Ubuntu Web Remix

[rs2009]

Ubuntu Web Remix is a privacy-focused, open source alternative to Google Chrome OS/Chromium OS and it employs Firefox instead of Google Chrome/Chromium. For support, you can contact us on our Telegram groups at https://t.me/ubuntuwebdiscuss and https://t.me/ubuntuwebannounce or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ubunweb. We are currently building our website, but a temporary website can be found at https://ubuntu-web.org/.

New store updates (3 Jan 2022)

1. Added a new community store for everyone to be able to publish apps to the store.

2. Simplified the installation process of web apps. It is now a one-click process: https://twitter.com/i/status/1478020850234187778

3. Added support for removing installed web apps from the store itself.

Use the software updater to receive these updates.

20.04.3 Ubuntu Web Release Notes (Oct 2021)

Ubuntu Web 20.04.3 has now been released (Oct 2021)! You can get it from https://ubuntu-web.org/#get-it. For extremely old machines, the BIOS ISO is also available at http://linux.darkpenguin.net/distros/ubuntu-unity/ubuntu-web/20.04.3/bios.

This release includes ‘/e/ on WayDroid’. WayDroid is a new popular Anbox alternative and we have ported /e/ 10 to it, along with making a tool to manage it. So, in addition to the PWAs from the /e/ web store, you can now use Android or /e/ apps with native performance (unlike Anbox) from the /e/ store as well in Ubuntu Web. After installing the ISO, you can just launch the ‘/e/ on WayDroid’ app from the launcher and follow the steps. You’ll need a real machine (not a VM) for WayDroid to work.

Here’s how to install and use the phone (Android) apps: https://twitter.com/ubunweb/status/1459911680264073221

Here’s how to use the web apps: https://twitter.com/ubunweb/status/1459915399647035396

Any issues with Ubuntu Web 20.04.2 not booting on some UEFI machines should now be fixed in 20.04.3.

Although Waydroid is quite stable now, occassional issues can be fixed by restarting it from the ‘/e/ on Waydroid’ tool available in the Ubuntu Web ISO. Note that since WayDroid doesn’t support Nvidia for obvious reasons, if you have an Nvidia GPU, you’ll either need to use the iGPU if your CPU has one or use software-rendering (which might make things slow). Also, WayDroid doesn’t work on live sessions at the moment.

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Old 20.04.1 beta release notes (Nov 2020)

The 20.04.1 ISO can be downloaded from http://linux.darkpenguin.net/distros/ubuntu-unity/ubuntu-web/20.04.1 or https://fosstorrents.com/distributions/ubuntu-web/.

Release Notes:

1. An easy web-app (wapp) format has been created to package web-apps for the desktop (https://github.com/Ubuntu-Web/winst and https://github.com/Ubuntu-Web/wadk). You can now create your own web apps using web technologies, package them for the desktop and install them easily.

2. An experimental wapp store can be found at http://store.ubuntuweb.co/, for distributing web apps. Developers and packagers can do pull requests at https://gitlab.com/ubuntu-web/ubuntu-web.gitlab.io to contribute wapps.
   
   To install a wapp from the Open Web Store, download it to your system. Then search for ‘Run a file’ in the application launcher, select the downloaded file and click ‘OK’. After authentication, the app will be successfully installed.

3. /e/ Cloud Services integration out-of-the-box. In the near future, we’ll be working towards tighter integration with the /e/ App Store.

4. Experimental Android app support out-of-the-box (using Anbox, with all of its parts re-packaged as DEBs). Note that Android App Support may not work properly in the LiveCD or a virtual machine, but should work fine in the installed system. Also, you might have to disable Secure Boot to get Anbox to work.

5. Ubuntu Web uses Wayland by default. Also, it uses Adapta as the GTK theme and Papirus as the icon theme.

We’ll constantly be pushing over-the-air updates for any bug-fixes or improvements, based on the feedback received.

[apt-ghetto]

What does “privacy-focused” mean here? And why is this topic placed in the “Flavor” category?

[wiertelus]

Will there be a tutorial for app-making? really interested!

