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I'm sure that won't cause a situation similar to the stagnation we saw when IE6 was the dominant browser! To anyone who says "you can fork it": If you aren't u

I'm sure that won't cause a situation similar to the stagnation we saw when IE6 was the dominant browser! To anyone who says "you can fork it": If you aren't using the same features as everyone else, how is the situation then different to what we have now?

erwanl 14y ago
It's actually what's happening on mobile. Everyone uses webkit but they all have a different version, with their own set of patches and compilation options. So it's as fragmented as on the desktop.
- khuey 14y ago
  The mobile web is far more fragmented than the desktop web.
Svip 14y ago
I'll have to admit, I could not for the life of me tell if the entry was sarcastic or sincere. He seems to think there is only one WebKit, which numerous articles following the news of Opera's switch has made clear isn't the case. He is also assuming that because every major browser is using the same engine, everyone will suddenly magically agree with one another on how to do stuff. Chrome and Safari uses different versions of WebKit, and trust me, it won't be long before Opera will use its own version of WebKit as well.
derefr 14y ago
"You can fork it" is pretty outdated as a concept. Today, with DCVS, we have "you can create a branch, then both continuously rebase from upstream, while continuously submitting pull requests to upstream."
- Thrall 14y ago
  It does still depends a bit on which direction the 'fork' goes in and whether it remains compatible with upstream's intentions. So a minor feature branch can often be merged back into upstream, but significant changes to the core code may not be accepted upstream. What I'm trying to say is that while it is much easier than it was to create a branch and merge all or some of the modifications back into master, the concept of a fork, where development diverges because different parties want to do different things with the project, which can't easily coexist in the same codebase, is still relevant.

erwanl 14y ago

It's actually what's happening on mobile. Everyone uses webkit but they all have a different version, with their own set of patches and compilation options. So it's as fragmented as on the desktop.

khuey 14y ago
The mobile web is far more fragmented than the desktop web.

Svip 14y ago

I'll have to admit, I could not for the life of me tell if the entry was sarcastic or sincere. He seems to think there is only one WebKit, which numerous articles following the news of Opera's switch has made clear isn't the case. He is also assuming that because every major browser is using the same engine, everyone will suddenly magically agree with one another on how to do stuff. Chrome and Safari uses different versions of WebKit, and trust me, it won't be long before Opera will use its own version of WebKit as well.

derefr 14y ago

"You can fork it" is pretty outdated as a concept. Today, with DCVS, we have "you can create a branch, then both continuously rebase from upstream, while continuously submitting pull requests to upstream."

Thrall 14y ago
It does still depends a bit on which direction the 'fork' goes in and whether it remains compatible with upstream's intentions. So a minor feature branch can often be merged back into upstream, but significant changes to the core code may not be accepted upstream. What I'm trying to say is that while it is much easier than it was to create a branch and merge all or some of the modifications back into master, the concept of a fork, where development diverges because different parties want to do different things with the project, which can't easily coexist in the same codebase, is still relevant.