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First they came for the gamers, and I said nothing, for I wasn't a gamer, and already that industry was infested with proprietary tech. Then they came for the

First they came for the gamers, and I said nothing, for I wasn't a gamer, and already that industry was infested with proprietary tech. Then they came for the alternative browsers, and I said nothing, for I was content to see a plug-in extending support for all those games to the rest of the world (even though the alternative vendors all objected verbosely). Then they came for Google Earth, and I said nothing, for it was a perfect fit to the platform, and I could use Earth from any browser (even though I had to install the plug-in to use it in future). Then they came for the video codecs, and I said nothing, for what could be wrong with smoother video working across browsers (even though I had to install the plug-in to get there, and YouTube.com suddenly grew a form of DRM). Then they came for the Internet banks, returning to the 20th century ActiveX-alike requirements for login, and I said nothing (because I needed access to my bank). Then they came for the well-suited open source projects, and I said nothing, for I didn't care about that, and running Audacity from a browser sounded great. Then it ran on Android and Chrome OS, and I was pleased (even though I could no longer write native code for Android that didn't target NaCl). [...] Then they came for me, and there was no-one left to speak out for me or my app, for there was only one platform left that ran on every device.

ootachi 15y ago
Note that NaCl has shifted from the NPAPI to the Pepper API, so there actually isn't a plugin that extends support to alternative browsers. You have to use Chrome.
- pjscott 15y ago
  NaCl is open source, though, so if it gains traction other browsers will start to support it.
  - willvarfar 15y ago
    So far, Mozilla has explicitly stated that they won't adopt it, citing philosophical differences.
    - McP 15y ago
      Source: http://css.dzone.com/articles/mozilla-rejects-native-code http://css.dzone.com/articles/mozilla-rejects-native-code
    - pjscott 15y ago
      That's easy for them to say now. If NaCl becomes the new hot thing, Mozilla will probably change their line.
    - azakai 15y ago
      As has Opera, http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/10/01/opera_on_google_native_client/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/10/01/opera_on_google_nati... Microsoft and Apple have not bothered to go on the record on the topic yet, but I would bet their position is similar.
drivebyacct2 15y ago
Sigh, same person, argument and lack of logic as when this conversation played out here 3 days ago [1]. You continue to act like this will destroy HTML, remove it or something. This comment doesn't even make sense in a variety of ways: >I could use Chrome from any browser What? >YouTube.com suddenly grew a form of DRM How is that related to VP8? So because Google came up with a codec to (try and) avoid the patent mess surrounding h264, they're now going to use it to push DRM on Youtube? What a fantastically unsupported claim. >returning to the 20th century ActiveX-alike requirements for login Here you are again implying that somehow the introduction of NaCl will block us from "our data". An accusation that you completely failed to substantiate in the other discussion. Your reply there and continuation here implies that you don't understand what NaCl is [2]. >even though I could no longer write native code for Android that didn't target NaCl So? What is the difference between writing native code that targets the Android NDK, and writing native code that runs in NaCl. (First of all, the code should be fairly similar anyway, but more importantly,) you still have to make a choice about which platform to target. >for there was only one platform left that ran on every device. What platform easily runs on all devices? How does NaCl remove the ability to use any others? Why does NaCl somehow prevent me from using everything in the Chrome stack except NaCl? Am I forced into it? Again, it's just another technology to be added to the web stack. Hopefully it sees more widespread adoption. Stop your fear mongering. Especially when you couldn't even articulate good responses to the criticisms of your original paranoid blog post. [1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3322280 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3322280 [2] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3322521 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3322521
- forgotusername 15y ago
  Yes, I said "Chrome" instead of "Earth", but if you were so incompetent as to not understand the intent, then I shouldn't be replying at all here, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. I can see nothing but personal malcontent seeping through in this reply. Your perspective seems to be "this person is steadfast in his opinion that this is somehow wrong here, but I disagree, therefore I must accuse him of fearmongering", or something (what if instead I accuse you of "trust-mongering"?). To reply to your previous, obviously incompletely unanswered comment: the entire purpose of the original article is to read between the lines and attempt to imagine a future where NaCl gets traction. Your original comment seems to be "this is not reality, therefore no". Simply replying by suggesting you lack imagination would have likely have caused offence (and an even more vitriolic response), so instead I chose to define the word 'conspiracy' as a hint for you instead. The remainder of your comments are asking for science where there is none, please don't do that. If you are unwilling to comment on speculation, understanding the context under which speculation occurs, you have nothing to offer here.

