Links (web browser)

Web browser

Not to be confused with Lynx (web browser).

Links

Graphical

Text

Screenshot of the Links Browser.

Developer(s)| Mikuláš Patočka
Initial release| 1999; 26 years ago (1999)
Stable release|

2.30[1] / 27 July 2024

Preview release| None (N/A) [±]
Written in| C
Operating system|

* Windows
* macOS
* OS/2
* OpenVMS
* DOS

Type| Web browser
License| GPL-2.0-or-later
Website| links.twibright.com

Links is a free software text and graphical web browser with a pull-down menu system.[2] It renders complex pages, has partial HTML 4.0 support (including tables, frames,[3] and support for UTF-8), supports color and monochrome terminals, and allows horizontal scrolling.

It is intended for users who want to retain many typical elements of graphical user interfaces (pop-up windows, menus, etc.) in a text-only environment.

The original version of Links was developed by Mikuláš Patočka in the Czech Republic. His group, "Twibright Labs", later developed version 2 of the Links browser, which displays graphics, and renders fonts in different sizes (with spatial anti-aliasing), but no longer supports JavaScript (it used to, up to version 2.1pre28). The resulting browser is very fast, but does not display many pages as intended. The graphical mode works even on Unix systems without the X Window System or any other window environment, using either SVGAlib or the framebuffer of the system's graphics card.

## Forks

[edit]

### ELinks

[edit]

Main article: ELinks

Experimental/Enhanced Links (ELinks) is a fork of Links led by Petr Baudis. It is based on Links 0.9.[4] It has a more open development and incorporates patches from other Links versions (such as additional extension scripting in Lua) and from Internet users.[5]

### Hacked Links

[edit]

Hacked Links is another version of the Links browser which has merged some of Elinks' features into Links 2.

Andrey Mirtchovski has ported it to Plan 9 from Bell Labs. It is considered a good browser on that operating system, though some users have complained about its inability to cut and paste with the Plan 9 snarf buffer.[citation needed]

As of April 2016[update], the last release of Hacked Links is that of July 9, 2003, with some further changes unreleased.[6]

### Other

[edit]

Links was also ported to run on the Sony PSP platform as PSPRadio by Rafael Cabezas with the last version (2.1pre23_PSP_r1261) released on February 6, 2007.[7]

The BeOS port was updated by François Revol who also added GUI support.[8] It also runs on Haiku.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "RELEASE 2.30". 27 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
2. ^ Links home page
3. ^ Legan, Dallas (September 2001), Text-Mode Web Browsers for OS/2, The Southern California OS/2 User Group, retrieved August 16, 2010
4. ^ "ELinks history page". Retrieved 14 December 2010.
5. ^ Bolso, Erik Inge (8 March 2005). "2005 Text Mode Browser Roundup". Linux Journal. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
6. ^ "ChangeLog", Hacked Links Project, October 28, 2003, archived from the original on 2016-04-24, retrieved 2016-04-24
7. ^ "Home / links2", PSPRadio, SourceForge, retrieved July 9, 2012
8. ^ Revol, Francois (May 3, 2008), BeOS port patch, retrieved July 9, 2012

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Links web browsers.

* Official website
* User documentation for Links
* Links-Hacked project
* Links for OS X on PowerPC and Intel
* pspradio : Links for PSP 1.18.1377 (2007-04-02) on SourceForge (forum)
* Linkx fork
* Original Links Source Code

* v
* t
* e

Lightweight web browsers

Web browsers designed to consume fewer resources than mainstream browsers.

* Arora (discontinued)
* Dillo
* ELinks
* Falkon
* K-Meleon
* Links
* Lynx
* Midori
* NetSurf
* QtWeb (discontinued)
* surf
* Uzbl (discontinued)
* w3m
* WebPositive
* xombrero (discontinued)

Comparison of lightweight web browsers

* v
* t
* e

Web browsers

* Features
* standards
* protocols

| Features|

* Bookmarks
* Extensions
* Privacy mode

|

Web standards|

* HTML
* v5
* CSS
* DOM
* JavaScript
* WebAssembly
* Web storage
* IndexedDB
* WebGL
* WebGPU

Protocols|

* HTTP
* Encryption
* Cookies
* third-party
* OCSP
* WebRTC
* WebSocket

Active

| Blink-based|

| Proprietary|

* Google Chrome
* Arc
* Avast
* Cốc Cốc
* Comodo
* Ecosia
* Epic
* Huawei
* Maxthon
* Microsoft Edge
* Opera (Mobile)
* Puffin
* QQ
* Samsung
* Silk
* Sleipnir
* SRWare
* UC
* Vivaldi
* Whale
* Yandex

|

FOSS|

* Chromium
* Brave
* Dooble
* Falkon
* Otter
* Supermium
* ungoogled

Gecko-based|

* Firefox
* Floorp
* GNU IceCat
* LibreWolf
* Midori
* SlimBrowser
* Tor
* Zen
* Gecko forks
* Basilisk
* K-Meleon
* Pale Moon
* SeaMonkey
* Waterfox

WebKit-based|

* Safari
* GNOME Web
* iCab
* Orion

Multi-engine|

* 360
* DuckDuckGo
* Konqueror
* Lunascape
* NetFront
* qutebrowser

Other|

* Dillo
* eww
* Flow
* Ladybird
* Links
* Lynx
* NetSurf
* Opera Mini
* w3m

Discontinued

| Blink-based|

* Beaker
* Citrio
* Flock
* Redcore
* Rockmelt
* SalamWeb
* Sputnik
* Torch

|

Gecko-based|

* Beonex
* Camino
* Classilla
* Conkeror
* Firefox Lite
* Galeon
* Ghostzilla
* IceDragon
* Kazehakase
* Kylo
* Lotus
* MicroB
* Minimo
* Mozilla suite
* PirateBrowser
* Pogo
* Strata
* Swiftfox
* Swiftweasel
* TenFourFox
* Timberwolf
* xB

MSHTML-based|

* Internet Explorer
* AOL
* Deepnet
* GreenBrowser
* MediaBrowser
* MSN Explorer
* MSN Program Viewer
* NeoPlanet
* NetCaptor
* SpaceTime
* ZAC

WebKit-based|

* Arora
* BOLT
* Dolphin
* Fluid
* Google TV
* Iris
* Mercury
* Nokia Symbian
* OmniWeb
* Opera Coast
* Origyn
* QtWeb
* Shiira
* Steel
* surf
* Uzbl
* WebPositive
* xombrero

Other|

* abaco
* Amaya
* Arachne
* Arena
* Blazer
* Cake
* CM
* Deepfish
* Edge Legacy
* ELinks
* Gazelle
* HotJava
* IBM Home Page Reader
* IBM WebExplorer
* IBrowse
* Internet Explorer for Mac
* KidZui
* Line Mode
* Mosaic
* MSN TV
* NetPositive
* Netscape
* Skweezer
* Skyfire
* ThunderHawk
* Vision
* WinWAP
* WorldWideWeb

* List
* Comparison
* Category

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