Are there any linux based browser shells for stand-alone multi-window web application clients?

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We have an enterprise grade web-based system that runs in it's own dedicated browser. Right now, that browser is a custom build of Firefox (with alternate paths and naming so it doesn't conflict with any "real" Firefoxes on the system), with a XUL plug-in that strips away all of the UI except the tabs and replaces the menu with menu items from the server.

The application runs on the server. The client pages are regular web pages that use CSS/HTML5/Javascript with all the latest goodies like WebSockets. The app uses multiple tabs and multiple windows.

We used Firefox's source for the client since it supported all of the latest web standards, and we didn't have to build a client program that did low level things like window and tab management.

The problem: Mozilla has announced it will no longer support XUL extensions, and has no plans to offer the same functionality in the new "WebExtensions" paradigm.

So we are unfortunately forced to either give up on getting new technology like the latest HTML/CSS tools, or switch to something else to be our client shell.

I know some browsers have a "run as standalone" option, but we want something that is packaged separately and can be installed with a basic .deb package (or similar) and doesn't automatically update with any web browser on the system.

We're basically looking for an option that:

• Runs completely standalone (from any other browser) with custom branding
• Let's us completely change the UI and pull UI data like menus from the server
• Has multiple tab and multiple window support
• Is actively maintained and has the latest rendering/web/javascipt capabilities like a modern browser.

Or in short, something exactly like FireFox only without dropping the XUL extension support.

I know similar things exist for Windows, but I'm not sure if there's anything Linux compatible.

If not, what's the easiest (read: least effort) way to get a web-application client working like this? Build a QT/GTK application and "borrow" the rendering engine from a real browser? Or try to replicate what our extension did by modifying the source code directly? None of those options sound pretty or trivial and we'd rather spend our development time working on our real application.

How do other web application developers solve this problem when they need a dedicated "browser" for their application?

asked 43 secs ago

Nick

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Are there any linux based browser shells for stand-alone multi-window web application clients?