Command Line

Tutorial

Article from Issue 198/2017
Author(s):

Not only is it possible to browse the web from the CLI, it's mightily useful, too, as we demonstrate in this article.

A few months ago, I was stranded at an airport – my plane was delayed, so I had a couple of hours to kill. Fortunately, it was past beer-o-clock (i.e., 1800 hours), so I headed to the bar and then cracked open my laptop for some Reddit-browsing antics. But there was one big problem: The airport's Internet connection was slow.

I'm talking horrendously slow here – it was like using some 300-baud modem from the 1980s. I pretty much couldn't do anything on the Internet, and I saw other grumbling passengers desperately trying to reconnect multiple times in hope of a teensy bit of better bandwidth. They soon gave up.

Because I'm a turbo-geek, though, I came up with a solution. Somehow, I needed to drastically reduce my bandwidth but still be able to surf the web. I tried disabling images and JavaScript in Firefox; this resulted in a slight improvement, but browsing was still agonizingly slow. And then it struck me: I could SSH into a Raspberry Pi I have at home and browse from there.

[...]

Use Express-Checkout link below to read the full article (PDF).

Buy this article as PDF

Express-Checkout as PDF
Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Linux Magazine

SINGLE ISSUES
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS
 
TABLET & SMARTPHONE APPS
Get it on Google Play

US / Canada

Get it on Google Play

UK / Australia

Related content

  • Adriane

    The Adriane audio desktop system delivers Linux to sightimpaired users.

  • Ask Klaus!

    Klaus Knopper is the creator of Knoppix and co-founder of LinuxTag expo. He works as a teacher, programmer, and consultant. If you have a configuration problem, or if you just want to learn more about how Linux works, send your questions to: klaus@linux-magazine.com

  • Use Reddit on the Move with Diode Reddit Browser
  • FOSSPicks

    Graham looks at Krita 4.0, FreeTube 0.2.0, OpenSnitch, Yoda, Citybound, GZDoom, and much more!

  • Social Aid

    Fortunately, Facebook is not the only place you can chat: When sys admin columnist Charly Kühnast visits the web chat center Reddit, he often goes without a web browser and uses the RTV tool, which can even display photos and videos on plain text consoles.

comments powered by Disqus