easier for innocent users like me

"Stability and security will suffer"
Same message if you run Chromium with no-sandbox. Haven't seen any stability issues though...