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I can understand value in multiple browsers for experimenting with new things (see Rust integration into Mozilla's engine), but what are the security benefits?
by rtpg 7y ago
I can understand value in multiple browsers for experimenting with new things (see Rust integration into Mozilla's engine), but what are the security benefits?
Like if you have 3 different crypto imlpementations, you have times more teams that have to get a thing right. It seems way easier to try and get it right just once.
Perhaps there's a holistic idea of "if one browser has an issue, at least it doesn't affect 100% of them" but given what CVEs look like in reality (often variations of the same attack across multiple programs) it seems like the cost/benefit would not be in our favor
- core-questions 7y ago> what are the security benefits? Not everyone gets hit with every attack. Biological systems work this way too.
- kortilla 7y agoMultiple implementations is a great way to highlight issues in the spec vs reality (assumptions, unspecified behavior, etc). If you only have one implementation, the implementation becomes the spec and you end up with people targeting compatibility for that rather than a specification. This happened with Cisco routers back in the day, Juniper had to add a flag to make a routing protocol compatible with Cisco because Cisco implemented it wrong but had so much dominance that Juniper had no choice if they wanted to get in the game.
- sjwright 7y agoThe biggest security benefit is that competition motivates everyone to work harder, to explore alternative solutions, to raise expectations. Competition means investing in ideas like Rust and Servo. Without serious competition you eventually get IE6.