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Show HN: Krabby – A keyboard interface to the web, inspired by Kakoune

179 points| alexherbo2 | 6 years ago |krabby.netlify.com

75 comments

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brokenkebab|6 years ago

All extensions in this field are very limited by all major browsers' security policies which prohibit, for example, user-defined keybindings on a blank tab. I found more satisfying mouseless experience only with specially crafted browsers like qutebrowser. But they come with their own troubles :( Would be really great for FF, and Chrome(ium) to make keybinding assignment more flexible instead.

unicornporn|6 years ago

> All extensions in this field are very limited by all major browsers' security policies which prohibit, for example, user-defined keybindings on a blank tab

This is the correct answer. Attempts like these futile.

You can not properly control the UI while a page is loading which makes the UX godawful. Try closing a tab or switch while the current tab is loading. Sometimes it works, other times not. With legacy VimFX you coulf also access all buttons in the browser UI toolbar.

Was a VimFX user and the switch to WebExtensions was the greatest step back in browsing I've ever experienced. Tried to remedy this by running legacy extensions in Pale Moon. But that's not a way forward as these alt browsers are not secure. Actually, I'm toying with the idea of sandboxing alt browsers to be able to browse fast with my fingers on the keyboard again.

nextos|6 years ago

Vimperator / Pentadactyl gave a fantastic experience on Firefox. But the recent transition to WebExtensions killed them, which is really sad.

It's the only major regression I have ever experienced in my computing workflow. There's no good replacement, as browsers that provide a good keyboard-driven experience come with their own troubles as you explained.

leshow|6 years ago

I use tridactyl and it isn't bad. I use the standard hotkeys to navigate forward/backward or to switch between tabs (unless I want to move to a far-away tab then i'll use 'b' so I can type in it's name to select). Because, as you said, the extension hotkeys don't work while the page is loading.

However, it works great for what I mainly use it for-- navigating up/down a page, and using f/gF/F to select links and open them or open in a new tab.

green7ea|6 years ago

It seems that a lot of people are upset at browsers limitation's with custom keybindings. I thought I'd mention qutebrowser (https://qutebrowser.org/) which is a browser built using Qt (blink behind the scenes) around custom keybindings.

I'm using it right now and it's pretty great.

maddyboo|6 years ago

Not the perfect solution, but I use NewTabTweaker [1] in FF set to redirect new tabs to DuckDuckGo. It works pretty well in combination with SurfingKeys, although I do occasionally need to use default FF keybinds, e.g. when a page fails to load.

1: https://github.com/rharel/webext-new-tab-tweaker

RMPR|6 years ago

True, especially with firefox hanging on wayland I find it more painful to use it keyboardless.

nathias|6 years ago

vimium on firefox is very usable, you can replace blank tab with something else

dmortin|6 years ago

It's too bad the live demo uses Alt-Escape to activate which is a shortcut used by Windows, so I can't try it without installing it.

The author should use some other shortcut or put an Activate button on the page so Windows users can also try it.

alexherbo2|6 years ago

I added a note to tell users they can click on the keys themselves to run the commands.

jml7c5|6 years ago

Clicking the "Alt + Escape" text seems to do the trick. Firefox Nightly on Windows.

wingerlang|6 years ago

I remember using some vim extension but I always found the "hint" being a random character annoying, I briefly used vimperator (iirc) which allowed to fuzzy search elements to focus on which was waaaay better.

jiri|6 years ago

Web definitely needs a better keyboard interface, this seems interesting but it looks a bit difficult to learn and use.

I used and liked Gleebox quite intuitive, easy and powerful. But it is not developed anymore. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gleebox/miinkdcjgl...

alexherbo2|6 years ago

Wow, gleeBox looks cool. Never heard of it before.

Does selection act at the structural level of the document, or are they applied to links only? In the video, he seemed only selecting links, and doing actions one by one.

iudqnolq|6 years ago

Unfortunately installing this browser extension requires piping curl to sudo bash to build it.

iudqnolq|6 years ago

Correction: building the extension requires installing a programming language with sudo bash because the extension needs to communicate with a native app.

I completely retract what I said.

codetrotter|6 years ago

What makes you think that? I don’t see anywhere mentioning doing that.

dmortin|6 years ago

For link selection the quickest way could be eye tracking, that is your laptop's camera would track your eye and you could press some key to go to the link which you are looking at.

Is there some application which does this?

dmos62|6 years ago

There's been some activity in the gaming community for DIY solutions to track head movement. Or really any accessible way to get in-game head/camera rotation and/or tilting independent of what the mouse or keyboard is doing.

The simplest one is webcam face feed interpretation. It's also the least liked, because it's CPU/GPU intensive.

The most energy efficient one is based on small devices than measure distance between each other via radio signals or something similar. You put one of them on your head. It has the drawback of having to buy the (cheap) devices.

A middle-ground, which is probably the most popular solution, is a funny looking cardboard cutout with IR reflectors or lights that you put on a hat or headphones. Then you use a webcam feed, but its interpretation is much simpler, because the points to track are easily distinguishable.

All the webcam methods have a significant drawback that they require illumination. You either need lights on your head, or your face has to be brightly illuminated (visible light or IR). A light in my face is the last thing I want personally.

faeyanpiraat|6 years ago

Unfortunately built in webcams do not have sufficient resolution and low enough latency to be suitable for this purpose.

nathias|6 years ago

I like the smoothness of j/k, but everything else vimium does better...

alexherbo2|6 years ago

Everything else? X)

What do you mean by “everything else”? Approaches are quite different, so I need more details.

dmortin|6 years ago

It's strange that you have to press enter too after selecting a link to go there. The most frequent task of browsing is clicking on links, so it should be only f + hint, without any additional keys.

cuchoi|6 years ago

That's how Vimium works; f + letter clicks the link.

jedimastert|6 years ago

I'd say mouse-ing over a link is a different action than clicking it. Say you want to read the alt test, or see where the link goes.

TJTorola|6 years ago

I definitely appreciate the confirmation step when browsing around sensitive UIs like my company's AWS dashboard.

fiatjaf|6 years ago

Please, provide installable packages! I want to use it, but I don't want to have to install tons of dependencies.

alexherbo2|6 years ago

The only build dependencies are jq and Crystal (eventually Zip, but it’s unlikely you don’t have it).

WilliamEdward|6 years ago

Why do people think they can just name their products after copyrighted content?

blotter_paper|6 years ago

Because The Pokémon Company is unlikely to sue (or even notice) such a marginal and unrelated project, I'd guess. Even if they do notice, a cease and desist letter seems more likely than an actual lawsuit; even in cases of clear substitute goods like AMR2 Nintendo prefers to send cease and desist letters first, I'm sure they don't want the bad press of suing fans. For something like Krabby, this would result in a simple name and logo change. Many people don't have ethical objections to this behavior, so the only thing stopping them would be the potential for actual legal action.

Igelau|6 years ago

IANAL but I think it's trademark in this case.

Should have named it Frozen 2! :)

mstade|6 years ago

My nephew is a big Pokémon fan and I instantly recognized both the name and logo: https://www.pokemon.com/se/pokedex/krabby

kleiba|6 years ago

+1 for the trivia from a member of generation "Pre-Pokemon".

lucb1e|6 years ago

I think that is expected to be generally known, pokémon fan or not.