diff --git a/content/posts/chromium-foundation.org b/content/posts/chromium-foundation.org new file mode 100644 index 0000000..31aa9ee --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/chromium-foundation.org @@ -0,0 +1,64 @@ +#+title: Chromium Foundation +#+date: 2021-12-03 + +*** We need to divorce Chromium from Google + +The world of browsers is pretty bleak. We essentially have one viable player, Chromium, +flanked by the smaller players of Firefox, spiraling in a slow painful self destruction, +and Safari, a browser well optimized for Apple products. + +/note: We're specifically discussing browsers, but you can roughly equate the arguments I make later with the browser's respective engines./ + +The current state of browsers is a difficult one. Chromium has the backing of notable +megacorps and is under the stewardship of Google, which come with a number of perks +(great featureset, performance, talented minds working on a singular project, etc) +and a number of downsides as well (Google has a vested interested in advertisements, for example). +Firefox is off in the corner with a declining marketshare as it alienates its users +in a flailing attempt to gain users from the Chromium market, including dumping XUL addons +in favour of WebExtensions, some rather uneccesary UI refreshes (subjective, I suppose), +and various other unsavoury moves that leave a bad taste in everyone's mouth. And Safari +is in the other corner, resisting the web-first movement as applications move to web technologies +and APIs in the name of +control+ privacy and effeciency. While I don't think Safari neccesarily +holds back the web, I think it could make a more concerted effort to steer it. + +With all that said, it's easy to come to the conclusion that the web has a monoculture browser +problem; over time, Chromium will emerge the obvious victor. And that's not great, but not because +there would be only one browser engine. + +The web in 2021 is a complex place - due to a number of factors it's no longer simple documents located on +webservers, but we now have what are ostensibly desktop applications loaded in a nested operating system. For better or worse, +this is where we've ended up, and that brings a /lot/ of hard problems to solve for a new browser. This is +why I believe there really hasn't been any new mainstream (key word!) browser engines - the web is simply +too complex. The browser pushing this "forward" (somewhat subjective) is Chromium, but Chromium is controlled +by Google. While there are individuals and other corporations contributing code, Google still controls Chromium, and +this makes a fair few people uneasy given Google's primary revenue source - ads, and in turn tracking. Logically, +we want a more diverse set of browsers to choose from, free of Google's influence! Forget V8/Blink, we need +independant engines! Full backing for Gecko and WebKit! Well, yes, but actually, no. We need to throw +effort behind one engine free of Google's clutches, but it should be Chromium/V8/Blink. + +Hear me out (credit to @Slackwise for planting the seed of this in my head) - we should really opt to tear the most successful +engine from Google's clutches and spin it off into its own entity. One with a nonprofit structure similar +to how Linux manages itself (a good example of a large scale effort in a similar vein). The web is simply +too complex at this point for new engines to thrive (see: Servo), and the other two options, Gecko from Mozilla/Firefox +and WebKit from Safari/Apple, are having a really hard time evolving and playing catch up. With a foundation dedicated to the +engine, and a licensing or sponsorship model built out, I genuinely believe that it would be better +in the long run for the health and trust of the internet. We can still have Chromium derivatives, with +their unique takes or spins, so it would not reduce the choice available (besides, people choose based on features, not engine). +Concentrating effort into a single browser engine rather than fragmenting the effort across a handful might allow +for some really great changes to the core of the engine, whether it be performance, better APIs, more privacy +respecting approaches, and so on. It also finally eliminates the problem of cross browser incompatibilities. + +Would it stagnate? Maybe. It's entirely possible this is a terrible idea that would stiffle innovation. But +given the success and evolution of other projects with a matching scale (Linux), and the constant demands +for new "things" for the web, I feel confident that we could maintain a healthy internet with a single engine. +And remember, it's okay for something to be "done". Constantly shipping new features isn't neccesarily a plus - +while we see new features shipping as a sign of activity and life, it's perfectly fine for us to take a step back +and work on bugs and speed improvements. And if something isn't satisfactory, I'm pretty confident that the +project could be properly forked with improvements or changes made later upstreamed, in the spirit of open +source and collaboration. + +There are calls for breaking up the large technology companies, but I don't really want to delve much +into that here, or even consider this a call to action. Instead, I want this to serve as mild musings and +hopefully get the seed of an idea out there, an idea discussed a few times in a private Discord guild. I don't +expect this to ever become a reality without some strongarming from some government body, but I hold out some +hope. \ No newline at end of file