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Here's hoping. The proliferation of browser standards has made this appear a more daunting task as time has gone by. There was a point where if you built a go

Here's hoping. The proliferation of browser standards has made this appear a more daunting task as time has gone by. There was a point where if you built a good DOM, javascript engine, and a layout engine and had a reasonable ability to fetch resources, you could bootstrap a browser. That's how Konquerer got there. But now, I think we're past that point -- if your browser can't do native video conferencing and opengl and music apis and SVG animations and canvas support it might as well be a steaming turd. I'd love to see someone try; to build a browser with third-party cookies excluded by design rather than policy (so that all off-domain fetches come from a blank "incognito" context), to build a React-style shadow DOM as the primary DOM and have the W3C DOM implemented as a polyfill, with client certificates integrated more naturally, completely killing the notion of allowing windows to open programmatically (I mean, how can pop-ups still be a problem? Any sane site is now using on-page popups if they need the UX), and some sort of model for integrating new web APIs and content handlers. But combining all of that with a smooth and well-polished UI that works on multiple platforms is rapidly becoming something that only a large software corporation can pull off, and even there, mostly pull off badly. For now, I think Chrome is here to stay.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
I have a better idea: build a new browser for a new web that is designed with decades of hindsight and isn't as bogged down in all the stupid legacy crap that the current web is. Then port Chromium to it as a portal to the legacy web.
- cpeterso 8y ago
  The most popular browsers in China take a similar approach: they're hybrids of Chromium and Microsoft's Trident engine for legacy pages that require NPAPI plugins. Many ecommerce and banking websites in China require proprietary NPAPI plugins so these hybrid browsers seamlessly switch to Trident for those websites.
- scrollaway 8y ago
  That's cute and wishful but the world is built on legacy crap. And it'll remain that way until economic forces dictate otherwise.
steve76 8y ago
This is what I would do: - Remove adsense bans - Make public all traffic data - Setup alerts if someone is doxed from it - Use browserless, and make many different browsers for each application
c-smile 8y ago
Better idea: To move Chrome development to some non-commercial "free world" institution. Like UN for example. That's the only option to have a) security first and b) free browser. No other options for free browser. Web client stack is so complex that to finance its development it should be a company that gets income from each browser instance installed. How they do that is a rhetoric question I think.
- kkarakk 8y ago
  yeah and then the UN would bloat up the browser with non browser concerns like blocking loli cartoons or whatever their current excuse is to waste time

AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago

I have a better idea: build a new browser for a new web that is designed with decades of hindsight and isn't as bogged down in all the stupid legacy crap that the current web is. Then port Chromium to it as a portal to the legacy web.

cpeterso 8y ago
The most popular browsers in China take a similar approach: they're hybrids of Chromium and Microsoft's Trident engine for legacy pages that require NPAPI plugins. Many ecommerce and banking websites in China require proprietary NPAPI plugins so these hybrid browsers seamlessly switch to Trident for those websites.
scrollaway 8y ago
That's cute and wishful but the world is built on legacy crap. And it'll remain that way until economic forces dictate otherwise.

steve76 8y ago

This is what I would do: - Remove adsense bans - Make public all traffic data - Setup alerts if someone is doxed from it - Use browserless, and make many different browsers for each application

c-smile 8y ago

Better idea: To move Chrome development to some non-commercial "free world" institution. Like UN for example. That's the only option to have a) security first and b) free browser. No other options for free browser. Web client stack is so complex that to finance its development it should be a company that gets income from each browser instance installed. How they do that is a rhetoric question I think.

kkarakk 8y ago
yeah and then the UN would bloat up the browser with non browser concerns like blocking loli cartoons or whatever their current excuse is to waste time