Update on the status of the Chromium/QtWebEngine browser....

Good news on the new web browser front....   

The new QT/Webkit based browser has proven to be a big uphill struggle,
but we have an internal version based on this work.

The new QT/Webkit based browser loads and displays web pages. Complex
pages that will not display with Firefox 45 work with the new browser,
including sites such as Patreon and Github.  Bank logins at TBD work.

The general trend is towards HTML 5 websites, which Firefox 45 does not
support well. The QT/Webkit broswers scores TBD at the
https://html5test.com/.

Youtube.com plays videos, although we still need to resolve a timer issue
so that the videos play more smoothly.

When this project was started, it was impossible to know all the hurdles
that would be encountered.

Such as:

* A new port of the GCC compiler was needed (version 9.2.0).

* A QT5 port was needed.

* A large number of Bitwise supported libraries needed to be updated toprovide functionality expected by QT5 and the Webkit.  A partial list of these libraries can be found at https://github.com/bitwiseworks.

* Libraries supported by other OS/2 developers, such as FFMPEG, needed to be updated.

* Just about 1 1/2 weeks ago it was discovered that the OS/2 kernel did not provide the type of memory management that the Chromium engine wasexpecting. This has been implemented in the LIBC runtime.

Long term, this work will benefit many other applications that are being ported to ArcaOS or OS/2.

OS/2 VOICE and BWW are working on changing the funding model. We have had Netlabs analyse its webserver logs. It turned out in 6 weeks time about 500 to 600 unique IP addresses connected to download updates from rpm.netlabs.org. For us this a very very clear signal that way more people use the downloads free of charge and are not donating. We think this is partly due to the fact that not everybody knows that Bitwise needs funding.

Once the new QT/webkit based browser is stable enough it will be released for the complete OS/2 community to download free charge.

* However the free version will contain a webpage explaining you need to support the development by buying a sponsor units. We are targeting 30 EUROs for 1 year.

* Updates to the browser will be provided to people who donated money.
People who do not donate money get access to the free downloads with a
delay. We are currently thinking of implementing a 6 month delay. Just to be clear BWW is already doing this with Open Office for OS/2. *ALL* the sources supported by Netlabs are made available without any delay according to the terms of the corresponding open source license. However, to access binaries of the browser without the above limitations, you will need to donate some money.

It should be noted once this policy is in place people that have already donated will get access as described above. Details will be announced later, but our loyal sponsors will not be forgotten!

Please consider making a donation via
https://www.os2voice.org/membership.html scroll down and use the
QT/browser Paypal button.

We hope to have usable browser binaries available for download this month, if no other large setbacks are encountered.

Thank you very much!

Best regards,

Roderick Klein
President OS/2 VOICE.org