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Kagi’s Orion browser hits public beta on Linux
Quoting: Kagi's Orion browser hits public beta on Linux - OMG! Ubuntu —
The WebKit-based web browser from paid search engine Kagi has been stable on macOS and iOS for a while, but a Linux port was announced last year, and Linux alpha builds made available for paying Orion+ subscribers in January.
Now the beta is here and (almost) anyone can give it a go on Linux, not just subscribers.
Orion isn’t a recoloured Chromium or another Firefox fork, but a native Linux app built in GTK4/libadwaita and WebKitGTK, with platform-level integration. The closest comparison would be GNOME Web (aka Epiphany), though that tacks to a narrower scope than Orion.
In an update shared with followers of its Linux newsletter, the company says: “We know many of you have been eagerly waiting for a chance to try Orion Browser on Linux, and we’ve been hard at work to make progress behind the scenes.”
“After months of building the foundations, we’re excited to share this early beta with you. It’s our first opportunity to let you get hands-on with the new features we’ve been developing.”
I installed the ‘early beta’ on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS to see how things are shaping up.
It's FOSS:
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Not a Firefox Fork! Kagi's Orion Browser Arrives on Linux as a Public Beta
Kagi is best known for its privacy-focused search engine, but the company has been quietly building out a broader ecosystem of tools for people who would rather pay for software than be the product.
One of those tools is Orion, a web browser built on WebKit, the same engine that powers Safari, with a strong focus on privacy and customization.
Unlike most browsers you will come across on Linux, Orion is not a Chromium derivative or a Firefox fork. It is a fresh build that has earned a reputation for being fast, lightweight, and flexible, with support for extensions from Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.
For a long time, that experience was exclusive to macOS and iOS users. But that has changed as Kagi has been working on bringing Orion to Linux. After an alpha phase limited to Orion+ subscribers, the team has opened things up with an early beta build for everyone to try out.