[franzferdinan51]

this is awesome but i got questions

1. is this just a slimmed down and skinned ubuntu install? ie. similar to lubuntu or xubuntu

2. is it more related to ubuntu touch or chrome os

3. chrome os boots in seconds what’s the boot time like at its current state

4. is firefox replaceable or is that what your stuck with

5. where can i find the OS source maybe im not looking but everything above points only to a web app store

[Branedy]

Will there be a version for Chromebook ARM systems like the ASUS Flip 100/101?

[eric-standlee]

I have an Asus flip c100p arm based chromebook. Please advise. I’d also pay anyone to make a USB drive that could install this on my Asus flip c100p.

[cefre00]

I would be also interested in an ARM build for the Pinebook Pro.

[rs2009]

@cefre00 This should be possible. I’ll first be releasing a Raspberry Pi 4 variant.

[rs2009]

Hi @Branedy and @eric-standlee, your requirements look to be the same. Unfortunately, neither Ubuntu nor Armbian supports ARM Chromebooks, so this might have to wait a bit. I’ll be releasing a Raspberry Pi 4 variant first.

[rs2009]

this is awesome but i got questions

1. is this just a slimmed down and skinned ubuntu install? ie. similar to lubuntu or xubuntu
2. is it more related to ubuntu touch or chrome os
3. chrome os boots in seconds what’s the boot time like at its current state
4. is firefox replaceable or is that what your stuck with
5. where can i find the OS source maybe im not looking but everything above points only to a web app store

@franzferdinan51 Thanks.

1. No, please refer to the release notes.
2. It is meant to be a privacy-focused, open source alternative to Chrome OS.
3. It booted to the login screen in 2 seconds - in a clean boot for me.
4. Thanks for this suggestion. Although wapps use Firefox at the moment, I’ll be pushing out an over-the-air update so that the browser is user-repleaceable.
5. The packages and source code are available in Launchpad, GitHub and Gitlab.
   
   

Will there be a tutorial for app-making? really interested!

@wiertelus Sure, I’ll write a blog post, although you can find the necessary information in the wikis of the wadk repository in GitHub.

[The_LoudSpeaker]

Honestly there’s even no need of this as we can manually put such apps in normal ubuntu using gnome-web or chromium. And it works better than this as it opens them in dedicated window and not as new tabs.

Here are some of the issues:

1. Open in tabs. Seriously? Atleast have a dedicated window for each app.

2. What happens when someone uninstalls Firefox? System breaks? Or it works with any default browser?

3. Where’s the need for this? There’s already one out there:
   https://www.howtogeek.com/217659/how-to-get-a-chrome-os-like-operating-system-on-any-pc/

4. Oh and also, GNOME isn’t the best choice for a web based distro. Something light like lxqt or xfce would be better.

Honestly Rudra, no hard feelings but it would be better if you put your energy to improving what’s already there(unity 8, other ubuntu flavours, etc) and not trying to invent stuff from skimmed versions of Ubuntu with different UIs.

[cefre00]

Sure, do your thing man! I think the PBP community would love to see something like chromeOS but privacy focused and not built on Chrome.

I hope you don’t mind but I posted this in the Pine64 forums. Let’s see what people think.

https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=12232&pid=83899#pid83899

[DAXQHome]

I am seeing many of my ChromeBoxe’s and ChromeBook’s unfortunately getting chucked into the bin because there isn’t an alternative that can be put on them due to their chip structure and ChromeOS is no longer letting them update. There’s a lot of pi stuff out there, if your gonna focus on a ChromeOS replacement - please make it work on my ASUS ChromeBox, Samsung ChromeBook, etc… those are the devices that will suck this up like honey.

And for the folks saying there’s no need for this, I disagree whole heartily - a simple drop in install ChromeOS replacement for ChromeBox’s and ChromeBook’s is very needed - lots of hardware is getting chucked thats still useful.

Please keep up the great work, and focus on your base - ChromeOS! Thanks for your work.

[jm-rf]

I totally think there’s need for something like this. It is good stuff and I’d love to see how this evolves, hopefully picks up community support and evolves into a full alternative.

