Development, Privacy, and Standards for Chrome
Continuing our coverage of Google Chrome, snydeq points out an Infoworld story about looking at the new browser from a developer's perspective, and another about how WebKit should be the focus of development efforts, rather than the browsers that use it. TGdaily notes that Chrome's search box will fetch all types of data, and can be made to display banking information with little effort. ABC and coderrr have slightly more paranoid articles questioning Google's commitment to privacy. NetworkWorld suggests that Chrome's unique process model (explained here) will require the development of new measurement standards.
I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror as their managers noticed that this Webkit browser has a couple of percentage points.
Even KDE's switching to WebKit, at least as an option. It appears to be sinking into Apple's head that they can 0wn this project, but playing nice with others is more likely to get them something that works well. You know ... open source.
http://rocknerd.co.uk
Direct Google link to standalone installer.
Note that this doesn't install under Wine - you need the binary Zip file (which I can't find a direct link to) to try it under Wine. And it still doesn't actually work, so find the missing functions and get to work writing them for Wine ;-)
http://rocknerd.co.uk
So google stripped the HTML 5 standard local storage api from Webkit to use their own implementation Google Gears. Why? The api was already there, and it worked, so they had to strip it out to go with google gears, their own, not w3c compliant. I think they are starting to become evil.
I just don't trust anything that bleeds for five days and doesn't die.
I don't see why a rendering engine can't have security vulnerabilities, just like any other software which processes input from an untrusted source.
// MD_Update(&m,buf,j);
It's only in beta.
I don't accept this excuse from Google, because they have effectively destroyed the concept of a beta version. Even gmail is still in beta, and it's probably among the world's top three email providers now.
Google, please do official releases of your products. Or, if you really need to childishly continue to call them development versions, invent a new category. Maybe, call them "gamma" versions. You are spoiling a useful metaphor for everyone else.