5 ms·

Wait, Servo is the core browser engine of Firefox isn't it? Do they intend to become FF another Webkit-based browser?

thayne 6y ago
I hope not. The biggest reason I use firefox is to avoid the webkit/blink monoculture. Also, I really liked the idea of a browser written in rust, with the additional safety that brings.
polycaster 6y ago
Not that I expect it but the idea is very intriguing at second thought. What many people are (reasonably) afraid of at the moment is a de-facto monopoly of Webkit controlled by Google. So that Google is in a position to shape the web for their sole business benefit and against the benefit of the rest of us. If FF joined the Webkit camp as an active driver, the monopoly (in terms of control) would be mostly gone and be replaced by what I'd call a standard and its broadly spread implementation. A web-standard implementation followed by all major vendors. Of course branches are likely to divert after a while, but for brief moment in time, everything in web-land would be rainbows and unicorns.
- Ygg2 6y ago
  Yeah. Rainbows and unicorns. Ask Edge devs about Google services incompatibility.
  - polycaster 6y ago
    What do you expect them to answer? Also I cannot see how this has anything to do with my point.
    - Ygg2 6y ago
      Probably a list of oopsies, i.e. making Google services work with things that aren't Google Chrome. Even if they are the same bloody thing inside. Your point was Mozilla could be a strong voice in WebStandards? There won't be any standards. It will be whatever Google does.
      - polycaster 6y ago
        > Your point was Mozilla could be a strong voice in WebStandards? Yes, kind of. One among multiple strong-ish actors. So Google would have the Edge team and Mozilla against them. My reasoning was there would be more counter-weight than with Mozilla doing their thing while slowly being marginalized. But perhaps I was too optimistic regarding the world's dependance on Google Services (or rather as the worlds perceives it). Independently of this hypothetical scenario I hope (and still belieive) there are still enough circles remaining which aren't that much associated with Google Services to sustain a user base for alternative products. Rainbows and unicorns again...
        Ygg2 6y ago
        > So Google would have the Edge team and Mozilla against them. <INSERT J Jonah Jameson laughing> That's like Goliath fighting two baby kittens. > I hope (and still belieive) there are still enough circles remaining which aren't that much associated with Google Services to sustain a user base for alternative products. Rainbows and unicorns again... At this point, I think the only hope I have is that EU, basically does a successful anti-trust lawsuit, or if someone invents something else that destroys Google, in the same way mobile destroyed Microsoft's grip on computing market.
- shaan7 6y ago
  > what I'd call a standard Um, just calling a monopoly a "standard" doesn't make it so. There are already standards for the the web that are defined by the W3C. It is a win for a standard if there are multiple implementations rather than just one, not the other way round as you are claiming.
  - polycaster 6y ago
    Read again. That's not what I did. Search for the word "control".
- saagarjha 6y ago
  > de-facto monopoly of Webkit controlled by Google WebKit is controlled almost entirely by Apple.
  - polycaster 6y ago
    Chrome and Safari all belong to the same family. Blink is a fork of Webkit. Making Chrome the strongest family member in terms of market share. Also i strongly suppose parent was refering to Edge migrating to Chromium.
    - smnthermes 6y ago
      WebCore is already far diverged from Blink, and V8 was made from the scratch. WebKit is a solid alternative to Chromium.
- SahAssar 6y ago
  Google uses blink, not webkit. Blink has diverged from webkit by a lot.
zerocrates 6y ago
Firefox's engine is still Gecko. Servo is/was kind of a clean slate reimplementation of an engine in Rust. Some parts of Servo have been carved off and implemented into Firefox, though.
akerro 6y ago
or blink
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

I hope not. The biggest reason I use firefox is to avoid the webkit/blink monoculture. Also, I really liked the idea of a browser written in rust, with the additional safety that brings.

polycaster 6y ago

Not that I expect it but the idea is very intriguing at second thought. What many people are (reasonably) afraid of at the moment is a de-facto monopoly of Webkit controlled by Google. So that Google is in a position to shape the web for their sole business benefit and against the benefit of the rest of us. If FF joined the Webkit camp as an active driver, the monopoly (in terms of control) would be mostly gone and be replaced by what I'd call a standard and its broadly spread implementation. A web-standard implementation followed by all major vendors. Of course branches are likely to divert after a while, but for brief moment in time, everything in web-land would be rainbows and unicorns.

Ygg2 6y ago
Yeah. Rainbows and unicorns. Ask Edge devs about Google services incompatibility.
- polycaster 6y ago
  What do you expect them to answer? Also I cannot see how this has anything to do with my point.
  - Ygg2 6y ago
    Probably a list of oopsies, i.e. making Google services work with things that aren't Google Chrome. Even if they are the same bloody thing inside. Your point was Mozilla could be a strong voice in WebStandards? There won't be any standards. It will be whatever Google does.
    - polycaster 6y ago
      > Your point was Mozilla could be a strong voice in WebStandards? Yes, kind of. One among multiple strong-ish actors. So Google would have the Edge team and Mozilla against them. My reasoning was there would be more counter-weight than with Mozilla doing their thing while slowly being marginalized. But perhaps I was too optimistic regarding the world's dependance on Google Services (or rather as the worlds perceives it). Independently of this hypothetical scenario I hope (and still belieive) there are still enough circles remaining which aren't that much associated with Google Services to sustain a user base for alternative products. Rainbows and unicorns again...
      - Ygg2 6y ago
        > So Google would have the Edge team and Mozilla against them. <INSERT J Jonah Jameson laughing> That's like Goliath fighting two baby kittens. > I hope (and still belieive) there are still enough circles remaining which aren't that much associated with Google Services to sustain a user base for alternative products. Rainbows and unicorns again... At this point, I think the only hope I have is that EU, basically does a successful anti-trust lawsuit, or if someone invents something else that destroys Google, in the same way mobile destroyed Microsoft's grip on computing market.
shaan7 6y ago
> what I'd call a standard Um, just calling a monopoly a "standard" doesn't make it so. There are already standards for the the web that are defined by the W3C. It is a win for a standard if there are multiple implementations rather than just one, not the other way round as you are claiming.
- polycaster 6y ago
  Read again. That's not what I did. Search for the word "control".
saagarjha 6y ago
> de-facto monopoly of Webkit controlled by Google WebKit is controlled almost entirely by Apple.
- polycaster 6y ago
  Chrome and Safari all belong to the same family. Blink is a fork of Webkit. Making Chrome the strongest family member in terms of market share. Also i strongly suppose parent was refering to Edge migrating to Chromium.
  - smnthermes 6y ago
    WebCore is already far diverged from Blink, and V8 was made from the scratch. WebKit is a solid alternative to Chromium.
SahAssar 6y ago
Google uses blink, not webkit. Blink has diverged from webkit by a lot.

zerocrates 6y ago

Firefox's engine is still Gecko. Servo is/was kind of a clean slate reimplementation of an engine in Rust. Some parts of Servo have been carved off and implemented into Firefox, though.

akerro 6y ago

or blink

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]