Other folks point out that there are alternatives but I don’t see how the existence of other options means that you shouldn’t create another one in the first place. I’ve tried Neverware CloudReady without being able to pass from the boot screen, UbuntuWeb just boot up and run without effort.

Really interesting, keep it up!

[rs2009]

Hi @The_LoudSpeaker,

Honestly there’s even no need of this as we can manually put such apps in normal ubuntu using gnome-web or chromium.

Raman, these are not just shortcuts or web-links, but a format that I’ve proposed to package web-apps for the desktop. The wapps I’ve included in the ISO are just some examples, but it can be used to package offline web-apps too. The real potential of it will be realised once I’ve done a full integration with /e/ apps.

Open in tabs. Seriously? Atleast have a dedicated window for each app.

Hope you understand that Firefox does not support SSBs (site-specific-browsers) at the moment. Although I would not prefer Chromium-based browsers, based on the feedback received from the community, I might switch to Brave browser to give pure SSB experience.

What happens when someone uninstalls Firefox? System breaks? Or it works with any default browser?

Someone has already suggested making the browser user-configurable, and I totally agree and will be doing that.

Where’s the need for this?

I think many people on this thread have already answered your question. To add to that, we want to make Ubuntu Web Remix completely detached from Google, which is why we are working with /e/ as the main alternative to Google.

Oh and also, GNOME isn’t the best choice for a web based distro. Something light like lxqt or xfce would be better.

I’d used XFCE and KDE (since it’s gotten lighter in the last few years) for Ubuntu Web before finally zeroing in on GNOME3. FYI I’ve stripped down GNOME3 completely and it gave me the same performance as the former DEs on a 2GB RAM VM. In fact, it boots to the login screen in just 2 seconds - in a clean boot for me, as has also been reported by many users.

Honestly Rudra, no hard feelings but it would be better if you put your energy to improving what’s already there(unity 8, other ubuntu flavours, etc) and not trying to invent stuff from skimmed versions of Ubuntu with different UIs.

Raman, I’m sure you’ve heard of Cub Linux. I was fascinated by the idea of it (like many others) even after it was discontinued. In fact, I even managed to find some old ISOs of it online. So, I’m trying to work on that idea. But I understand if you don’t like it. Obviously, I can’t force you to like it, but I guess this is what is the beauty of Linux. You take what you like and ignore what you don’t.

[rockzy]

i am replying from Ubuntu Web Remix. Overall i liked the flavor, but, the store http://store.ubuntuweb.co/ redirects to https://projects.gitlab.io/auth?domain=http://store.ubuntuweb.co&state=JlMEfTbShK0z0vHPPu0RiQ== and displays no authorization ??

[rs2009]

the store http://store.ubuntuweb.co/ redirects to https://projects.gitlab.io/auth?domain=http://store.ubuntuweb.co&state=JlMEfTbShK0z0vHPPu0RiQ== and displays no authorization ??

@rockzy Thanks for pointing this out. It is fixed now. Alternatively, you can use http://ubuntu-web.gitlab.io/

[The_LoudSpeaker]

Firefox supports SSBs (isolated ones infact, ICE from peppermint does that)

Yeah I have heard of cub linux and even used it. It is nice to see the interest in bringing it back to life. But this webapp packaging with only a couple of bash scripts doesn’t seem that good idea to me. Anyone can just mess with the scripts and install unwanted stuff. Many users don’t like installing stuff from github using scripts for this very reason.

Also Cub linux was in the days when you couldn’t add webapps using browsers. Now you can, so it kills the point of cub linux. One can just install a lightweight distro and use brave/chromium /gnome-web to install webapps and use it as a chromebook.

And about GNOME, no matter how much you clean it, it still is more resource hungry by design. This setup got a 700-800 MB idle usage on a fresh boot on hardware and that’s not light. Lubuntu uses 400MB idle. that’s what is light. You should really consider lxqt and xfce again.

Also, agreed. Take what you like and ignore what you don’t. peace.

