←back to thread

Google is killing the open web, part 2

(wok.oblomov.eu)
418 points akagusu | 6 comments | 17 Nov 25 15:41 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
Show context
andsoitis ◴[17 Nov 25 15:53 UTC] No.45954687[source]▶
I don’t know. The author makes some arguments I could get entertain and get behind, but they also enumerate the immense complexity that they want web browsers to support (incl. Gopher).

Whether or not Google deprecating XSLT is a “political” decision (in authors words), I don’t know that I know for sure, but I can imagine running the Chrome project and steering for more simplicity.

replies(5): >>45954991 #>>45955005 #>>45955021 #>>45955842 #>>45958065 #
coldpie ◴[17 Nov 25 16:18 UTC] No.45955005[source]▶
The drama around the XSLT stuff is ridiculous. It's a dead format that no one uses[1], no one will miss, no one wants to maintain, and that provides significant complexity and attack surface. It's unambiguously the right thing to do to remove it. No one who actually works in the web space disagrees.

Yes, it's a problem that Chrome has too much market share, but XSLT's removal isn't a good demonstration of that.

[1] Yes, I already know about your one European law example that you only found out exists because of this drama.

replies(5): >>45955125 #>>45955129 #>>45955138 #>>45955385 #>>45958291 #
1. Analemma_ ◴[17 Nov 25 16:29 UTC] No.45955129[source]▶
Another bit of ridiculousness is pinning the removal on Google. Removing XSLT was proposed by Mozilla and unanimously supported with no objections by the rest of the WHATWG. Go blame Mozilla if you want somebody to get mad at, or least blame all the browser vendors equally. This has nothing to do with Chrome’s market share.
replies(2): >>45955145 #>>45958357 #
2. troupo ◴[17 Nov 25 16:31 UTC] No.45955145[source]▶
Google are the ones immediately springing into action. They only started collecting feedback on which sites may break after they already pushed "Intention to remove" and prepared a PR to remove it from Chromium.
replies(1): >>45955272 #
3. hn_throwaway_99 ◴[17 Nov 25 16:41 UTC] No.45955272[source]▶
> Google are the ones immediately springing into action.

You say that like it's a bad thing. The proposal was already accepted. The most useful way to get feedback about which sites would break is to actually make a build without XSLT support and see what breaks.

4. basscomm ◴[17 Nov 25 21:12 UTC] No.45958357[source]▶
Shouldn't the users of the Web also get a say? There's been a lot of blowback on this decision, so this isn't as cut and dried as it's being made out to be
replies(1): >>45967532 #
5. andsoitis ◴[18 Nov 25 15:28 UTC] No.45967532[source]▶
> Shouldn't the users of the Web also get a say?

How?

replies(1): >>45968738 #
6. basscomm ◴[18 Nov 25 16:49 UTC] No.45968738{3}[source]▶
Using the technology and opting in to telemetry, feedback forums, user surveys, newsgroups, letter writing, email campaigns, telnet into a BBS, grass-roots websites, semaphore, Morse code, teletype, fax, etc.

Anything is better than nothing, if anyone actually listens to the feedback they get instead of taking it and ignoring it.