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posted by martyb on Friday March 20 2020, @08:41PM   Printer-friendly
from the Do-No-Evil-Poof!-Gone. dept.

Moonchild, the lead developer of the Pale Moon browser writes:

"Dear Web Developer(s),

While, as a software developer ourselves, we understand very well that new features are exciting to use and integrate into your work, we ask that you please consider not adopting Google WebComponents in your designs. This is especially important if you are a web developer creating frameworks for websites to use.
With Google WebComponents here we mean the use of CustomElements and Shadow DOM, especially when used in combination, and in dynamically created document structures (e.g. using module loading/unloading and/or slotted elements).

Why is this important?

For several reasons, but primarily because it completely goes against the traditional structure of the web being an open and accessible place that isn't inherently locked down to opaque structures or a single client. WebComponents used "in full" (i.e. dynamically) inherently creates complex web page structures that cannot be saved, archived or even displayed outside of the designated targeted browsers (primarily Google Chrome).
One could even say that this is setting the web up for becoming fully content-controlled."

https://about.google/: "Our mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful"

Useful to... whom?


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Saturday March 21 2020, @12:03AM (2 children)

    by Thexalon (636) on Saturday March 21 2020, @12:03AM (#973680)

    Any sufficiently large corporation will eventually get taken over by MBA types who know how to juggle numbers, wear a nice suit, and lie to people, and basically nothing else. Because they don't know anything else, e.g. anything at all about the underlying products, the quality of the organization's output will drop steadily, and they will attempt to compensate by steadily becoming more and more evil.

    It's not even limited to tech companies like ActivisionBlizzard or HewlettPackard, it can happen to manufacturers like Ben & Jerry's.

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 21 2020, @11:10PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 21 2020, @11:10PM (#973962)

    But this isn't about quality. Apple and Google still make high quality products, that doesn't change the bad things they're doing.

    I would say instead that any sufficiently large corporation will switch away from its initial mission towards profit at any cost. That doesn't necessarily sacrifice quality, because quality can win customer loyalty. But DRM, privacy violations, FUD, altering standards to support your business model, abusing your workers and your suppliers, union-busting, tax evasion... Once your company gets big enough, if the people in charge aren't doing those things they will be bought out or otherwise kicked out by people that will. There are no heroes, the top of any capitalist industry is occupied by companies in a race to see who can be the least moral and get away with it.

  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday March 23 2020, @04:10PM

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 23 2020, @04:10PM (#974462) Journal

    Any sufficiently large corporation will eventually get taken over by MBA types who know how to juggle numbers, wear a nice suit, and lie to people

    In about 1989 I heard it this way. (not adjusted for inflation...)

    When you get to $50 Million the bean counters take over everything.

    When you get to $500 Million the lawyers take over.

    Now, I would add something about the MBAs after that.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.