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This is a par-for-the-course complaint about NPAPI plugins (since they're binary, they're beholden to all the issues of 32-bit 64-bit compatibility, compile to

This is a par-for-the-course complaint about NPAPI plugins (since they're binary, they're beholden to all the issues of 32-bit 64-bit compatibility, compile to the operating system, etc., etc., etc.). Given the improvements in JavaScript performance and webgl over the past half-decade, it's a small wonder that browser maintainers want to kill NPAPI support as fast as possible. It's a bad experience for them, generally a complex experience for end-users, and essentially a massive hack.

pyre 12y ago
Yes, but then how do you enable support for things that the browser doesn't give you (e.g. someone else talked about pen/stylus input devices)? How do you write something like It'sAllText for Chrome? Current NPAPI-less solutions involve the need to run a separate server to communicate with, which launches the $EDITOR process.
- JoshTriplett 12y ago
  You don't, by design. You improve the browser to expose the functionality you need with a sandboxed API, or you communicate with a separate program that runs entirely outside the browser. If you want to support a pen or stylus, you add a pen/stylus API to Chrome.
  - nirvdrum 12y ago
    I've been waiting for an API addition, that I had been personally assured by Chromium PM would go through, for 4.5 years. It's needed to support full canvas screenshot functionality in ChromeDriver, so it's not exactly a fringe use case. Given the time it takes for some of this stuff to go through, NPAPI was at least an option. That's the point of a plugin API after all ... so not every use case needs to be accounted for by the parent project. I realize there are security issues and all that. But it's not as simple as hoping Chrome will just add the API you want either, in my experience.
  - hackmiester 12y ago
    If I want to support a pen in Chrome, and the way to do it is to modify Chrome, I am going to give up. I do not have the skill to do that. If I have to learn an entire different programming language to do something, I just don't have the time to do it right now.
  - pyre 12y ago
    > You improve the browser to expose the functionality you need with a sandboxed API, or you communicate with a separate program that runs entirely outside the browser. What is your response to the 'browser is bloat' crowd then? Your solution is to add functionality to the browser even for people that don't need it. Doesn't this lead to bloat in the browser itself?

pyre 12y ago

Yes, but then how do you enable support for things that the browser doesn't give you (e.g. someone else talked about pen/stylus input devices)? How do you write something like It'sAllText for Chrome? Current NPAPI-less solutions involve the need to run a separate server to communicate with, which launches the $EDITOR process.

JoshTriplett 12y ago
You don't, by design. You improve the browser to expose the functionality you need with a sandboxed API, or you communicate with a separate program that runs entirely outside the browser. If you want to support a pen or stylus, you add a pen/stylus API to Chrome.
- nirvdrum 12y ago
  I've been waiting for an API addition, that I had been personally assured by Chromium PM would go through, for 4.5 years. It's needed to support full canvas screenshot functionality in ChromeDriver, so it's not exactly a fringe use case. Given the time it takes for some of this stuff to go through, NPAPI was at least an option. That's the point of a plugin API after all ... so not every use case needs to be accounted for by the parent project. I realize there are security issues and all that. But it's not as simple as hoping Chrome will just add the API you want either, in my experience.
- hackmiester 12y ago
  If I want to support a pen in Chrome, and the way to do it is to modify Chrome, I am going to give up. I do not have the skill to do that. If I have to learn an entire different programming language to do something, I just don't have the time to do it right now.
- pyre 12y ago
  > You improve the browser to expose the functionality you need with a sandboxed API, or you communicate with a separate program that runs entirely outside the browser. What is your response to the 'browser is bloat' crowd then? Your solution is to add functionality to the browser even for people that don't need it. Doesn't this lead to bloat in the browser itself?