Slashdot Mirror
Mac OS X Secretly Cripples Non-Apple Software
spikedLemur writes "Vladimir Vukicevic of the Firefox team stumbled upon some questionable practices from Apple while trying to improve the performance of Firefox. Apparently, Apple is using some undocumented APIs that give Safari a significant performance advantage over other browsers. Of course, "undocumented" means that non-Apple developers have to try and reverse-engineer these interfaces to get the same level of performance. You really have to wonder what Apple is thinking, considering the kind of retaliation Microsoft has gotten for similar practices.
I'd also be a lot more inclined to sympathy if the "Restore Previous Session" function weren't broken so badly that it tries to restart every download I've ever cancelled in the Download manager (including those from months ago).
And I'm a mac user who still uses Firefox because I've got the vast majority of my website passwords saved in it...
Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)
http://www.lawrenceperson.com/
I do, but what do I know, I'm just an AC. Ta ta.
They have a fourth option - don't make large apps that use internal APIs themselves. Hey, free cleaner seperation of code batman!
-josh
The editors should really do a social experiment once with a story like this. Contact the original author and for a day fake a story like this and make it sound like it is about MS instead. Note who makes what kind of post, reveal the truth that the story was about Apple after all and then make each and every post eat his words.
Now offcourse there are differences, Apple isn't a monopoly for one, but I see a lot more people attempting to find excuses then if the picture had been about Billy Borg.
Undocumented API's are a hell, every programmer knows this, if nothing else they are an indication that the stuff you are working with is a bloody mess. Trust me on this, as far as I can follow the story between all the bending over backwards to appease the mighty Jobs, it is "just" a case of there being two API's, the official one that is supported and is the nice and proper, if a bit slower, method available to all 3rd party developers who program directly for the system, and the undocumented method that you can use if you use Apples own tools.
Oh dear god I come across that in the past, it is perfectly understandable, you often have to deal with legacy code even when you really want to get rid of it, you then write a new API but have to keep the old one around for backwards compatibilty and then find users who still use it. Still, it smells a lot of what MS has pulled in the past and I seen nothing but wishfull thinking that proofs Apple was completly in the clear when they did this.
Not that it really matters, Apple ain't big enough to abuse a monopoly, but it is still intresting to see Fanboys in action.
I pretty much agree with one sentiment from the original article, with opensource none of this would be possible. You can't have hidden stuff in the open.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Ahem.... goatse is a naked pic fellas.
Context is important. Using Gestault mind and running 'slashdot' and 'naked pic' through the rinse cycle... *POP* into my brain goatse comes. Actually, it popped in more vividly than even the most ingenious goatse link can do. Stupid mental block vulnerabilities. I've just now learned what 'too smart for your own good' really means.
Thanks guys. Oh yeah, one more thing... I've been in the tubes for over a decade now, and feel it is my duty to tell you, the mother lode you're looking for is carried by the nntp protocol not the http (well, that's only SLIGHTLY true(read: it's a lie) but it's true enough for THIS post). Usenet is your friend, but practice safe cybersex; here is neomunk's guide to safe strokin' on the usenet:
1) Virus scan everything, and I mean everything, even if YOU don't think the file format isn't vulnerable, scan it anyways.
2) Report the child fuckers and their ilk (may they burn in every hell ever conceived by Man and All Others) to http://www.cybertipline.com/ .
3) Drink plenty of clear fluids and stock up on Kleenex/Jergens/other material aids.
4) (as per There's Something About Mary) Dispose of wastes properly, be conscious of your fluids.
5) (as per Lewis Black) Take care not to squeeze the doorknob too hard when you DO finally leave your room.
Follow these simple rules and you're sure to have hours, days, or even years of disease* free biological satisfaction.
* Disease in this context means viral infection, bacterial infection, pregnancy, human social interaction, emotional connection, emotional growth, real life experience and fresh air.