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> If Google annoys enough people, people can take Webkit and do whatever they want. Not sure if that should have been Blink, or if you're making a subtle point
by vatueil 8y ago
> If Google annoys enough people, people can take Webkit and do whatever they want.
Not sure if that should have been Blink, or if you're making a subtle point about how Blink was forked from WebKit (which was in turn forked from KHTML).
Personally, while I can see why some may react to this news with concern about a monoculture, I find it hard to feel sorry about the end of the last significant closed source browser engine.
If Microsoft gives up IE and Edge then all the major browsers will have an open source foundation. With Gecko, WebKit, and Blink there remains a healthy range of options, too.
And as the history of KHTML/WebKit/Blink demonstrates, derivatives will appear if there's enough interest. Perhaps someday Microsoft will follow the examples Apple and Google have set by creating their own fork, if the circumstances warrant it.
- pjmlp 8y agoIt also demonstrates that forks are irrelevant and no one cares about them unless they come from major players with enough money and political power to push them.
- vatueil 8y agoWebKit was forked from KHTML. Chromium used WebKit, until Blink was forked. All of that was only possible because the browser engines are open source. As with anything, you always need somebody (or a group of somebodies) to help something new gain traction. There's no magic pixie dust that will let you develop a major new platform without commensurate resources. What open source does do is lower the cost of entry and make it easier to build up to a level where you can make an impact.
- pjmlp 8y agoYou forgot to count all the other forks that died.