Some comments about Google

I don't understand why people are willing to give Google such a free pass for gradually replacing Web standards with Google-controlled technologies. They always promise "we will try to make this a standard eventually", but so far there have been zero cases where the actual standard has materialized. Let's look at some past examples:

1) Google didn't like MPEG so they are replacing it with VP8. They publish a "spec" but in reality the code is the spec, and since launching it they have made zero real effort to make it a true open standard.

2) Google didn't like HTTP so they are replacing it with SPDY. They are actually using it live between Chrome and Google Web properties, but so far it hasn't come anywhere near a standards group.

3) Google didn't like the NPAPI plugin model supported by all non-IE browsers, so they invented an elaborate and totally incompatible plugin API (Pepper) and native code validation model (Native Client).

Replacing JS with Dash is just the next example. I expect HTML and CSS are next.

The reality is that none of these things are becoming open standards and Google doesn't even seem to have a sincere intent to make them standards. Open source is no substitute for open standards. Open standards mean that all the stakeholders have a chance to come together and influence the design and direction of the technology; and the standard is designed so that it can be independently implemented, preventing a dangerous software monoculture. All the technologies that Google wants to use to replace the Open Web are 100% Google controlled and have only a single Google-owned implementation.

When Microsoft did this sort of thing (MSIE circa 1997), people rightly flipped out. In fact, one of the most insightful remarks I've seen about this is Brendan Eich referring to Dash as GBScript and NaCl as ActiveG. Similarly, Adobe doesn't get a free pass for their proprietary but vaguely Web-integrated plugin.

Do you really trust Google enough to let them have unilateral control over the whole Web technology stack? So much that you won't even call them on it, and will defend them as they try to do it?

 

From: http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/kc9ai/internal_googledocument_we_will_strongly/c2j67v2