How to Use Automation on Linux for Web Browser Tasks

There is a saying, that lazy programmers will find the quickest way to do something. This is of course saying that they are very efficient at programming because they use automation for tasks. Therefore, productively work smarter, and work gets done nicely. Many use selenium for web programming tasks, that is fine for many tasks, though websites may prevent selenium browsers. However, an alternative way to automate tasks on Linux is to install wine on Linux, then use AutoHotKey 2.0 that works very well. Ok, here is the tutorial.

1. Install wine on Linux
2. Install AutoHotKey 2.0 using wine on Linux
3. Install the Windows version of Chrome or Firefox using wine on Linux. You may have to run winecfg to override a dll or two, for example on Firefox.
4. Create a python3 program, to run the automation.

import os
os.system('wine64 firefox.exe &')
os.system('wine64 "/path/to/autohotkey2_v64.exe" "c:\\path\\to\\program.ahk" "args1")

Then create the program.ahk There is lots of Internet examples and very nice documentation at https://www.autohotkey.com/docs/v2/

MouseMove(75,75)
Click
etc.

And that will allow you to use automation on Linux of Chrome or Firefox browsers.

Happy Coding!