An alpha release of Orion for Linux, a Webkit-based web browser developed by the search engine Kagi is out for testing – though only for paid Orion+ subscribers.
Not a subscriber?
Don’t worry; an Orion for Linux beta release is reportedly coming as early as next month (February) to allow people who registered their interest in the Linux launch via a newsletter signup to help test it.
Announcement of announcements aside, Kagi recently shared a progress update on how Orion’s Linux build is shaping up. I’ll get to what’s been added in a moment, but first I want to recap the browser for anyone gape-mouthing “Orion?” at their screen.
Orion Browser Recap
Kagi is a paid search engine built by a company with a simple business model: “you are the customer, not the product”. I.e., it builds for the people who pay to use it – no ads, no deals, no surveillance capitalism, no noise (with community-sourced ‘ai slop’ reporting).
Orion is their privacy-focused, WebKit-based web browser originally launched for macOS and iOS, and now coming to Linux (and then Android). Its focus is zero telemetry, built-in blocking, speed and native integration – easier on macOS than Linux.
The Linux version of Orion uses GTK4/libadwaita and WebkitGTK for a native experience. It will, in time, offer the same features as macOS (platform-specific hooks aside).
Like Orion for macOS and iOS, the Linux version will be free to use but Kagi subscribers will be able to access the Kagi search engine within the browser. Having tried Orion on macOS, there’s nothing essential missing or paywalled.
Though Orion isn’t open source (parts are), many Linux folks are likely to find a native, WebKit-based browser focused around privacy appealing.
At the least it’ll be an alternative to Chromium clones and a friendly refuge for anyone un-enthused by Firefox’s planned AI future.
Recent Progress in Orion for Linux
Progress on Orion has been pacy since its announcement last year. Milestone 4 rollout and rounded out enough for public testing (however selective to begin).
Per the most recent progress report shared by Kagi, code for Orion’s browsing history is now plumbed in and working (with testing underway to improve stability) and the password management framework completed.
Next on the to-do is improving the tab switching UI, adding WebExtension API support to ensure popular web extensions are available, and building out the in-browser sync backend (which is based on open source Firefox sync).
Do you plan to test it?
Early testing from Orion+ subscribers (who have access to the alpha Flatpak) is encouraging.
One enthused tester says: “Right off the bat, I can say it’s better than GNOME Web lol. It’s clearly still in alpha, and it feels that way, but there’s a ton of promise here”.
Of course, an alpha build of a new web browser (arguably the app we pay most attention to) won’t be perfect. Orion’s Linux alpha is not without issues, some glaring, but such is the nature of testing: finding things that need fixing.
If you get to test it soon, keep expectations in check. Orion won’t deliver a fully-featured experience, unrivalled web compatibility or unsurpassed stability of web browsers build over decades by huge teams of engineers employed at tech giants.
But from every small, er, acorn and all that. More browser choices, especially ones not hitched to another company’s rendering engine1 wagon are certainly welcome.
Orion is a solid offering on macOS and iOS already, so there’s reason to be optimistic about its Linux incarnation.
(h/t Andres)
- WebKit and Apple WebKit are distinct, and Chromium/Blink is a WebKit fork that is sufficiently its own monolith. Heck, some websites only work in Chrome/ium. ↩︎