Java applets, Native Client, and ActiveX all (imperfectly) address this problem. We have long had trouble agreeing on a standard for web-based native code. But

Java applets, Native Client, and ActiveX all (imperfectly) address this problem. We have long had trouble agreeing on a standard for web-based native code. But that doesn't mean that it's a senseless request. The exalted status of Javascript is merely a convenient local optimum.