> if you want to make a browser in the EU, you have to be extremely serious about it.
Why is this a problem?
No, really; why is it a bad thing that if you want to create a complete new browser, you have to actually be serious and committed to it?
A web browser is a pretty significant piece of software, and it sits between you and the entire web. You do your banking through it. You access your email through it. You book flights through it.
If the browser is badly constructed or malicious, any of these very vital functions can fail in unpredictable ways, be compromised by unknown third parties, or even be deliberately intercepted by the browser itself.
Here in the US, and especially for tech people like us, we're used to thinking of software as a complete free-for-all: anyone can make anything they want, and anyone must be allowed to make anything they want! That's what Freedom means!
But that kind of freedom can have pretty serious consequences if it's treated without respect or abused. Frankly, I'm glad to see the EU starting to put some genuine safeguards in place for the people who have to use the software we make, to ensure that we can't just foist off crap on them and when they get their identity stolen because of our negligence, just say "lol too bad, Not Guaranteed Fit For Any Purpose, deal with it".
Yes, I don't want to say that this is a problem (or not a problem).
The original article has a quote from Apple saying that they don't know why nobody has submitted any new browser for them to approve and then goes on to list a bunch of reasons for why this is the case. All of which center on Apple being obstinate. If Apple was suddenly a nice friendly corporation, would the browser landscape in the EU change much?
The CRA has been law for less than 9 months. I don't think that the general software developer community has awaken to what it is going to involve when full enforcement begins in 2027. I believe that at least some of the people that had originally planned to create new browsers in the EU have reconsidered now that they know what their obligations in 1.5 years will be. And that is probably a good thing (but not Apple's fault).
> If Apple was suddenly a nice friendly corporation, would the browser landscape in the EU change much?
Not immediately. Because there are literally no browser vendors beyond the existing three. Everyone else is just söapping on different coats pf paint on Chromium.
Why is this a problem?
No, really; why is it a bad thing that if you want to create a complete new browser, you have to actually be serious and committed to it?
A web browser is a pretty significant piece of software, and it sits between you and the entire web. You do your banking through it. You access your email through it. You book flights through it.
If the browser is badly constructed or malicious, any of these very vital functions can fail in unpredictable ways, be compromised by unknown third parties, or even be deliberately intercepted by the browser itself.
Here in the US, and especially for tech people like us, we're used to thinking of software as a complete free-for-all: anyone can make anything they want, and anyone must be allowed to make anything they want! That's what Freedom means!
But that kind of freedom can have pretty serious consequences if it's treated without respect or abused. Frankly, I'm glad to see the EU starting to put some genuine safeguards in place for the people who have to use the software we make, to ensure that we can't just foist off crap on them and when they get their identity stolen because of our negligence, just say "lol too bad, Not Guaranteed Fit For Any Purpose, deal with it".