Google owes its existence to the open web, but today, its technological “innovations” have much to do with locking users into a “walled garden.” The latest of these is “reCAPTCHA Mobile Verification,” an experimental initiative that will let companies block users if they are running independent, "de-googled" versions of Android. These “indie Android” versions are favored by people who want to protect their privacy and their attention by blocking trackers and ads.
Ladybird enters the chat
Yes, exactly. Laydybird was started in 2019 and only this year is expected to publish an alpha release and hoping for a beta release in 2027 and first stable release in 2028, confirming that it is too difficult. And what are the chances that those targets will not slip? And how much will the specification change in the meantime? It shouldn’t take a decade to write a conformant browser. A simpler specification would allow more projects to deliver compliant browsers.
That statement bumps with the reality that is being built.
I agree.
Also agree.
Saying it was “started in 2019” without mentioning SerenityOS and the single person that was writing it all at the time is a bit disingenuous. It was just a single component within an entire OS that was also being written from the ground up (also entirely by one person). It was in 2022 that it was spun out into its own project because of the community interest in it.
I don’t mean to disparage anyone’s efforts. I linked the WikiPedia page to provide the context. I hope the interest grows and they achieve a stable release.