Ladybird-251231

Ladybird Browser Setup on Ubuntu 24.04

This guide explains how to build and run the Ladybird browser from source. Ladybird is an independent web engine written in C++23.

Project Resources

• Official Website: https://ladybird.org/
• Video Introduction: https://youtu.be/NCa92gA1ARc?si=A_IJS1mSPwryvLHO
• Mozilla Analysis by Louis Rossmann: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8bTquKjzos

The Goal of Ladybird

The primary goal of Ladybird is to create a modern, from-scratch web browser and engine that is entirely independent of the "Big Three" (Blink, WebKit, and Gecko).

Why this matters (User Commentary)

Most critically, the team is remaking a browser from the ground up so that it doesn't take a giant organization—like Mozilla Firefox, which costs hundreds of millions of dollars a year—to maintain it. By removing decades of technical debt and focusing on efficiency, the goal is to create a codebase that a small, dedicated team can maintain.

This leads to a more resilient ecosystem:

• Forkability: If a browser can be maintained by a small team, many teams can fork it and compete on features and privacy.
• Ending Corporate Capture: Currently, Mozilla is largely propped up by Google (who pays hundreds of millions for default search placement) to act as a "competition" figurehead. Many argue this has led Mozilla to betray its privacy goals to satisfy its primary benefactor. These donations often come with strings attached, effectively making the organization's trajectory Google-centric and advertising-centric.
• Integrity by Design: By 2027, if Ladybird is a viable replacement for Firefox, the hope is that users will migrate. The existence of multiple forks focused on integrity and privacy would make the engine a difficult target for corporate capture.

Analysis: Can You Trust Mozilla? (Louis Rossmann Summary)

Louis Rossmann’s analysis highlights a growing distrust in Mozilla’s corporate direction. Here is a summary of the key findings:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8bTquKjzos

1. The "Nothing Burger" PR Disaster

Mozilla updated its Terms of Service (ToS) using incredibly broad language that granted them rights to user input data. While they later claimed it was "confusion," the lack of clear communication and the removal of the "We don't sell your data" promise from their FAQ created a reputational firestorm.

2. "Money for Nothing" Atrophy

Rossmann argues that Mozilla suffers from "atrophy" due to its funding model.

• Executive Pay: High-level executives receive massive salaries (some over $6 million) while market share continues to decline.
• Google's Insurance: Google pays Mozilla roughly $400-500 million a year. This isn't for search traffic; it's "anti-trust insurance" so Google can point to a "competitor" when regulators come calling.
• Lack of Pressure: Because the money arrives regardless of performance, the "winning energy" required to compete with Chrome has been lost.

3. The LibreWolf Alternative (A Temporary Bridge)

For users who want the Firefox experience without the corporate telemetry and "sponsored" content, the current recommendation is LibreWolf.

• Hardened by Default: It is a community fork of Firefox that removes Telemetry, Pocket, and sponsored ads.
• Zero Config: Instead of manually hardening Firefox settings, LibreWolf provides privacy and security out of the box.

User Note: While LibreWolf is excellent for today, it is essentially a "dead end" that only buys time. Because it is still based on the massive, hard-to-maintain Firefox engine, it doesn't solve the underlying problem of corporate scale. Once Ladybird becomes viable and easy to fork and maintain, a reasonable switch will occur, moving from a "hardened" version of a corporate engine to a truly independent and sustainable alternative.

Prerequisites

Open a terminal and install the required development tools and dependencies:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y autoconf autoconf-archive automake build-essential \
ccache cmake curl fonts-liberation2 git libavcodec-dev libgl1-mesa-dev \
nasm ninja-build pkg-config qt6-base-dev qt6-tools-dev-tools \
qt6-wayland qt6-multimedia-dev tar unzip zip clang-19 lld-19 gcc-14 g++-14

Installation Steps

1. Clone the Repository

Clone the source code from the official GitHub repository:

<git clone https://github.com/LadybirdBrowser/ladybird.git
cd ladybird

2. Build the Browser

Building Ladybird requires a modern compiler (Clang 19+). The initial build can take anywhere from 1.5 to 3 hours.

CC=clang-19 CXX=clang++-19 ./Meta/ladybird.py run

How to know it is finished:

The build is successful when you see these lines:

-- Build files have been written to: /home/user/ladybird/Build/release
ninja: Entering directory `/home/user/ladybird/Build/release'
[3528/3528] Linking CXX executable bin/Ladybird

Note: If the terminal hangs after the "Linking" line, you may press Ctrl+C to return to the prompt.

Fixing Blank Icons & Setting the Logo

1. Download the Official Logo

<cd /home/user/ladybird
curl -L -o ladybird_icon.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Ladybird_icon_png.png

2. Create the Desktop Entry

nano ~/.local/share/applications/ladybird.desktop

Paste this content (Replace user with your username):

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Ladybird
Comment=Independent Web Browser
Exec=/home/user/ladybird/Build/release/bin/Ladybird
Icon=/home/user/ladybird/ladybird_icon.png
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Network;WebBrowser;

Running and Pinning

1. Navigate to your project folder: cd /home/user/ladybird
2. Launch the executable: ./Build/release/bin/Ladybird
3. Right-click the icon in the Ubuntu Dock and select Pin to Favorites.

Troubleshooting

PID file exists error

Clear the stale lock file:

rm /run/user/1000/Ladybird.pid

Footnote: Replace user in any file path above with your actual Ubuntu account username.