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Considering that Samsung Internet, Brave, Opera, Electron etc is based on Chromium and at least Samsung Internet adding new features of their own to it, there a

Considering that Samsung Internet, Brave, Opera, Electron etc is based on Chromium and at least Samsung Internet adding new features of their own to it, there are at least many other people working on the code base. I would guess that Microsoft would keep using Chorus rather than adopting V8, but if they aren’t, then V8 has contributions from eg. Node.js And as states in the article: Edge on Android and on ARM seems to already be Chromium based

ridiculous_fish 8y ago
There's a crucial difference between "working on the code base" and having commit access. The committers are the gatekeepers and the steamrollers. What I'm effectively asking is this: 1. If Google opts to steer Chromium in a way that the community finds objectionable, could the community stop it? 2. If the community opts to steer Chromium in a way that Google finds objectionable, could Google stop it?
- VoxPelli 8y ago
  Yeah, but if many people are working on the browser code and those people don’t like what Google is doing anymore, then they individually or collectively could fork the code, just like Google forked their engine from WebKit when they wanted to move in a different direction than apple
- bad_user 8y ago
  > "1. If Google opts to steer Chromium in a way that the community finds objectionable, could the community stop it?" The answer to that is obvious. Of course not. Google owns Chromium's repository. Even if the "community" decides to fork Chromium, Google owns Chrome, so any fork of Chromium is completely irrelevant. That's because people download and install Chrome and not obscure Chromium forks. And that is why web standards are important ;-)
  - VoxPelli 8y ago
    “Obscure Chromium forks” – like Samsung Internet and Edge? Remember: Chromium itself is an “obscure fork” of WebKit...
    - bad_user 8y ago
      >> "“Obscure Chromium forks” – like Samsung Internet and Edge?" Yes, exactly like those two. >> "Remember: Chromium itself is an “obscure fork” of WebKit..." Actually when Google forked WebKit, Chrome wasn't obscure at all. But yes, that's the perfect proof that Google doesn't want to cooperate when they aren't pulling the strings.
    - ash_gti 8y ago
      Don't forget Opera is a re-skinned Chrome.
      - bad_user 8y ago
        Right, at which point Opera too became completely irrelevant. First they switched their engine to Blink, then predictably after 3 years sold out to an obscure Chinese private equity fund.
      - gsnedders 8y ago
        I mean it's re-skinned in the same way as Samsung Internet and I believe Edge will be: a totally different browser UI implementation around the same browser engine.
        VoxPelli 8y ago
        Samsung Internet has their own implementations of quite a few web standards - calling it a reskin isn’t very accurate
- pcwalton 8y ago
  1. No. 2. Yes.
- jjgod 8y ago
  In the past, some Opera employees do have commit access to Blink. When I was working on the content layer of Chromium (and some other parts) as an Opera employee I never had commit access, though I do get bug editing access (which is for triaging bugs). Overall, it doesn't feel like there is a community at all, it's more like Google deciding everything then tell external contributors as a courtesy. I believe there can be technical influences driven by non-Google contributors but that's pretty rare. That said, perhaps Microsoft can be an exception if their participation is big enough.
- nojvek 8y ago
  If google is a jerk to Microsoft, you can always fork. That is the beauty of open source software. The destiny is in your hands if you’re willing to put in the work.

ridiculous_fish 8y ago

There's a crucial difference between "working on the code base" and having commit access. The committers are the gatekeepers and the steamrollers. What I'm effectively asking is this: 1. If Google opts to steer Chromium in a way that the community finds objectionable, could the community stop it? 2. If the community opts to steer Chromium in a way that Google finds objectionable, could Google stop it?

VoxPelli 8y ago
Yeah, but if many people are working on the browser code and those people don’t like what Google is doing anymore, then they individually or collectively could fork the code, just like Google forked their engine from WebKit when they wanted to move in a different direction than apple
bad_user 8y ago
> "1. If Google opts to steer Chromium in a way that the community finds objectionable, could the community stop it?" The answer to that is obvious. Of course not. Google owns Chromium's repository. Even if the "community" decides to fork Chromium, Google owns Chrome, so any fork of Chromium is completely irrelevant. That's because people download and install Chrome and not obscure Chromium forks. And that is why web standards are important ;-)
- VoxPelli 8y ago
  “Obscure Chromium forks” – like Samsung Internet and Edge? Remember: Chromium itself is an “obscure fork” of WebKit...
  - bad_user 8y ago
    >> "“Obscure Chromium forks” – like Samsung Internet and Edge?" Yes, exactly like those two. >> "Remember: Chromium itself is an “obscure fork” of WebKit..." Actually when Google forked WebKit, Chrome wasn't obscure at all. But yes, that's the perfect proof that Google doesn't want to cooperate when they aren't pulling the strings.
  - ash_gti 8y ago
    Don't forget Opera is a re-skinned Chrome.
    - bad_user 8y ago
      Right, at which point Opera too became completely irrelevant. First they switched their engine to Blink, then predictably after 3 years sold out to an obscure Chinese private equity fund.
    - gsnedders 8y ago
      I mean it's re-skinned in the same way as Samsung Internet and I believe Edge will be: a totally different browser UI implementation around the same browser engine.
      - VoxPelli 8y ago
        Samsung Internet has their own implementations of quite a few web standards - calling it a reskin isn’t very accurate
pcwalton 8y ago
1. No. 2. Yes.
jjgod 8y ago
In the past, some Opera employees do have commit access to Blink. When I was working on the content layer of Chromium (and some other parts) as an Opera employee I never had commit access, though I do get bug editing access (which is for triaging bugs). Overall, it doesn't feel like there is a community at all, it's more like Google deciding everything then tell external contributors as a courtesy. I believe there can be technical influences driven by non-Google contributors but that's pretty rare. That said, perhaps Microsoft can be an exception if their participation is big enough.
nojvek 8y ago
If google is a jerk to Microsoft, you can always fork. That is the beauty of open source software. The destiny is in your hands if you’re willing to put in the work.