Version 0.9 of Gate One, an open source terminal emulator for HTML5 web browsers, has been released. This is a beta level build – the first public release as the developer works towards a stable 1.0 version. The software makes use of WebSockets to connect a server backend written in Python and a frontend written for modern browsers in JavaScript, HTML5 and CSS. The frontend doesn't require any browser plug-ins to be installed.

Gate One also supports HTTP over SSL (https) secure connections from the browser to the server and authentication technologies such as Kerberos. It has its own internal plug-in system (plug-ins can be written in Python, JavaScript and CSS); currently available plug-ins for Gate One include SSH client connections, session recording and playback, and a bookmark manager for storing terminal sessions.

The tool competes with other browser terminal emulators such as shellinabox and consoleFISH, which are mostly written in JavaScript using Ajax techniques. Further information about Gate One 0.9 can be seen in a video recorded by the author. Gate One is available to download from GitHub; the software is licensed under the AGPLv3, and can also be custom-licensed from the author who is looking to create a business around the open source application.

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