Oku is a browser with an emphasis on local-first data storage.
It comes with a unique peer-to-peer protocol that enables:
Using Oku, you can create replicas, which are in essence sharable drives. Replicas can hold files & folders, and can be shared & retrieved by their IDs. Unless the author of a replica shares a key allowing that replica to be modified, that replica can only be viewed.
Who are you? What is this?
My name is Emil. I’ve been working on Oku on-and-off for the past four years. Inspired by the IndieWeb movement, I decided to create Oku with the hope that it’d enable an alternative to the Web where people own both their data and their space online. The best way to ‘rewild the Internet’ is by making it easier than ever to contribute to it.
Does this have anything to do with cryptocurrencies or ‘blockchain’?
No.
Is this ready to be my default browser?
No. Oku is still actively in development.
Is this a derivative of Google Chrome?
No. Oku uses WebKit, the same browser engine found in Safari.
What platforms does Oku support?
Currently, the Oku browser is only available on operating systems using the Linux kernel.
The protocol included with Oku may be used via a command-line frontend, available on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Where can I learn more about the protocol?
To learn more about the protocol, visit the code repository.
How can I help? What still needs to be worked on?
As of writing, there are several major short-term development tasks:
Long-term significant goals include, but are not limited to:
To help out the development effort, please visit the code repositories:
I found a security vulnerability. How do I report this? Do you do bug bounties?
Please refer to the security policy for up-to-date reporting guidelines.
Unfortunately, I cannot offer financial rewards for reporting security vulnerabilities, as I am unemployed.
How does this compare to Beaker Browser?
Beaker Browser was a Chromium-based Web browser that incorporated the Dat protocol with the primary aim of enabling peer-to-peer static site sharing. To this end, Oku is similar; in fact, Beaker Browser was part of the inspiration to create Oku. The two projects diverge in their long-term ambitions, however; Oku intends on:
What does the name mean?
‘Oku’ is a place that poet Matsuo Bashō arrived at after a long journey. It was simply a name I’d stumbled upon when beginning development on the browser. The name itself does not carry much personal significance; if it has any problematic associations I’m unaware of, please let me know and I will rename the project.