Beaker (web browser)
{{short description|Web browser software}}
{{third-party|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox web browser
| name = Beaker
| logo = Beaker-Browser-Logo.png
| logo size = 120px
| screenshot = Beaker Browser screenshot of Wikipedia.png
| caption = Screenshot of the Beaker browser on Fedora 31
|released = {{Start date and age|df=yes|2017|8|1}}
|latest release version = {{Latest stable software release/Beaker Browser}}
| latest preview version = {{Latest preview software release/Beaker Browser}}
| latest preview date =
| ver layout = stacked
| repo =
| operating system = Linux, Microsoft Windows, macOS
|platform = x86-64
| genre = Open-source web browser
| license = MIT License
| website = {{URL|https://beakerbrowser.com}}
}}
Beaker is a discontinued{{Cite web|url=https://github.com/beakerbrowser/beaker/discussions/1944|title=Is Beaker still being worked on?|website=Beaker GitHub thread|language=en|access-date=2022-08-20}} free and open-source web browser{{cite news|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/a-new-browser-is-making-peer-to-peer-web-hosting-more-user-friendly/|title=A New Browser Is Making Peer-to-Peer Web Hosting More User-Friendly|last1=Faife|first1=Corin|publisher=Vice|date=13 July 2017}} developed by Blue Link Labs.{{Cite web|url=http://bluelinklabs.com/|title=Blue Link Labs|website=bluelinklabs.com|access-date=2018-07-24|archive-date=2019-01-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116190106/https://bluelinklabs.com/|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://github.com/beakerbrowser/beaker|title=beakerbrowser/beaker|website=GitHub|language=en|access-date=2018-07-24}} Beaker Browser peer-to-peer technology allows users to self-publish websites and web apps{{Cite web|url=https://beakerbrowser.com/docs/how-beaker-works/peer-to-peer-applications|title=Peer-to-peer Web applications|website=beakerbrowser.com|language=en|access-date=2019-07-31}}{{dead link|date=February 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} directly from the browser, without the need to set up and administrate a separate web server or host their content on a third-party server. All files and websites are transferred using Dat, a hypermedia peer-to-peer protocol, which allows files to be shared and hosted by several users.{{Cite web|url=https://www.datprotocol.com/|title=Dat Protocol|website=www.datprotocol.com|access-date=2018-07-24}} The browser also supports the HTTP protocol to connect to traditional servers.
Beaker is built using the Electron framework and therefore uses the Chromium browser as a renderer for webpages.{{Cite web|url=https://electronjs.org/blog/beaker-browser|title=Project of the Week: Beaker Browser {{!}} Electron Blog|website=electronjs.org|date=7 February 2017 |language=en-US|access-date=2018-07-27}}
Content sharing
Files stored in a local folder can be published as a Dat website and made accessible to other users through the peer-to-peer protocol.{{Cite web|url=https://beakerbrowser.com/docs/how-beaker-works/all-about-seeding|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190731083140/https://beakerbrowser.com/docs/how-beaker-works/all-about-seeding|url-status=usurped|archive-date=July 31, 2019|title=All about seeding|website=beakerbrowser.com|language=en|access-date=2019-07-31}}
The files are seeded from the local folder while the browser is active. To make them also available while the browser is closed, the user may use several alternative options to host the content:
- Ask other users of the browser to share a copy. The content will be accessible as long as any of the users are using the Beaker browser.
- Publish the content through a third-party server.
- Create a permanent self-hosted homebase server{{Citation|title=GitHub - beakerbrowser/homebase: Self-deployable tool for seeding dat:// websites.|date=2019-07-30|url=https://github.com/beakerbrowser/homebase|publisher=Beaker Browser|access-date=2019-07-31}} for the Dat protocol, and publish the content in it.