[rs2009]

@The_LoudSpeaker

Firefox supports SSBs (isolated ones infact, ICE from peppermint does that)

I don’t agree there, @The_LoudSpeaker. FIrefox’s own support of SSB’s is very experimental and buggy at the moment. I had initially used that and had seen the issues, which is why I had to remove it. Peppermint Ice is just a few lines of CSS hacks. You can easily find what they do for Firefox ‘SSBs’ in here, which is why I chose not to use it: https://github.com/peppermintos/ice/blob/master/usr/bin/ice-firefox
I’m already running a Twitter poll to switch to Brave Broswer for now, since many people do not wish to wait for Mozilla to implement true SSB support in Firefox.

@The_LoudSpeaker

Yeah I have heard of cub linux and even used it. It is nice to see the interest in bringing it back to life. But this webapp packaging with only a couple of bash scripts doesn’t seem that good idea to me. Anyone can just mess with the scripts and install unwanted stuff. Many users don’t like installing stuff from github using scripts for this very reason.

Most Windows people (since this project is not aimed at only the Linuxians) are unfamiliar with installing apps using package managers (even GUI ones). Even if we explain the security benefits, they usually continue downloading their usual MSI installers. We need to cater to that group of people as well. Also, eventually, we would be using ‘/e/ App Store’ and things would be more streamlined.

@The_LoudSpeaker

Also Cub linux was in the days when you couldn’t add webapps using browsers. Now you can, so it kills the point of cub linux. One can just install a lightweight distro and use brave/chromium /gnome-web to install webapps and use it as a chromebook.

Doesn’t this apply to Chrome OS as well?

@The_LoudSpeaker

And about GNOME, no matter how much you clean it, it still is more resource hungry by design. This setup got a 700-800 MB idle usage on a fresh boot on hardware and that’s not light. Lubuntu uses 400MB idle. that’s what is light. You should really consider lxqt and xfce again.

It is great that you have tested Ubuntu Web. In my testing on a 2GB RAM virtual machine, the RAM usage was about 600-700 MB and the virtual machine booted up in 2 seconds in a clean boot. To be honest, although GNOME wasn’t my first choice, but besides decent performance, it also had an elegance which many would expect from a Chrome OS competitor. LXQT isn’t really useable for the Windows guys (the trend of menu navigation is no longer modern), nor is it comparable to Chrome OS in my opinion. Although I personally like Lubuntu, I’m not sure how comfortable Windows users would be with it.

@The_LoudSpeaker

Also, agreed. Take what you like and ignore what you don’t. peace.

There was never any war

[DAXQHome]

Booted fine on a Panasonic Toughbook CF-52, 4GB w SSD - seemed a little sluggish starting, but in the end ran very well. I personally use a ChromeBOX as my work desktop, now that I can run Linux Apps - there is very little (maybe 1%) of things I cannot do on this ChromeBox - it supports dual monitors, and as we migrate to more web based/cloud based services and apps, I can manage it all on the Box. Having to dump them every 4 - 5 years when the hardware still works is a bit of a bummer - but reality. I have deployed 15 - 20 ChromeBoxs/Books in my environment - and the users love em. Quick to boot easy to use. Biggest downfall is printing since Google dumped cloud print. The main use for ChromeOS devices in my org is basic web browsing and remote desktop. Your distro would work perfect for that - and I could see installing this on the few Linux desktops I have installed in places where I want to hinder fiddlers. But at this point it seems to be a regular desktop/laptop OS replacement - not necessarily a ChromeOS replacement (maybe what the_loudspeaker is leaning toward, with way more detail than I would have as an end user). To be a ChromeOS replacement, needs to be installed on Chrome devices. Would love to see this project make it there. That being said after booting your distro on this tough book, adding xfreerdp was possible and ran great, would drop into my environment - if it worked on the Chromedevices I have. Great work, and thanks for your efforts. For me personally in my environment (as an end user non techy IT guy), as long as it runs and isn’t a sluggish web browser - this looks and “feels” great and covers all my bases - once I can install it on ChromeDevices. I get that devices should be replaced about every 5 years, but some of those older devices can be moved into less critical places (shop floors etc…) and this would be great for that. Thanks again.