2025-03-10
We need a global foundation for an open source web engine
My perhaps too simple take on the current situation with web browsers: We need a new governance model for the development and maintenance of the web browser rendering engine. The current situation is we have three big players:
- Chromium/Blink which is open source but under the control of Google.
- Webkit is open source, associated with Apple and I assume it's somewhat under Apple's direction.
- Gecko, open source and under the direction of Mozilla.
So, two under the direction of US-based corporations, both of which dominate their segments of the tech industry. The third a US based organization that depends on Google for much of it's funding, funding that may disappear.
Have I got this right? Does this seem like a solid foundation for one of the most important tools used by bililons of humans? In terms of computer technology, there anything more important than the web browser in 2025?
After the recent dust-up with Mozilla and it's changes in the TOS Firefox users, a smallest of the three above, are looking for alternatives. A common suggestion is to just switch to LibreWolf or some other Gecko based solution. But this misses the larger point that these alternatives all depend on the continued existence of Mozilla.
Chromium/Blink is the dominant player and there are many third browsers based on it: Vivaldi, Microsoft's Edge, Opera and a host of newer entries like Brave, Zen Browser, and Arc. I'm sure there are many more. My favorite is Vivaldi which I have been using on the iPad (On Apple's iOS devices it is required to use Apple's WebKit) but on Linux it is based on Chromium. But, the problem is that these are all browsers based on a web engine controlled by Google. As much as I like Vivaldi I'm not comfortable using a Chromium based browser because at the end of the day it is a browser dependent on Google.
Beyond Apple's Mac and iOS devices Webkit seems to be a minor player.
Why is there not broad discussion and a plan to develop a solid, long-term foundation for an open source web rendering engine independant of any corportation or nation? I'm not sure how it would be organized or funded but, just spitballing, thinking of Wikipedia as an example starting point or inspiration. Base it in Europe, Canada or anywhere but the US. Fund it with a mix of sources and treat it as a public commons resource. Fork one of the current open source rendering engines as the starting point.
It's insanity to sit-back and wait on this. Letting our window into the web be dictated by Google, Mozilla or Apple is a mistake.
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