Command Line Web Browsing is of fun, useful and actually fast and safe. We can use Lynx, Links like Free Software on UNIX / OS X, Linux or Windows to surf. For some special social networks, specially which are dependent on API based login or forces to accept cookies might require separate command line applications. We wrote about them before, we will go in to that part later. First let us understand, why we will use a command line browser instead of a normal web browser ? The answer is for increasing speed – we basically read the text and for more control of security and privacy. This security and privacy practically difficult to control with a visual web browser. Richard M. Stallman made the command line browsing quite popular – it is good that many new users are now getting interested about Command Line Web Browsing. Richard M. Stallman, usually wget the webpages and then open it locally. The tracking javascripts will fail to catch your information and send them. It is quite practical thought for browsing unknown websites. We will show different methods which any level of users can use.
Command Line Web Browsing : But Google Will Not Love
Any Advert related Internet brand’s work is to steal the users data, now with PRISM scandal, it is good that the common men are getting aware of Security and Privacy. Honestly, we can not say what data of you is getting stolen from this web page when you are viewing it on a typical graphical browser. Their need to steal data is for the sake of Adverts, which usually said as ‘interest based ads’. For making you interested, the data is stolen. You can read more on how data is stolen from Richard Stallman’s website :
1 | http://stallman.org/ |
If there was no intention of data theft; they could use old good text ads. Anyway, thats a separate topic. You can also read other special packages for specific social networks :
- Using Facebook From Command Line Interface
- Google Search from Command Line Interface
- Using Twitter From Command Line Interface
There is also WordPress Command Line Tool for blog owners.
Command Line Web Browsing : Tools of Trade
For full command line browser, there are three known options :
- Lynx
- Elinks
- Links
All can be installed with normal commands for UNIX or UNIX like OSes. You can setup Microsoft Windows PC (we do not recommend to use Windows OS ) like UNIX in this way. It depends on your Unix skill how you can avoid the default installation way for Windows – for Lynx like browser. It is possible to make packages and install them. For Apple OS X (again, there is question of data theft, but from command line if you can configure properly, the chance of data theft is lessened but never can be ruled out), you can use brew command in the way we wrote for another purpose. So, for Linux and UNIX / OS X, the commands to install Lynx and Links become easy :
Like for Debian based, REHL based or UNIX / OS X respectively :
1 | apt-get install lynx |
1 | yum install lynx |
1 | brew install lynx |
1 | apt-get install links |
1 | yum install links |
1 | brew install links |
and so on. The official websites are :
1 | http://lynx.isc.org/ |
1 | http://links.twibright.com/user_en.html |
1 | http://elinks.or.cz/ |
Links can show graphics. By default, Links will not support graphics – you need to compile links for OS X :
1 | ./configure --enable-graphics |
1 | make |
1 | make install |
This can be discussed separately. To open a webpage on Lynx, just type the url with lynx command :
1 | lynx https://thecustomizewindows.com/ |
1 | lynx http://stallman.org/ |
For our website, you have to accept cookies twice. But for Stallman’s website, you will not need to accept cookies. For our page, type Y and hit enter. The cookies are spying you – they are of Google’s products. Also try with N with our website – it will open, we kept it as opt in. But there are websites which will not allow you to continue.
