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Mozilla Jetpack, an API For Standards-Based Add-Ons

Posted by timothy on from the now-hand-me-that-metric-screwdriver dept.

revealingheart writes "Mozilla Labs have released a prototype extension called Jetpack: An API for allowing you to write Firefox add-ons using existing web technologies to enhance the browser (e.g. HTML, CSS and Javascript), with the goal of allowing anyone who can build a Web site to participate in making the Web a better place to work, communicate and play. Example add-ons are included on the Jetpack website. While currently only a prototype, this could lead to a simpler and easier to develop add-on system, which all browsers could potentially implement."

6 of 42 comments (clear)

  1. Cough*Chrome*cough by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Google, you listenin'?

  2. Re:What? More ways to hack a browser? by Facegarden · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Just what we need - more ways to mess up a browser. I thought we were supposed to be working towards standards not adding more extensions!

    The idea *is* to use standards! People already make add-ons, they might as well be interoperable too.
    Does this not make sense to you?
    -Taylor

    --
    Worldwide Military budgets: $2100 billion. Worldwide Space Exploration budgets: $38 billion. Really, world? Really?
  3. got xul? by mikedeanklein · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What about xul (xml, css, js)?

  4. They just re-invented Greasemonkey by Animats · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I think they just re-invented Greasemonkey. But not well.

    At least with Greasemonkey, there's a well-defined language. It's all Javascript. This thing seems to have some horrible mess of intermixed Javascript, CSS, and HTML. Plus it has JQuery built in, and a special symbol ("$") for it. (For a moment, I thought I was reading Perl.)

    Having done some non-trivial work with Greasemonkey, I'm not sure this thing is a step up.

    1. Re:They just re-invented Greasemonkey by buchner.johannes · · Score: 3, Insightful

      1 Mozilla uses Javascript for all addons, so I guess they have some idea of it.

      2 You can't program native UI-Elements with Greasemonkey, and even if, they would live inside the website as Greasemonkey is more for "patching" existing websites.
      Browser addons should survive a website navigation.

      This thing seems to have some horrible mess of intermixed Javascript, CSS, and HTML.

      This is called the web.

      --
      NB: The message above might reflect my opinion right now, but not necessarily tomorrow or next year.
    2. Re:They just re-invented Greasemonkey by JPortal · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That may be a valid criticism, but "For a moment, I thought I was reading Perl" indicates ignorance of JS in general?