VOICE / Bitwise works new browser update 10
- Details
- Written by Roderick Klein
- Category: Software
It has been a while since the last update regarding the new web browser being developed for OS/2 and ArcaOS. For those people reading about this for the first time, here is a short summary.
BitWise Works GmbH (hereafter refered to as "BWW") and the Dutch OS/2 VOICE foundation decided in October 2017 that OS/2 and ArcaOS needed a web browser. BWW already ports and maintains a lot of open source projects; by now they maintain more then 260 DLL's which are used to compile and run open source applications on OS/2 and ArcaOS.
A lot of these DLLs have been ported to our operating system solely to keep the Firefox web browser running on OS/2 and ArcaOS. In fact, the last few years BWW has only been able to work on the Firefox browser and not much else. The main reason is that the Mozilla foundation kept making massive changes to the Mozilla products and it was difficult to keep up with them. In addition, in 2017 Mozilla switched to the RUST compiler to build Firefox; we do not have this compiler on OS/2 and it will most likely never exist on our platform.
For this reason the project was started to update the Qt framework on OS/2 and ArcaOS. Qt is a C++ framework that is used to create desktop programs, like an email client, an editor, a video player or a browser. Qt makes it easy to build applications on different platforms like Windows, Mac, Linux and of course OS/2. However, Qt itselfs needs to be ported to OS/2 first, and that is what BWW has been working on for the past 2 years. Currently we have version 5.13 available for OS/2 and ArcaOS (available through the Arca Noae Package Manager).
We need Qt 5 on OS/2 because of one component of the framework: Qt WebEngine. This large DLL contains the core code of any modern webbrowser and is essentially the same engine as used by open source Chromium, Google's Chrome and Microsoft's Edge webbrowser (no, this does not mean the Qt WebEngine sends data to Google or Microsoft; it is an open source project that does not have any vendor backdoors). We will use Qt WebEngine to bring the Falkon browser to OS/2.
An added bonus is that the Qt libraries also enables other developers to port more software to OS/2. For example, Gregg Young from the US uses Qt (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ75OV6iz0Y); Elbert Pol from the Netherlands also tests Qt and ports applictions to OS/2 and ArcaOS. However, a large project such as porting Qt cannot be done by volonteers alone; this needs paid developers, such as Dmitry Kuminov from BWW.
We had hoped that the Falkon browser for ArcaOS and OS/2 would be released in December of this year. Unfortunaly, we had some setbacks. In previous postings I explained how complex it can be to port software to OS/2 and ArcaOS; it is not just a matter of compiling the code on OS/2. In some cases new DLLs need to be ported to our platform or updated. This in turn required an upgrade of the available GCC compiler (the program that turns human readable code into machine language) from 4.9.2 to 9.2. BWW also ported this version to our operating system as it was needed for the Webkit DLL. So as an added bonus we have the latest GCC compiler for OS/2 as well. It is expected to take another 1 to 2 months before a beta of the Falkon browser can be released to the public.
(Edit 29th of December 2019: I forgot to mention the orginal ports of GCC are provided by Paul Smedley. BWW reported they tweaked some of the patches and recompiled GCC and tested it).
You should consider Seamonkey and Firefox technically dead on OS/2. More and more websites use the latest HTML techniques and have stopped working or will stop working on OS/2 and ArcaOS. You may already experience websites now that are broken or do not display at all, weird SSL error messages, et cetera.
We need the OS/2 community to contribute to this project. BWW is company based in Austria; only the main developer Dmitry is currently being paid. Silvan Scherrer and Herwig Bauernfeind work free of charge for the company and even put in extra money so Dmitry can work on the project full-time. That is why we need your continued support for this updated browser. It has been a long journey but soon you can use your favorite operating system again with a browser that will work a lot better simply because it is up to date.
While you may not understand all the technicall details you can visit the following page to see how many DLL's are being kept up to date by BWW here: https://www.bitwiseworks.com/news/
You can support this important project in two ways:
* Buy sponsor units through the OS/2 VOICE Foundation at
http://www.os2voice.org/membership.html#bww; all proceeding of these
units will go towards the browser project.
* Support BWW directly on a monthly basis via Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/bwwbitwiseworks.
On behalf of the OS/2 VOICE board and BWW we would like to wish everybody a healthy and great 2020!
Roderick Klein
President OS/2 VOICE foundation
New web browser for OS/2 is within reach!
- Details
- Written by Roderick Klein
- Category: Software
Currently Qt 5.13.1 (the latest version from the Qt Company!) is being worked on to be released in the coming days. Qt has been released in RPM format and is being used by other developers. The Dutch OS/2 VOICE foundation started with this journey with with BWW and the OS/2 community in October 2017. We first of all wanted an up to date set of Qt DLL's for OS/2 and ArcaOS. The Qt Toolkit is a big collection of DLL's that provide a lot of GUI elements. We can port a lot of a QT applications to OS/2 and ArcaOS using this toolkit.
The Qt project has so far been in line with the time frame BWW published in the roadmap about 9 months ago! BWW is now working on porting the Qt WebEngine DLL to OS/2, which is part of the Qt Toolkit. The WebEngine module in Qt is the core engine of a web browser. This is what loads and renders webpages to be displayed on your screen. ArcaOS and OS/2 users will have in December of this year early access to a port of the Falkon web browser! You should simply be able to visit websites again without any issue's!
