Sunday, March 16, 2008

Forthcoming changes in Bunjalloo

An update on the status of Bunjalloo. I'm fiddling about with options and how to present them at the moment. Last release saw a change in the way I deal with configuration. Up until 0.5.4, the release zip would overwrite the config.ini, search.cfg and allowed cookies file. It was pretty unlikely that many people actually changed these files, since the configurable things have been a bit limited and changing them required a bit of effort, but as options are added it is more and more likely. Well, now it will be possible to change the language and default download location from a configuration screen. The design is typically lo-fi, but seems to work okay.

Next up is to make the list of pages allowed to set cookies editable. The default behaviour of all popular browsers - allow anyone to set any cookie - is not a very wise choice from a privacy point of view. So I've gone the other way and made the list of allowed sites whitelist-based. If you're not on the list, you're not setting cookies. However, in order to add a site to the list one has to use an external editor, which isn't too user friendly. A way to do this from a settings screen is on the list of things to do.

If the release doesn't drag on, I also want to add an automatic updater, as suggested by Sarvesh. This will probably be semi-automatic - i.e. a button with "check for updates" - since the DS network is not the fastest and over zealous checking would be most irritating. This requires adding (at least) unzip support, so would be quite a big addition. It would also mean that zip files could be opened up from within Bunjalloo, which might be interesting.

If I manage all that, which is not likely, I also want to add configurable quick searches. These are searches that are triggered by typing a single letter followed by the search term into the address entry text box. Currently these are hard wired in the search.cfg file (g, y and w for Gogle, Yahoo and Wikipedia), but a system similar to Firefox's quick search wouldn't be too tough to add.

Of course if you would like to see any other features, or help speed up the addition of the above ones, patches are always welcome. I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has tried to compile the source code, and how it went.

6 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:01 am

    Excellent news. I have been using bunjalloo for quite some time and it is the only browser that I have been able to get working. It has great potential and I am glad to see there is active development. Keep up the good work.

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  2. GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!!! lol Futurama... but on the ohter side your homebrew rocks MAN!!! you are really good and I appreciate the time you put into this project!

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  3. I think if you just had it check for updates once at startup that would be not too irritating, and have an option to turn that off as well. Some (like me) might like the convenience of having it check automatically, others would prefer to manually update, so it would be a good option to have.

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  4. Thanks for all of the work you have put in this homebrew browser. I like it a lot and am very excited for later releases. Thank you

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  5. Anonymous11:33 pm

    If you need help for spanish translation send me an e-mail

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  6. Hey there, Richard! I love your work on Bunjalloo, it's my favorite DS web browser. The only problem is that I'd love to help you, man. See, I love graphic design, and would donate a bit if it meant the next release came sooner. ;)

    Hey, so if you wouldn't mind, either email me back at this address, or catch me on AIM at Forcedelta8. I much prefer AIM. :)

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