Briar GTK

Warning: This is still in a very early state and should be considered a prototype.

A simple GTK app for Briar, built with Python and GNOME Builder. It uses python-briar-wrapper and the Briar REST API and therefore requires Java.

For regular updates, check out the Briar tag on Nico Alt's blog (RSS feed).

Installation

Flatpak

Alpha releases of Briar GTK can be installed using Flatpak. After installing Flatpak, you can install Briar GTK like this:

flatpak install --user https://flatpak.dorfbrunnen.eu/repo/appstream/app.briar.gtk.flatpakref

In case the above command doesn't work for you, you can try to install it manually:

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists dorfbrunnen https://flatpak.dorfbrunnen.eu/repo/dorfbrunnen.flatpakrepo
flatpak install --user app.briar.gtk

Running

After installing Briar GTK, you can run it like this:

flatpak run app.briar.gtk

Developers

GNOME Builder

The easiest and most convenient way to build briar-gtk is by using Builder. Because Flatpak support is quite new in Builder, it's recommend to install Builder via Flatpak:

flatpak install flathub org.gnome.Builder

To setup Flatpak on your system, check out the documentation at flatpak.org. In Builder, click "Clone Repository" at the bottom and enter the URL to this Git project.

flatpak-builder

To build it on the command-line without Builder, call this:

flatpak remote-add --user --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak-builder --install-deps-from=flathub --user --install --force-clean --ccache flatpak-builddir app.briar.gtk.json
flatpak run app.briar.gtk

Directly from source

After cloning this Git repository, don't forget to initialize the briar-wrapper submodule:

git submodule update --init

First, install some Debian dependencies:

sudo apt install meson libhandy-0.0-dev gettext appstream-util python3-pip

On Fedora, you can call:

sudo dnf install meson gtk3-devel libhandy-devel gettext libappstream-glib python3-pip

Then, install the Python dependencies:

pip3 install -r requirements.txt

You also need to build Briar Headless. Check its readme to learn how to do it. You can also use builds provided by Nico Alt and put the .jar file at ~/.local/share/java/briar-headless.jar. Make sure to have java (e.g. openjdk-11-jdk) installed.

Once you've done this, change the path to the Briar headless jar in briar_gtk.define and build Briar GTK with meson and ninja:

meson --prefix $PWD/_install _build
ninja -C _build all install

You should then be able to run Briar GTK like this:

XDG_DATA_DIRS=_install/share:$XDG_DATA_DIRS ./_install/bin/briar-gtk

Debian

First, install some Debian dependencies:

sudo apt install build-essential devscripts debhelper gnome-pkg-tools python3-all meson libhandy-0.0-dev gettext appstream-util

You can then build the .deb like this:

debuild -us -uc

And install the .deb like this:

sudo dpkg -i ../briar-gtk_0.1.0-alpha1-1_all.deb

Internationalization

Feel free to add translations to Briar GTK by opening a merge request with updates to the language file of your choice in briar_gtk/po. Make sure to add your name to the translator_credits list in briar-gtk/data/ui/about_dialog.ui.in.

To test Briar GTK in your language, add the following entry to the finish-args list in app.briar.gtk.json:

--env=LC_ALL=de_DE.utf8

Maintenance

From time to time, translations and Flatpak's Python dependencies should be updated. The former can be done with tools/generate_data.sh, the latter using flatpak-builder-tools.

Design Goals

• Intuitive UI, similar to Briar Android client
• Main platform is GNU/Linux, but should also support (at least) Windows and macOS
• Analogously, main platform is x86, but should also support (at least) arm
• Follows GNOME Human Interface Guidelines
• Adaptive to different screen sizes (desktop and mobile devices)
• Has phone constraints in mind
• Strictly separates API wrapper from GTK stuff, making former a solid base for other (commandline) clients

FAQ

How can I run this on the Librem 5?

Whether you own a Librem 5 or set up an emulator, you can install Briar GTK easily using Flatpak.

Before you start, you have to install some dependencies:

sudo apt install flatpak-builder elfutils

You can then simply follow the instructions from above. Note that you currently don't get beyond the setup screen because Briar Headless only works on x86 platforms so far.

For more questions, take a look at the FAQ of python-briar-wrapper.

License

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Affero General Public License for more details.