Community meeting on 15th January 2026

ichthyosaurus · 9 January 2026 23:32

Name/IRC nick: ichthyosaurus (sadly I won’t be able to make it)
Topic: Harbour exception for File Browser
Some details about the topic: File Browser is one of the most downloaded/upvoted apps in the official store. However, the version published in the official store is severely restricted due to Sailjail: folders restricted by Sailjail appear empty, and there’s no way of knowing if a folder is inaccessible due to Sailjail or if it is actually empty, leading to confused users asking me for help because they can’t find their files.

I had to add a notice to the official store page encouraging users to switch to the unrestricted version on Open Repos because what is a file manager if it can’t access the files it is supposed to be managing?

This is bad from a security perspective because it leads users to OpenRepos even though they maybe don’t know the hidden traps there. It is also bad optics to have one of the few apps that are always visible in the store (i.e. the first thing a new user will notice) recommending to switch to an unofficial store instead.

I’m asking for a exception to the Harbour rules just for File Browser, or for (vetted, trusted, and stable) file manager apps in general.

This could either be implemented as a new Sailjail permissions set for file managers (i.e. giving full file system access), or as a broad exception allowing File Browser to disable Sailjail in Harbour.