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iCab: Alternative Browser for macOS

icab.de

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Re: iCab: Alternative Browser for macOS

#11

Post by dclusin »

superdisk wrote: post #8
captn3m0 wrote: post #3

Apparently it switched to Webkit a while back.

Why does this keep happening? Browsers sell their soul to just be another coat of paint on top of WebKit. I honestly don't get it. If you're working on a web browser as a personal or open source project, switching to WebKit is basically just replacing the entire project that you've worked on, and then writing your name on WebKit. There's not much more to a browser than a rendering engine. There really isn't a killer…

I think Adblock is a feature that disproves that hypothesis. If google continues to neuter ad blocking as they have with the changes to plugin architecture then it will open itself up to competition.

Things outside the web rendering engine also prevent more widespread adoption of alternative browsers as well. Google's WildVine DRM is an example. That doesn't ship with chromium.

Re: iCab: Alternative Browser for macOS

#12

Post by saagarjha »

superdisk wrote: post #8
captn3m0 wrote: post #3

Apparently it switched to Webkit a while back.

Why does this keep happening? Browsers sell their soul to just be another coat of paint on top of WebKit. I honestly don't get it. If you're working on a web browser as a personal or open source project, switching to WebKit is basically just replacing the entire project that you've worked on, and then writing your name on WebKit. There's not much more to a browser than a rendering engine. There really isn't a killer…

Chrome doesn’t use WebKit anymore. Perhaps you’re thinking of Blink?

Re: iCab: Alternative Browser for macOS

#13

Post by userbinator »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #10
superdisk wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does this keep happening? Browsers sell their soul to just be another coat of paint on top of WebKit. I honestly don't get it. If you're working on a web browser as a personal or open source project, switching to WebKit is basically just replacing the entire project that you've worked on, and then writing your name on WebKit. There's not much more to a browser than a rendering engine. There really isn't a killer…

Presumably because doing anything else is just impossible in this day and age. There are only two-and-a-half actively-maintained rendering engines in existence: Gecko, and Chromium/Webkit. There's a reason for that. A single person isn't going to be able to maintain their own.

There's also Netsurf, Dillo, as well as Links and the rest of the text-based ones.

The monopoly should definitely be fought.

Re: iCab: Alternative Browser for macOS

#14

Post by NaOH »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #10
superdisk wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does this keep happening? Browsers sell their soul to just be another coat of paint on top of WebKit. I honestly don't get it. If you're working on a web browser as a personal or open source project, switching to WebKit is basically just replacing the entire project that you've worked on, and then writing your name on WebKit. There's not much more to a browser than a rendering engine. There really isn't a killer…

Presumably because doing anything else is just impossible in this day and age. There are only two-and-a-half actively-maintained rendering engines in existence: Gecko, and Chromium/Webkit. There's a reason for that. A single person isn't going to be able to maintain their own.

And this is a developer who also maintains iOS/iPadOS versions along with the Mac version, so not using Webkit on Mac would mean having to maintain and develop for two rendering engines since Apple mobile OSes require using Webkit.

Re: iCab: Alternative Browser for macOS

#15

Post by tomxor »

superdisk wrote: post #8
captn3m0 wrote: post #3

Apparently it switched to Webkit a while back.

Why does this keep happening? Browsers sell their soul to just be another coat of paint on top of WebKit. I honestly don't get it. If you're working on a web browser as a personal or open source project, switching to WebKit is basically just replacing the entire project that you've worked on, and then writing your name on WebKit. There's not much more to a browser than a rendering engine. There really isn't a killer…

Modern HTML rendering engines are much much harder than you think, switching to webKit is a way to prevent obsolescence for any browser that doesn't have a huge team of devs behind it.

Re: iCab: Alternative Browser for macOS

#16

Post by Wowfunhappy »

NaOH wrote: post #14
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Presumably because doing anything else is just impossible in this day and age. There are only two-and-a-half actively-maintained rendering engines in existence: Gecko, and Chromium/Webkit. There's a reason for that. A single person isn't going to be able to maintain their own.

And this is a developer who also maintains iOS/iPadOS versions along with the Mac version, so not using Webkit on Mac would mean having to maintain and develop for two rendering engines since Apple mobile OSes require using Webkit.

Well, you'd still only be maintaining one, since Apple maintains webkit for you.

Re: iCab: Alternative Browser for macOS

#17

Post by NaOH »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #16
NaOH wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And this is a developer who also maintains iOS/iPadOS versions along with the Mac version, so not using Webkit on Mac would mean having to maintain and develop for two rendering engines since Apple mobile OSes require using Webkit.

Well, you'd still only be maintaining one, since Apple maintains webkit for you.

True. Bad writing on my part.

Re: iCab: Alternative Browser for macOS

#18

Post by evmar »

superdisk wrote: post #8
captn3m0 wrote: post #3

Apparently it switched to Webkit a while back.

Why does this keep happening? Browsers sell their soul to just be another coat of paint on top of WebKit. I honestly don't get it. If you're working on a web browser as a personal or open source project, switching to WebKit is basically just replacing the entire project that you've worked on, and then writing your name on WebKit. There's not much more to a browser than a rendering engine. There really isn't a killer…

Back when Chrome was based on WebKit, my recollection is that WebKit was vaguely half the code. The other half was all the stuff that browsers do that's easy to overlook -- the network stack, process management, 2d graphics engine, cookie management, the URL bar, v8, extensions, etc. And these pieces are the very things that Chrome differentiated and succeeded based on.

(WebKit on Mac includes more of these things, but many of them rely on Mac-specific implementations, which weren't as useful for a browser that is primarily used on Windows.)

Re: iCab: Alternative Browser for macOS

#19

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

saagarjha wrote: post #12
superdisk wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does this keep happening? Browsers sell their soul to just be another coat of paint on top of WebKit. I honestly don't get it. If you're working on a web browser as a personal or open source project, switching to WebKit is basically just replacing the entire project that you've worked on, and then writing your name on WebKit. There's not much more to a browser than a rendering engine. There really isn't a killer…

Chrome doesn’t use WebKit anymore. Perhaps you’re thinking of Blink?

Blink is a WebKit fork, so I could see a reasonable person clumping them together when complaining about monoculture. I suppose it really depends on the degree to which they've diverged; I personally suspect that being led by Google vs Apple does actually make a difference, especially around privacy and anti-tracking issues.

Re: iCab: Alternative Browser for macOS

#20

Post by 1over137 »

superdisk wrote: post #8
captn3m0 wrote: post #3

Apparently it switched to Webkit a while back.

Why does this keep happening? Browsers sell their soul to just be another coat of paint on top of WebKit. I honestly don't get it. If you're working on a web browser as a personal or open source project, switching to WebKit is basically just replacing the entire project that you've worked on, and then writing your name on WebKit. There's not much more to a browser than a rendering engine. There really isn't a killer…

OTOH, you could look at it like using NSTextView. A basic building block that you add cool stuff atop.
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