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Does a browser really have to be so complex that it warrants updates more often than the very sites that are being browsed? Contrast this with the design of idk

Does a browser really have to be so complex that it warrants updates more often than the very sites that are being browsed? Contrast this with the design of idk MP3: a relatively simple and ultra-stable decoder app with a large variety of backend pipelines that can create MP3s. That's how the web pre-JS, pre-CSS was like. Or, with a perspective from information theory: downloading hundreds and hundreds of megabytes again and again (browsers), then consuming insane amounts of energy to access information that hasn't really changed all that much isn't very effective, is it?

chriswarbo 4y ago
Firefox, Chrome, etc. are also huge monoliths: that requires downloading the whole thing when any of the components change.
GTP 4y ago
>Does a browser really have to be so complex that it warrants updates more often than the very sites that are being browsed? Contrast this with the design of idk MP3: a relatively simple and ultra-stable decoder app with a large variety of backend pipelines that can create MP3s. The problem is the recent trend that everything has to be a web application. So browsers aren't just to access information anymore, but literally to do everything else too. I personally don't agree with the web application trend, but this is the reason why a browser is so much more complex compared to an MP3 decoder: the decoder has to do a single thing, the browsers have to do more and more things.
- dkga 4y ago
  Not to mention all the security patches
- tracker1 4y ago
  It's easier to update software on a single server then hundreds or millions of desktops.
hutzlibu 4y ago
"Does a browser really have to be so complex that it warrants updates more often than the very sites that are being browsed?" Since lots of money is today transfered directly (banking site) or indirectly (purchase) via a browser, I would say yes. (even though in reality most updates are introducing new web features and not strengthening security).
Semaphor 4y ago
> Does a browser really have to be so complex Does it have to? I don’t know. But it is. It’s an operating system where 3rd parties execute random code on, and you hope it stays sandboxed. Those websites? Thanks to ads, they don’t update once in a while, but usually once every few seconds.
doubled112 4y ago
Even your simple example, MP3 decoders, that do one thing, have had code execution exploits and other security issues over the years. WinAMP had CVEs for it. All software will have bugs. I want my fixes fast and often to an environment where I run untrusted code from that many places.

chriswarbo 4y ago

Firefox, Chrome, etc. are also huge monoliths: that requires downloading the whole thing when any of the components change.

GTP 4y ago

>Does a browser really have to be so complex that it warrants updates more often than the very sites that are being browsed? Contrast this with the design of idk MP3: a relatively simple and ultra-stable decoder app with a large variety of backend pipelines that can create MP3s. The problem is the recent trend that everything has to be a web application. So browsers aren't just to access information anymore, but literally to do everything else too. I personally don't agree with the web application trend, but this is the reason why a browser is so much more complex compared to an MP3 decoder: the decoder has to do a single thing, the browsers have to do more and more things.

dkga 4y ago
Not to mention all the security patches
tracker1 4y ago
It's easier to update software on a single server then hundreds or millions of desktops.

hutzlibu 4y ago

"Does a browser really have to be so complex that it warrants updates more often than the very sites that are being browsed?" Since lots of money is today transfered directly (banking site) or indirectly (purchase) via a browser, I would say yes. (even though in reality most updates are introducing new web features and not strengthening security).

Semaphor 4y ago

> Does a browser really have to be so complex Does it have to? I don’t know. But it is. It’s an operating system where 3rd parties execute random code on, and you hope it stays sandboxed. Those websites? Thanks to ads, they don’t update once in a while, but usually once every few seconds.

doubled112 4y ago

Even your simple example, MP3 decoders, that do one thing, have had code execution exploits and other security issues over the years. WinAMP had CVEs for it. All software will have bugs. I want my fixes fast and often to an environment where I run untrusted code from that many places.