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Add metrics and advertising obsessed companies into the mix and the only result could be a complete clusterfuck. The major issue with web apps is that the cust

by blub 9y ago

Add metrics and advertising obsessed companies into the mix and the only result could be a complete clusterfuck. The major issue with web apps is that the customer (or depending on the company bag of meat that watches the ads) has no control over the app or the data. They will be abused by the company in all sorts of creative ways. And yes, those VMs could be local-only, but why would Google, MS or Mozilla want that? The former two are heavy in the cloud+ads business, the latter was pushing FirefoxOS. Why would web developers want that? All the stuff they write is online-first.

wslh 9y ago
> Add metrics and advertising... I assume the ads would be at the messaging system, so even if a variable contains 'iphone' the ads start to appear. Joking aside, we need a better security system because we never know if an arbitrary compiler is not embedding a malware payload.
AnIdiotOnTheNet 9y ago
> Add metrics and advertising obsessed companies into the mix and the only result could be a complete clusterfuck. Case in point: The Web.
nerdponx 9y ago
I already see plenty of obfuscated JavaScript out in the wild. Script names have opaque GUIDs and slugs, and the code itself is inscrutable: defining single-character constants and recombining them later, dynamically constructing scripts to be dynamically injected into the page and then run, etc. I would like to believe that this is done in the name of performance, but my gut tells me this is done in the name of keeping one step ahead of the ad blockers. As it stands now, I feel that I as a user have no defense against tracking and fingerprinting except by monitoring and controlling access to the DOM at the level of individual operations. I am afraid this is only going to get worse with WebAssembly. "Audit the code yourself" no longer a viable solution except for a handful of experts. On the bright side, perhaps WebAssembly will lead to fewer ways of interacting with the DOM, which could make it easier to detect malicious/undesired interactions.
sp332 9y ago
The alternative is advertising built into the OS like Ubuntu did and MS and Amazon still do, tracking built into the OS like Google and MS do, etc. Having the trackers run in a sandbox is not great but it's a little better than letting them all run natively.
tspike 9y ago
I am hoping to time my exit from the field to coincide with this clusterfuck singularity.

by blub 9y ago

wslh 9y ago

> Add metrics and advertising... I assume the ads would be at the messaging system, so even if a variable contains 'iphone' the ads start to appear. Joking aside, we need a better security system because we never know if an arbitrary compiler is not embedding a malware payload.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 9y ago

> Add metrics and advertising obsessed companies into the mix and the only result could be a complete clusterfuck. Case in point: The Web.

nerdponx 9y ago

I already see plenty of obfuscated JavaScript out in the wild. Script names have opaque GUIDs and slugs, and the code itself is inscrutable: defining single-character constants and recombining them later, dynamically constructing scripts to be dynamically injected into the page and then run, etc. I would like to believe that this is done in the name of performance, but my gut tells me this is done in the name of keeping one step ahead of the ad blockers. As it stands now, I feel that I as a user have no defense against tracking and fingerprinting except by monitoring and controlling access to the DOM at the level of individual operations. I am afraid this is only going to get worse with WebAssembly. "Audit the code yourself" no longer a viable solution except for a handful of experts. On the bright side, perhaps WebAssembly will lead to fewer ways of interacting with the DOM, which could make it easier to detect malicious/undesired interactions.

sp332 9y ago

The alternative is advertising built into the OS like Ubuntu did and MS and Amazon still do, tracking built into the OS like Google and MS do, etc. Having the trackers run in a sandbox is not great but it's a little better than letting them all run natively.

tspike 9y ago

I am hoping to time my exit from the field to coincide with this clusterfuck singularity.