ootachi 15y ago

Note that NaCl has shifted from the NPAPI to the Pepper API, so there actually isn't a plugin that extends support to alternative browsers. You have to use Chrome.

pjscott 15y ago
NaCl is open source, though, so if it gains traction other browsers will start to support it.
- willvarfar 15y ago
  So far, Mozilla has explicitly stated that they won't adopt it, citing philosophical differences.
  - McP 15y ago
    Source: http://css.dzone.com/articles/mozilla-rejects-native-code http://css.dzone.com/articles/mozilla-rejects-native-code
  - pjscott 15y ago
    That's easy for them to say now. If NaCl becomes the new hot thing, Mozilla will probably change their line.
  - azakai 15y ago
    As has Opera, http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/10/01/opera_on_google_native_client/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/10/01/opera_on_google_nati... Microsoft and Apple have not bothered to go on the record on the topic yet, but I would bet their position is similar.

drivebyacct2 15y ago

Sigh, same person, argument and lack of logic as when this conversation played out here 3 days ago [1]. You continue to act like this will destroy HTML, remove it or something. This comment doesn't even make sense in a variety of ways: >I could use Chrome from any browser What? >YouTube.com suddenly grew a form of DRM How is that related to VP8? So because Google came up with a codec to (try and) avoid the patent mess surrounding h264, they're now going to use it to push DRM on Youtube? What a fantastically unsupported claim. >returning to the 20th century ActiveX-alike requirements for login Here you are again implying that somehow the introduction of NaCl will block us from "our data". An accusation that you completely failed to substantiate in the other discussion. Your reply there and continuation here implies that you don't understand what NaCl is [2]. >even though I could no longer write native code for Android that didn't target NaCl So? What is the difference between writing native code that targets the Android NDK, and writing native code that runs in NaCl. (First of all, the code should be fairly similar anyway, but more importantly,) you still have to make a choice about which platform to target. >for there was only one platform left that ran on every device. What platform easily runs on all devices? How does NaCl remove the ability to use any others? Why does NaCl somehow prevent me from using everything in the Chrome stack except NaCl? Am I forced into it? Again, it's just another technology to be added to the web stack. Hopefully it sees more widespread adoption. Stop your fear mongering. Especially when you couldn't even articulate good responses to the criticisms of your original paranoid blog post. [1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3322280 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3322280 [2] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3322521 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3322521

forgotusername 15y ago
Yes, I said "Chrome" instead of "Earth", but if you were so incompetent as to not understand the intent, then I shouldn't be replying at all here, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. I can see nothing but personal malcontent seeping through in this reply. Your perspective seems to be "this person is steadfast in his opinion that this is somehow wrong here, but I disagree, therefore I must accuse him of fearmongering", or something (what if instead I accuse you of "trust-mongering"?). To reply to your previous, obviously incompletely unanswered comment: the entire purpose of the original article is to read between the lines and attempt to imagine a future where NaCl gets traction. Your original comment seems to be "this is not reality, therefore no". Simply replying by suggesting you lack imagination would have likely have caused offence (and an even more vitriolic response), so instead I chose to define the word 'conspiracy' as a hint for you instead. The remainder of your comments are asking for science where there is none, please don't do that. If you are unwilling to comment on speculation, understanding the context under which speculation occurs, you have nothing to offer here.