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Imagine something like "base system" with WebAssembly, bare bones HTML engine with canvas support and no CSS. So now you can just download your favourite JS eng

Imagine something like "base system" with WebAssembly, bare bones HTML engine with canvas support and no CSS. So now you can just download your favourite JS engine, your favourite HTML, CSS engines. But browser does not necessarily need to sheep those. It would allow to lower the bar for entry into browser market. I think that even a single person could implement that kind of base browser. Of course there're many hard questions. For example downloading an entire JS+HTML+CSS engine with every website is not a good approach, some caching must be done. There should not be version hell with every website asking for a different version of engine. But those questions could be approached as a more general web library issues.

pjmlp 4y ago
Like on an Apple II? https://web.archive.org/web/20150405004057/http://apple2info.net/images/2/24/Apple2Pascal_Operating_System_Ref.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20150405004057/http://apple2info...
krapp 4y ago
Check out Geminispace https://gemini.circumlunar.space https://gemini.circumlunar.space - one of the design requirements of the protocol is that it be simple enough that a single person can implement a browser for it in a weekend. But convergence on a minimal set of solutions is inevitable. Even though Geminispace could have hundreds of browsers, most people just use one of the most popular ones, like Lagrange. Your solution wouldn't lead to a vibrant marketplace of competing web engines, everyone would just ship the equivalent of Chromium like they do now and call it a day.
- makapuf 4y ago
  I'm not sure, just for the fact that the best browser is something that could vary quickly, there might be niches, different native versions...
rictic 4y ago
Cross origin caching of resources is a privacy risk If site A can tell based on timing information that you probably visited site B recently, that's a pretty big privacy issue This has largely killed cross-origin caching on the web, as I understand it
jitl 4y ago
Ah yes, Java applets.

pjmlp 4y ago

Like on an Apple II? https://web.archive.org/web/20150405004057/http://apple2info.net/images/2/24/Apple2Pascal_Operating_System_Ref.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20150405004057/http://apple2info...

krapp 4y ago

Check out Geminispace https://gemini.circumlunar.space https://gemini.circumlunar.space - one of the design requirements of the protocol is that it be simple enough that a single person can implement a browser for it in a weekend. But convergence on a minimal set of solutions is inevitable. Even though Geminispace could have hundreds of browsers, most people just use one of the most popular ones, like Lagrange. Your solution wouldn't lead to a vibrant marketplace of competing web engines, everyone would just ship the equivalent of Chromium like they do now and call it a day.

makapuf 4y ago
I'm not sure, just for the fact that the best browser is something that could vary quickly, there might be niches, different native versions...

rictic 4y ago

Cross origin caching of resources is a privacy risk If site A can tell based on timing information that you probably visited site B recently, that's a pretty big privacy issue This has largely killed cross-origin caching on the web, as I understand it

jitl 4y ago

Ah yes, Java applets.