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Is it possible to create an operating system that loads a web browser without menu bars, tabs etc. and that is all it loads.

I do not mean like Chrome OS but I mean all it loads is a html page which can be interacted with like an ordinary web page e.g. google.com, youtube.com.

Also, if this is possible, I would prefer it to be a Linux based OS and Webkit based browser.

Xplane
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You might have to roll your own for something like that...my recommendation would be a small linux distribution and then figure out how to run the surf browser, possibly with the tabbed extension, exclusively. When the x environment starts up just execute those programs. You'd honestly never know the difference.

Here is a screenshot of what this all looks like on my computer, running dwm for window management, and surf + tabbed. This browser is controlled via the keyboard, so you'd have to get use to that.

LainIwakura
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  • You can use the mouse on the actual web pages, but entering a URL for example is alt+g, and some other commands (opening a new tab, going back) are also controlled via the keyboard. – LainIwakura Jun 16 '11 at 19:13
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You don't need to create an operating system, you can use Linux.

A simple implementation would be creating an application using Qt Embedded (qws) with a Widget containing a QWebView only (it's WebKit based), that would load a predefined address.

You could spawn that app from the init scripts (rcS for example) in an endless loop (simple bash script, so if the app crashes it gets loaded again)

You can prototype it with a simple hardware like beagleboard.org or friendlyarm.net boards.

Vinicius Kamakura
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  • This seems like a very good idea. I'll start trying it out with a virtual machine now and then go to a beagleboard. Thanks for the hardware websites, they are like arduinos but for computers. – Xplane Jun 16 '11 at 19:07
  • No need for virtual machines, download the windows Qt SDK and I am pretty sure that even without Qt knowledge you will be able to put that QWebView "component" in the form, compile and test it. – Vinicius Kamakura Jun 16 '11 at 19:09
  • The virtual machine would be for testing the init scripts, most likely. – Ben Voigt Jun 16 '11 at 19:15