3 ms·
Might be better to provide a downloadable executable instead of asking the user to trust that the browser isn't doing what the browser was designed to do.
by TZubiri 10mo ago
Might be better to provide a downloadable executable instead of asking the user to trust that the browser isn't doing what the browser was designed to do.
- pratik227 10mo agoI plan to build a Chrome extension and am considering making it paid, around $2 for lifetime access. Also Desktop app is also good idea
- sabdarmdhn 10mo agoMake the Desktop Version natively, even tho its time efficient to make it just Electron
- pratik227 10mo agoyah noted I will do
- niemandhier 10mo agoExtensions have the downside that a malicious actor can buy out the original dev and start using them as an intrusion point.
- TZubiri 10mo agoUnlike websites?
- cluckindan 10mo agoDon’t make either unless you have the resources to support them. Anything paid is also a business process with tax implications. Local-only web apps are great one-off projects, but extensions and native apps require much more maintenance.
- ptspts 10mo agoIt's possible to run WebAssembly programs from the command line (without any GUI) using WASI (see e.g. https://github.com/WebAssembly/WASI https://github.com/WebAssembly/WASI). Thus if the user downloads pdfconverter.wasi , and the user already has e.g. wasmtime installed, they can run `wasmtime pdfconverter.wasi input.pdf output.pdf` from the command line (see https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasmtime/blob/main/docs/WASI-tutorial.md https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasmtime/blob/main/docs/... for details). In addition to the web site, the Electron app and the Chrome extension, you may want to distribute a command-line version of your tools as WASI-style .wasm program files. If you do so, I would exclusively use the them this way, from the command line.
- wickedsight 10mo agoI can easily check network monitor in the browser to see exactly what a web app is doing. Running an executable is a risk by default and the way it interacts with my network is way less transparent. I honestly prefer this in the browser.
- TZubiri 10mo agoMost users don't know how to do that
- wickedsight 10mo agoEven less users know how to do this with an executable.
- matsemann 10mo agoDisagree, no way I'm downloading an executable from something unknown to modify a pdf.
- pmontra 10mo agoI disagree on that. I think that the main value of this kind of tools is "no installation required". There are already free PDF editors that can be downloaded and installed once forever. What I used most is Libreoffice Draw: it imports a PDF, edit it as if it were a file in its own format, export as PDF again. It's not the only choice. Firefox has had a vanilla PDF editor since last year: download a PDF or drag one inside the browser window, edit it, save it. It's enough to add a PNG of my signature and fill out forms.