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Traditional C "Hello World" working in NaCl

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Re: Traditional C "Hello World" working in NaCl

#21
post #7

As a side note, why is it that I have to sign in to Google in order to be able to see this? Is registration /really/ necessary for Google Groups?

You are right. It's very annoying. It's even worse than having links that are behind a paywall, because at least a paywall usually indicates that funds are flowing to the person (reporter, etc.) who created the content. The google groups situation is quite different, and quite annoying. I never login to google groups to see something listed on HN. I wonder whether HN could provide an option to let readers avoid such…

You are only being asked for a password because you're (partially) logged in to a Google Account already. Either log out, or open Google Groups links with "open in incognito window" if you use Chrome.

Re: Traditional C "Hello World" working in NaCl

#24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Read the paper. It's a subset of x86 that retains better security properties for distribution. http://src.chromium.org/viewvc/native_client/data/docs_tarba...

Very interesting. The security features are very thorough. Of course, until someone finds a vulnerability, or a way through the validator, or an exploit on an abstracted function. Still, it's a good security model

Someone might as well find a vulnerability in a Javascript engine. What's your point?

Re: Traditional C "Hello World" working in NaCl

#25

I'm a fan of fast native code, but I worry that this promotes sneaky code in the background once it gets widely adopted. With javascript we basically have open-source web apps. I often skim through js source to learn new tricks - and obfuscation doesn't really stop me (apart from google's java-translated js) . With compiled NaCl I probably wouldn't be able to find out a lot. I'm not talking about "stealing user data"…

I would assume the NaCl apps won't run by default. Maybe you get that "click to activate" thing that firefox is implementing for Flash and Java

Re: Traditional C "Hello World" working in NaCl

#26
post #25

I'm a fan of fast native code, but I worry that this promotes sneaky code in the background once it gets widely adopted. With javascript we basically have open-source web apps. I often skim through js source to learn new tricks - and obfuscation doesn't really stop me (apart from google's java-translated js) . With compiled NaCl I probably wouldn't be able to find out a lot. I'm not talking about "stealing user data"…

I would assume the NaCl apps won't run by default. Maybe you get that "click to activate" thing that firefox is implementing for Flash and Java

Yeah, that's not what happens, at least not today.

Re: Traditional C "Hello World" working in NaCl

#27
post #25

I'm a fan of fast native code, but I worry that this promotes sneaky code in the background once it gets widely adopted. With javascript we basically have open-source web apps. I often skim through js source to learn new tricks - and obfuscation doesn't really stop me (apart from google's java-translated js) . With compiled NaCl I probably wouldn't be able to find out a lot. I'm not talking about "stealing user data"…

I would assume the NaCl apps won't run by default. Maybe you get that "click to activate" thing that firefox is implementing for Flash and Java

It doesn't run by default. But remember it's Google who's pushing this, and their browser has momentum. I'd guess it's just a matter of time before they run it by default. They already cashed out for security bounties for NaCl in the past[1] and seem to have increased resources recently[2] since it's quite a lucrative market for gaming.

[1] https://developers.google.com/native-client/community/securi... [2] m.yahoo.com/w/legobpengine/news/google-bringing-high-end-gaming-chrome-via-native-054102268.html

Re: Traditional C "Hello World" working in NaCl

#28
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Read the paper. It's a subset of x86 that retains better security properties for distribution. http://src.chromium.org/viewvc/native_client/data/docs_tarba...

At best that takes care of the security issues. The other thing that makes ActiveX an affront to the web is the platform lock-in. x86 code is not suitable as a web standard. (And neither is the LLVM intermediate representation, for reasons expounded on in e.g. http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.comp.compilers.llvm.devel/4... )

...and Windows Installers are a lousy way to get someone to be able to run your program.

I see Native Client as being an extremely nice solution to several issues at once:

- runs fast

- the programs don't need an installer

- I can trust a Native Client program (that's me personally)

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