Kagi releases alpha version of Orion for Linux • Hacker News Board

Re: Kagi releases alpha version of Orion for Linux

#201

Post by pzmarzly » Fri, Jan 09, 2026, 6:47 PM UTC

bikelang wrote: post #43

Orion has come an extremely long ways on iOS and macOS. I daily drove it for a couple months maybe a year and a half ago and it had a lot of little rough edges and was slightly broken on a number of websites. I’ve picked it up again as my daily driver as of the new year and haven’t had a single issue yet. It even blocks ads in YouTube now - only Brave did that previously. For me - Brave was the best browser product.…

That's why I hope Brave will eventually launch Brave Origin, a buy-once premium build of Brave, despite the previous large backlash against it from Internet users (especially on Reddit). I like the idea of a paid but well-made, no-nonsense, no-bloat, no-ads, etc. browser, and I feel like Brave developers wanted their browser to be like that, but the pursuit of revenue stream led them to sidetracking into crypto, AI, VPNs, ads business, et al, and all the controversies over the years that came from that.

In the meantime I'll give Orion a try as soon as they introduce cross-device sync.

Re: Kagi releases alpha version of Orion for Linux

#202

Post by bigyabai » Fri, Jan 09, 2026, 6:48 PM UTC

cosmic_cheese wrote: post #190

I think this is great. True native Linux-first power user browsers are nearly an entirely unserved niche. We've had them on macOS in various forms over the years (with OmniWeb being the original), but for a long time the only browsers built to integrate well with Linux desktops were minimal and light on features (like the WebKit version of GNOME Web/Epiphany). It probably matters less to Linux users who do the minima…

Firefox fills this niche fine, and it's actually Open Source to boot. The community doesn't really have a need for a "Linux-first" browser that treats Linux like a second-class, alpha-quality citizen.

Re: Kagi releases alpha version of Orion for Linux

#203

Post by freehorse » Fri, Jan 09, 2026, 6:48 PM UTC

michaelmrose wrote: post #168

doublerabbit wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are already paying for the streaming service that offers the content and they restrict you from watching because of your OS are you harming the industry by downloading it? Nothing is stopping you from buying a 4k webcam and recording your computer monitor. You're already paying the monthly fee to stream it, you're just streaming it in a more friendly way. Granted if you cancel the service, you should delete th…

a 4K webcam recording of a screen will produce a trash copy that isn't notably better than ripping off the 720p you can already screen record.

There are still other, non-trashy ways to record your screen. Motivated actors have no problem with such restrictions, as happens with everything. It is for exerting control over the normal users' behaviours and habits.

Re: Kagi releases alpha version of Orion for Linux

#204

Post by maronato » Fri, Jan 09, 2026, 6:53 PM UTC

bikelang wrote: post #43

Orion has come an extremely long ways on iOS and macOS. I daily drove it for a couple months maybe a year and a half ago and it had a lot of little rough edges and was slightly broken on a number of websites. I’ve picked it up again as my daily driver as of the new year and haven’t had a single issue yet. It even blocks ads in YouTube now - only Brave did that previously. For me - Brave was the best browser product.…

Is the 1Password extension still not working on it?

I really want to switch, but no 1P support makes it really hard, unfortunately.

Re: Kagi releases alpha version of Orion for Linux

#205

Post by WhyNotHugo » Fri, Jan 09, 2026, 6:54 PM UTC

Fiveplus wrote: post #35

This is a healthy thing to happen to the Linux browser ecosystem imho. We talk a lot about browser diversity, but on Linux and Windows, it is a lie. You have firefox (gecko) and fifty flavors of chromium. Webkit on Linux has essentially been relegated to embedded devices or the GNOME epiphany browser, which I'll admit while is a noble effort, lags a bit in the stability and power-user features department. Big reason…

> The sticking point like always will be media playback (read: DRM/widevine). That is the graveyard where Linux browsers go to die.

On Firefox, you can disable DRM in about:config. Forks such as Librewolf and Tor Browser disable DRM by default.

Re: Kagi releases alpha version of Orion for Linux

#206

Post by __MatrixMan__ » Fri, Jan 09, 2026, 6:55 PM UTC

JohnFen wrote: post #193

packetlost wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

DRM sucks, but the time to thrash against it is has passed. It's here, it's not going away, and users expect to be able to use their browsers to watch protected content.

I like what Firefox does: it allows me to just disallow Widevine entirely, which is what I do. That still allows others who want to use those things to do so. It's the best of both worlds.

Odd thing is, plenty of stuff that you think would break without widevine, works without it. Like... if you didn't need it, why did you ask?

Re: Kagi releases alpha version of Orion for Linux

#207

Post by radlad » Fri, Jan 09, 2026, 6:55 PM UTC

sxg wrote: post #186

radlad wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a Kagi user for years now, I am very interested in a Firefox/Chrome competitor but I will absolutely not use Orion until it is open source.

Just curious: what browser do you currently use? Firefox, Zen?

I'm currently using LibreWolf on desktop and Firefox on Android.

Re: Kagi releases alpha version of Orion for Linux

#208

Post by cosmic_cheese » Fri, Jan 09, 2026, 6:57 PM UTC

bigyabai wrote: post #202

cosmic_cheese wrote: post #190

I think this is great. True native Linux-first power user browsers are nearly an entirely unserved niche. We've had them on macOS in various forms over the years (with OmniWeb being the original), but for a long time the only browsers built to integrate well with Linux desktops were minimal and light on features (like the WebKit version of GNOME Web/Epiphany). It probably matters less to Linux users who do the minima…

Firefox fills this niche fine, and it's actually Open Source to boot. The community doesn't really have a need for a "Linux-first" browser that treats Linux like a second-class, alpha-quality citizen.

I can't agree. Firefox is great, but I think its UI drags it down in various ways. It being built the way it is was a boon back when extensions were capable of radically changing the browser's UI, but now it simply puts a (unfortunately low) hard cap on how excellent its UI can be.

Funny enough, Epiphany used to be a more power user oriented browser, and it used to be powered by none other than Gecko. Unfortunately, Mozilla killed embedding in Gecko and that (along with related projects like Camino and K-Meleon) came to a screeching halt and Gecko became hard coupled with Mozilla's UI decisions.

Re: Kagi releases alpha version of Orion for Linux

#209

Post by mr_machine » Fri, Jan 09, 2026, 7:04 PM UTC

I like Kagi and pay for it. I've been impatiently waiting for Orion to come to Linux. But I won't run closed source.

This is a huge disappointment.

Re: Kagi releases alpha version of Orion for Linux

#210

Post by WD-42 » Fri, Jan 09, 2026, 7:04 PM UTC

freediver wrote: post #92

hellcow wrote: post #9

It seems weird to run a closed-source browser on an open-source operating system when so many open alternatives exist—I certainly wouldn’t do it, and I’m a Kagi customer. Does Kagi plan to open-source Orion on Linux?

Kagi founder here. Orion isn't open source yet primarily because we're a 5-person team that spent 6+ years building this and created significant IP doing so, and we're not in a position to defend our work against a well-funded company using it as a base (we care very much about the business model of the browser surviving). Restrictive licenses help in theory but enforcing them against a company with a larger legal bu…

Having access to the source is just one part of open source.

The state of webkitgtk is a bit rough, as I’m sure you and your engineers have noticed. The other part of what open source means to people is that you contribute back to the open source code you used to build your business, lifting all boats in the process.

What people certainly do not want to see is Kagi pull an Apple: utilize FOSS to the extent it helps you but return nothing but “thanks everyone but we got ours”.