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New Alliance Hopes To Standardize Web Plug-Ins

Posted by timothy on from the chatzilla-everywhere dept.

mksolutions writes "As reported on heise online and mozilla.org 'Apple, Macromedia, Opera and Sun Microsystems join in push to modernize plugins and create a richer web experience.' They are to develop a common, cross-platform plug-in interface which will be used in Mozilla products as well as Opera and Safari and will be released under an open source license."

8 of 365 comments (clear)

  1. Where's MS by breadiu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why are they scared of working towards a standardized future?

    1. Re:Where's MS by Daengbo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      A consortium like this normally doesn't happen with the big guy on the block. It's an attempt by the Davids to join together to fight Goliath. That's what these things are and what there're for.

      --
      Put identity in the browser.
  2. If this is true by dmomo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I Hope that all browsers involved would allow me to point to my own plugin directory, so I don't have to have a different copy of the same file for each browser I use.

  3. You know what this means, don't you? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Now, regardless of browser, everyone can have 10,372 smileys and valuable advertisements from Hotbar.

  4. Oh no! by callipygian-showsyst · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Don't reinvent Active-X with all its problems. Maybe browsers *don't* need standard, easy-to-install extensions (think BHO and ActiveX)

    --
    Best Buy can have you arrested
  5. Re:Title Correction by Red+Alastor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There is a difference between standardize and monopolize. You need to be alone to monopolize. Standards *are* good. As long as they are open and everybody can use them.

    --
    Slashdot anagrams to "Sad Sloth"
  6. If only they'd go a bit further... by Ma�djeurtam · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...and release the plug-ins themselves (hear Flash) under an open source license.

    I'm not playing the open source fanatic here, but I'd really like them (*cough* macromedia *cough*) to realize that Linux is more than Red Hat.

    Being a Gentoo PPC user, I still have no way to play flash on my iBook (well, I can boot it on OS X).

    If really they want to protect their trade secrets (are there any? Isn't .swf more or less an open standard?), at least, could they release their plug-in for other archs?

    --
    Instant Karma's gonna get you, Gonna knock you right on the head (John Lennon, 1970)
  7. Think about scumware NOW by Boss,+Pointy+Haired · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Whilst it's all very well for us "FireFox on Linux" users to gloat about our immunity from scumware; we must be aware that the developers of scumware only target IE _because_ it is the most prolific browser. The security weaknesses of IE are more likely the second reason.

    Now if a critical mass of Internet users migrate to FF/Moz/Saf etc., scumware authors WILL target this shared extension architecture.

    Now, it is all very well saying that the Mozilla platform may not allow drive-by installation (to the best of our knowledge); but remember that scumware is often installed through social engineering of the user. "This website requires Hyperviewing 3D Spatial Extension" (bundled with scumware for your convenience); and the user may click "Yes" to install without second thought.

    How you go about allowing extension installation whilst maintaining a level of sanity needs carefull thought at this stage.