Inox patchset is applied on the chromium source code and tries to prevent data transmission to Google Servers. So to say to remove Chromium from the cloud. The patches are split up based on features, so it's easy to patch only a subset of features. The current patchset is applied on top of Chromium 45.0.2454.93.
It is possible that some data is still transmitted(but down to a minimum) this is because Chromium is a quite large and complex codebase which changes each day.
If you are looking for a complete package there is a source(inox) and binary(inox-bin) version hosted for Arch linux in AUR[1,2]. These patches are tested and functional on Arch Linux x86_64. Some Chromium features are also disabled via build flags during build (See below).
Disabled Google's Instant Extended API. This has the effect that the old "New Tab" is in place without Google Search bar.
Adds DuckDuckGo as default search engine, it's still changeable in settings.
Enabled user-modification for all extensions. Disabled extensions:
- Hotword (incl. Shared Module)
- Google Now
- Google Feedback
- Cloud Print
- Google Webstore
- Network Speech synthesis
- Google Hangout
Disables HTML-Form AutoFill data transmission.
Disables URLTracker, which checks in which country you are to provide the closest google server for search lookups. I know this class has a bad naming, but nevertheless it connects to Google.
Modifies following default settings (can be changed anytime):
| User setting | new value |
|---|---|
| DefaultCookiesSetting | CONTENT_SETTING_SESSION_ONLY |
| EnableHyperLinkAuditing | false |
| CloudPrintSubmitEnabled | false |
| NetworkPredictionEnabled | false |
| BackgroundModeEnabled | false |
| BlockThirdPartyCookies | true |
| AlternateErrorPagesEnabled | false |
| SearchSuggestEnabled | false |
| AutofillEnabled | false |
| "Send feedback" checkbox if user triggers settings-reset | false |
| BuiltInDnsClientEnabled | false |
| SignInPromoUserSkipped | true |
| SignInPromoShowOnFirstRunAllowed | false |
| ShowAppsShortcutInBookmarkBar | false |
| ShowBookmarkBar | true |
| PromptForDownload | true |
| SafeBrowsingEnabled | false |
| EnableTranslate | false |
| LocalDiscoveryNotificationsEnabled | false |
Restores old NTP (New Tab Page) and disables Google's new Avatar Menu. The default NTP loads data from a web server to modify the appearance and inject a Google Search bar with a unique identifier.
Disables ipv6 probes to Google servers. Google pings its own DNS server to check if ipv6 is available. Changed this to RIPE NCC k.root-servers.net. 2001:7fd::1 (anycasted).
####disable-gcm-status-check.patch Disables Google Cloud-Messaging status probes. GCM provides an interface to send messages directly to single devices, groups of devices, or devices subscribed to topics.
####disable-missing-key-warning.patch Disables warning dialog about missing Google API key. This key is usually set on compile time and unique per distribution. See ArchLinux chromium PKGBUILD on how it's applied or this HOWTO for an in-depth API key explanation.
Since we don't want to use these APIs at all, the keys are not set (at least for inox package on AUR).
####disable-translation-lang-fetch.patch Disables language fetching when settings are opened for the first time
####disable-update-pings.patch Disables update pings to https://clients2.google.com/service/update2 which is used for component updates.
####branding.patch Replaces 'Chromium' strings with 'Inox' and removes 'Sign in to Chromium...' item from wrench menu
The packages hosted on AUR[1,2] are configured to use following build config. If you want to see how to apply a config search for Chromium LinuxBuildInstructions[3].
| Feature | Build config |
|---|---|
| Disable google now | enable_google_now=0 |
| Disable WebRTC | enable_webrtc=0 |
| Disable Remote service | emable_remoting=0 |
| Disable safe browsing | safe_browsing_mode=0 |
| Disable RLZ Identifier | enable_rlz=0 |
| Disable google hangouts | enable_hangout_services_extension=0 |
| Disable wifi bootstrapping | enable_wifi_bootstrapping=0 |
| Disable speech input | enable_speech_input=0 |
| Disable pre backups on sync | enable_pre_sync_backup=0 |
| Disable print preview | enable_print_preview=0 |
| Disable Chrome build | google_chrome_build=0 |
Since there is no WebStore plugin, you cannot install extensions directly from the store, but you can download and install any extension manually.
https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx?response=redirect&prodversion=45.0&x=id%3D[EXTENSION_ID]%26installsource%3Dondemand%26uc
To download a extension just replace [EXTENSION_ID] with the extension-id from the WebStore. (For example gighmmpiobklfepjocnamgkkbiglidom is the extension id from AdBlock)
To install it, just drag and drop the downloaded file into a chrome://extensions/ tab.
Keep in mind extensions are not updated automatically, so make sure you update them on a regular base.
- [1] inox (Arch AUR): https://aur4.archlinux.org/packages/inox/
- [2] inox-bin (Arch AUR): https://aur4.archlinux.org/packages/inox-bin/
- [3] Chromium LinuxBuildInstructions: https://code.google.com/p/chromium/wiki/LinuxBuildInstructions#gyp_(configuring)
Some patches are inspired from the Iridium Browser team. Thanks!
Bitcoin donations are welcome: 1PLEDfDsEiay6BMbcMjuGHA4B6z8KTNu1o