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The most material result of this is that Chromebooks won't have a working SSH client starting sometime next year, because WebAssembly can't do real sockets with

by _wmd 9y ago

The most material result of this is that Chromebooks won't have a working SSH client starting sometime next year, because WebAssembly can't do real sockets without an external proxy.

dragonwriter 9y ago
No, FTFA: “We will remove support for PNaCl in the first quarter of 2018 everywhere except inside Chrome Apps and Extensions.” Chrome Apps (and extensions) using PNaCl will continue to work.
- cbhl 9y ago
  Yes, because non-portable NaCl has higher usage inside Chrome Apps and Extensions, but I don't for a minute believe that Google is going to continue investing eng resources in maintaining (non-portable) NaCl now that pNaCl is dead, so I'd expect that to get deprecated sometime in 2019 or 2020. Disclaimer: My opinion, not that of my employer.
  - dragonwriter 9y ago
    > Yes, because non-portable NaCl has higher usage inside Chrome Apps and Extensions, but I don't for a minute believe that Google is going to continue investing eng resources in maintaining (non-portable) NaCl now that pNaCl is dead, so I'd expect that to get deprecated sometime in 2019 or 2020. Sure, it is deprecated and will be deactivated eventually (but maybe not soon; consider WebSQL). Google's got every incentive to make sure that WebAssembly (plus the APIs exposed in ChromeOS) provides a complete replacement for PNaCl and apps have had time to transition before doing that.
    - i336_ 9y ago
      WebSQL is so sad. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/42288596/websql-has-increasing-browser-support-whats-its-future https://stackoverflow.com/questions/42288596/websql-has-incr...
iends 9y ago
Yeah, between this and npapi removal the chromebook has lost a lot of functionality I used :(
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
sciurus 9y ago
Isn't this solved for (newer) Chromebooks by running an Android SSH client? https://blog.google/products/chromebooks/the-google-play-store-coming-to/ https://blog.google/products/chromebooks/the-google-play-sto...
- zxv 9y ago
  Yes, the native android apps are a good solution - they perform far better. One caveat however. The meta key is easier to map in the chrome app - for those using emacs for instance. 'External keyboard pro' may helps on android, but the setup is more complex.
BHSPitMonkey 9y ago
You've always been able to use real sockets on ChromeOS with plain JavaScript, no NaCl/wasm necessary. https://developer.chrome.com/apps/sockets_tcp https://developer.chrome.com/apps/sockets_tcp
johncolanduoni 9y ago
That's largely orthogonal to this switch. WebAssembly can't actually do anything except for compute and access whatever its embedder exposes. As others have mentioned JavaScript ChromeOS apps have this API available, so WebAssembly running in that context will be able to access it.
brandon 9y ago
We're going to make sure that the Secure Shell app for Chrome, in one form or another, continues to be usable on Chrome OS. (I'm one of the current maintainers and we're already all over this transition)
- jameskegel 9y ago
  Thank you for your contribution to a great project that I use daily

by _wmd 9y ago

The most material result of this is that Chromebooks won't have a working SSH client starting sometime next year, because WebAssembly can't do real sockets without an external proxy.

dragonwriter 9y ago

No, FTFA: “We will remove support for PNaCl in the first quarter of 2018 everywhere except inside Chrome Apps and Extensions.” Chrome Apps (and extensions) using PNaCl will continue to work.

cbhl 9y ago
Yes, because non-portable NaCl has higher usage inside Chrome Apps and Extensions, but I don't for a minute believe that Google is going to continue investing eng resources in maintaining (non-portable) NaCl now that pNaCl is dead, so I'd expect that to get deprecated sometime in 2019 or 2020. Disclaimer: My opinion, not that of my employer.
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  > Yes, because non-portable NaCl has higher usage inside Chrome Apps and Extensions, but I don't for a minute believe that Google is going to continue investing eng resources in maintaining (non-portable) NaCl now that pNaCl is dead, so I'd expect that to get deprecated sometime in 2019 or 2020. Sure, it is deprecated and will be deactivated eventually (but maybe not soon; consider WebSQL). Google's got every incentive to make sure that WebAssembly (plus the APIs exposed in ChromeOS) provides a complete replacement for PNaCl and apps have had time to transition before doing that.
  - i336_ 9y ago
    WebSQL is so sad. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/42288596/websql-has-increasing-browser-support-whats-its-future https://stackoverflow.com/questions/42288596/websql-has-incr...

iends 9y ago

Yeah, between this and npapi removal the chromebook has lost a lot of functionality I used :(

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

sciurus 9y ago

Isn't this solved for (newer) Chromebooks by running an Android SSH client? https://blog.google/products/chromebooks/the-google-play-store-coming-to/ https://blog.google/products/chromebooks/the-google-play-sto...

zxv 9y ago
Yes, the native android apps are a good solution - they perform far better. One caveat however. The meta key is easier to map in the chrome app - for those using emacs for instance. 'External keyboard pro' may helps on android, but the setup is more complex.

BHSPitMonkey 9y ago

You've always been able to use real sockets on ChromeOS with plain JavaScript, no NaCl/wasm necessary. https://developer.chrome.com/apps/sockets_tcp https://developer.chrome.com/apps/sockets_tcp

johncolanduoni 9y ago

That's largely orthogonal to this switch. WebAssembly can't actually do anything except for compute and access whatever its embedder exposes. As others have mentioned JavaScript ChromeOS apps have this API available, so WebAssembly running in that context will be able to access it.

brandon 9y ago

We're going to make sure that the Secure Shell app for Chrome, in one form or another, continues to be usable on Chrome OS. (I'm one of the current maintainers and we're already all over this transition)

jameskegel 9y ago
Thank you for your contribution to a great project that I use daily