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.
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Anybody up to writing good directory software?
Tue, 2007-02-20 11:17 — David JonathanSince the very beginning, directories (of any kind) have had a very central role in the internet. (I have recently grown fond of Free Web Directory. Even Slashdot can be considered a directory: a collection of great news and invaluable user-generated comments. As far as software is concerned, doing a quick search on Google about software directories will return the free (as in freedom) software directories like Savannah, SourceForge, Freshmeat and so on, followed by shareware and freeware sites such as FileBuzz, PCWin Download Center and All Freeware (great if you're looking for shareware and freeware, but definitely less comprehensive than their free-as-in-freedom counterparts).
Is better education the key to finding better software?
Sat, 2007-03-03 03:25 — Edward RusselI read David Jonathon's article Anybody Up To Writing Good Directory Software? the other day, which got me thinking about software directories in general. As David mentioned, many of the software directories one finds when doing a quick google search are free as in beer, not as in freedom. But what interests me is the software directories that already exist, providing a combination of both free as in beer software, and open source software. Sites such as Freeware Downloads and Shareware Download don't advertise themselves as providing free as in liberty software, but each of them have a good selection of open source software available... if you know where to look.
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3rdalbum
3 years 36 weeks 2 days 18 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
3 years 36 weeks 2 days 7 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.