In the wake of Google's release of the new WebKit-based Chrome browser, some technology enthusiasts are beginning to wonder if the days are numbered for Mozilla's Gecko rendering engine.
Full story »In the wake of Google's release of the new WebKit-based Chrome browser, some technology enthusiasts are beginning to wonder if the days are numbered for Mozilla's Gecko rendering engine.
Full story »
3rdalbum
16 years 2 weeks 6 days 4 hours ago
Thank goodness!
Thank goodness Apple didn't choose Gecko, and thank goodness Mozilla aren't going to switch to Webkit. Being essentially Apple's project, Webkit is so full of security holes it's amazing it doesn't keep crashing.
Balzac
16 years 2 weeks 5 days 17 hours ago
Google Chrome & Safari are both based on Webkit (LGPL-licensed)
Ok, Webkit is the leading rendering engine published under a non-copyleft license, the GNU LGPL.
I'm happy for Webkit to grow because it carries with it, a preamble much like the one found in the GNU GPL.
From the LGPL Preamble:
"We call this license the "Lesser" General Public License because it does Less to protect the user's freedom than the ordinary General Public License. It also provides other free software developers Less of an advantage over competing non-free programs."
So, Firefox is the leading GNU GPL-licensed browser and it is making great strides. Google Chrome and Safari are not alternatives for a browser such as Firefox.
Also, take into account that Firefox has the developer community on their side. Firefox is the spearhead in the battle against Microsoft's dominance of web-browser market share.
Google Chrome is now entering the market, hoping to capitalize on Microsoft's losses in browser market share. It's not like Google is entitled to some kind of huge, enthusiastic embrace from the free software community.
BTW, I just tried to find the source code for Chrome but I was not able to find it. I'm open minded, but I will not be distracted by a browser with a weaker license, something which does not have a developer following and the legacy as the industry leader in reclaiming market share from Microsoft.