What does it take to build a web browser when everyone says it's impossible? In this episode, we sit down with Andreas Kling, the engineer behind Ladybird—the only major browser project that doesn't take money from Google.
Andreas breaks down a uncomfortable truth: Google funds every major browser through search deals. Chrome, Firefox, Safari—they're all dependent on Google's advertising revenue. Ladybird is building the first truly independent alternative since the early Firefox days.
We dive deep into the technical challenges of implementing web standards from scratch, why their 700,000 lines of code can compete with Chrome's 100+ million, and how they're making browser code that actually mirrors the specifications. Andreas reveals why they switched from UTF-8 to UTF-16, why they didn't choose Rust, and how they handle the constant evolution of living web standards.
From the "draw the owl" problem of CSS specifications to building a sustainable nonprofit model with sponsors like Shopify, Andreas shares the engineering and business decisions behind their ambitious timeline: alpha in 2026, beta in 2027, and v1.0 by 2028.
Our Fantastic Guest
Andreas Kling
President of the Ladybird Browser Initiative.
X
Links and Resources
Ladybird Browser Website
Web Platform Tests
Fil-C (memory-safe C++ compiler)
Thank you very much for listening!
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