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Mentioning Gecko repeatedly without mentioning WebRender, the rendering engine that many users are using today in Firefox, and which will become the default/onl
by tslocum 3y ago
Mentioning Gecko repeatedly without mentioning WebRender, the rendering engine that many users are using today in Firefox, and which will become the default/only rendering engine at some point in the future,[0] makes it seem that you have no idea about what you are speaking of.
0. https://wiki.mozilla.org/Platform/GFX/WebRender_Where
- CharlesW 3y agoGecko is the browser engine. WebRender is a component of Gecko, specifically a GPU-based 2D rendering engine. It is not a browser engine.
- tslocum 3y agoYes, WebRender makes up the compositor portion of the browser rendering engine. A very large, critical portion of it. Thus, saying "Gecko had a good and honorable run" is disingenuous to the large-scale changes and progress the developers have made (and continue to make) on the rendering engine.
- CharlesW 3y agoI think you think I hate Gecko. In fact, I've used it since it was NGLayout and think it's one of the most important pieces of software in computing history. I have deep respect for the world-class engineers working on WebRender and other Gecko components. I simply think that it's time has come. Remember that Mozilla itself once intended to replace Gecko with Servo. I have no doubt that WebRender is brilliant, but WebRender will not save Gecko, and Gecko will not save Firefox. If Firefox is worth saving — and I think that with hard choices, its decline can be reversed — then Gecko and its components are non-differentiating ballast that must be dropped if the balloon is to get over the mountain. IMHO, of course.