What we again would like to emphasize is that with Qt it does not matter which browser we port, it matters that we use Qt WebEngine. The Chrome web browser from Google uses a web engine called Chromium and it's exactly the same thing Qt WebEngine uses behind the scenes. The Chromium engine is so good that even Microsoft has decided to started using it: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/12/06/microsoft_edge_chromium/
For people concerned about privacy, the WebEngine DLL does not contain code that will send data back to Google (such as the Google Chrome browser does)! Of course when you visit Google.com with the new Falkon browser that will send your search requests to Google. But the ported browser does not have any "call home" code built in to contact Microsoft or Google.
As you all understand we more donations from the community finish this browser port! So please donate! OS/2 VOICE has been paying BWW about 2500 Euro per month, yes one developer working full time as coder costs money! I (Roderick Klein) as chairman of OS/2 VOICE has started to sell OS/2 donated software and other computers items on Ebay to collect additional funding https://www.os2world.com/past-news/79-general/22594-going-going-gone-os2voice-items-for-auction.html. This is an example of what was sold, items have shipped already!
Please make your donation here: http://www.os2voice.org/membership.html#bww
This article is a joint publication of OS/2 VOICE and BWW.
Remote OS/2 desktop support via the internet!
- Details
- Written by Roderick Klein
- Category: Software
For people running another operating systems such as Windows, MacOS or Linux, remote control software has been a normal tool to use for years already. A lot of helpdesks for example use Teamviewer. We however do not have a tool that enables people to provide suppor to OS/2 user. Older software remote control packages such as Netop OS/2 from Danware or older software such as PolyPM is no longer sold or the software is insecure.
So for who is this webpage?
People who need OS/2 support:
If you are an OS/2 user of OS/2, eComStation or ArcaOS and you have an issue you want resolved with OS/2, the Dutch OS/2 foundation might be able you to help you. Other options you have is to contact Arca Noae or a ticket here (you need to have an account created here). You can also discuss your issue here on the forum OS2WORLD forum or OS2.org for example.
Another option that OS/2 VOICE now offers with this new remote control software, if you have a working internet connection under OS/2, we can login into your OS/2 system with your help! If you have an OS/2 issue you are really stuck with it send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and if needed we can set up a remote control session. The service is free of charge. and if we resolve your issue any donation to OS/2 VOICE foundation is welcome. Any donations made to OS/2 VOICE will be used to hire OS/2 developers to develop open source software for OS/2. Note: None of the OS/2 VOICE board members will be hired to perform any of this work!
You do not have to modify anything on your network or OS/2 system to run this software. We send it via email, you can at any moment of the support session, close the remote control support session if you want. The current version of the remote control software does not provide file transfer or a chat support. However we can access your desktop. The connection is also encrypted so other parties can not break in.
Companies providing remote OS/2 support (last updated 7th of October 2018) are:
If you want to be listed service provider using this tool to provide OS/2 support to customers, please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
People who want to provide support to OS/2 users/companies.
If you want to provide support to OS/2 users or companies you can download the remote control tool and sources here.
Helpdesk package updated to the version 1.01: all executables are marked to run on a single CPU on an SMP system.
- Inside the ZIP is a document called helpdeskt.txt with instructions how to setup the server portion of the software.
- You will need to setup a port forward in your router or cable/ADSL modem
- For each customer you help you create a new package.
- When you send the "client" package to the customer via email, you might need to rename the file extension from .EXE to for example .EXQ. This is to prevent that certain email providers such as Gmail (Google) that do not except emails with attachements that contain a file name with the file extension .EXE.
Credentials
The remote control software is based on SSH and VNC server + client. Rich Walsh put the software in this single package. If you encounter any issue's with the software or you have any suggestions please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Disclaimer/License:
The disclaimer is very simple. This software is provided to anybody who wants to use it at no cost. For this reason the developer Rich Walsh, the VOICE foundation and/or its board members can not be held accountable in any way for any damages. Its provided free of charge to the world and support is provided on a best effort basis.
The fuil license can be found in the "remote control tool", in the ZIP file is a file called helpdesk.txt. See the section "License and Acknowledgements" .
New web Chromium based for OS/2 getting closer!
- Details
- Written by Roderick Klein
- Category: Software
This posting is to inform you QT is making a lot of headway but we are not at the point we can deliver you a browser, yet. The goal of the QT port is to port a Chromium based browser such as the Falcon browser to OS/2 and ArcaOS. As explained before Firefox long term is no longer an option for OS/2. For more updates posted since Oktober 2017 about this funding campaign visit our Bitwise Works QT report archive.
- We need your donations to keep coming in. You can become Bitwise Works Patreon member and donate each month.
- But you can also donate a one time amount via the OS/2 VOICE donation page.
These two screenshots, while textmode, where taken in November 2018. As posted before updates from me where slow the last couple of months duo to health issue's.
Dnslookup compiled with the latest QT version on ArcaOS.
A Downloadmanager compiled with the latest QT version on ArcaOS as textmode applications.
Its currently estimated that within the next 6 to 8 weeks (half way or end of May 2019), the first graphicall OS/2 applications can be compiled. The QT library framework delivers on average 80% of the program code required to run a QT based browser. The port of the browser it self is expected to take 6 months.
Other applications that need QT on Arca/OS2 are for example: