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418 points akagusu | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.204s | source
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nwellnhof ◴[] No.45955183[source]
Removing XSLT from browsers was long overdue and I'm saying that as ex-maintainer of libxslt who probably triggered (not caused) this removal. What's more interesting is that Chromium plans to switch to a Rust-based XML parser. Currently, they seem to favor xml-rs which only implements a subset of XML. So apparently, Google is willing to remove standards-compliant XML support as well. This is a lot more concerning.
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svieira ◴[] No.45955425[source]
> Removing XSLT from browsers was long overdue

> Google is willing to remove standards-compliant XML support as well.

> They're the same picture.

To spell it out, "if it's inconvenient, it goes", is something that the _owner_ does. The culture of the web was "the owners are those who run the web sites, the servants are the software that provides an entry point to the web (read or publish or both)". This kind of "well, it's dashed inconvenient to maintain a WASM layer for a dependency that is not safe to vendor any more as a C dependency" is not the kind of servant-oriented mentality that made the web great, not just as a platform to build on, but as a platform to emulate.

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akerl_ ◴[] No.45955543[source]
Can you cite where this "servant-oriented" mentality is from? I don't recall a part of the web where browser developers were viewed as not having agency about what code they ship in their software.
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crabmusket ◴[] No.45958983[source]
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc8890

> The Internet is for End Users

> This document explains why the IAB believes that, when there is a conflict between the interests of end users of the Internet and other parties, IETF decisions should favor end users. It also explores how the IETF can more effectively achieve this.

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1. akerl_ ◴[] No.45959077[source]
It feels like maybe the disconnect here is with what "servant" means, and with this quote: "the servants are the software that provides an entry point to the web (read or publish or both)".

The RFC8890 doesn't suggest anything that overlaps with my understanding of what the word "servant" means or implies. The library in my town endeavors to make decisions that promote the knowledge and education of people in my town. But I wouldn't characterize them as having a "servant-mindset". Maybe the person above meant "service"?

FWIW, Google/Mozilla/Apple appear to believe they're making the correct decision for the benefit of end users, by removing code that is infrequently used, unmaintained, and thus primarily a security risk for the majority of their users.