> It's even better in some ways because WebAssembly provides "allowlist" security -- it has no capabilities to start with, requiring that the "host" that runs the WebAssembly explicitly delegate some of its own capabilities to the guest WebAssembly module. Compare to processes which by default start with every capability and then have to be restricted.
In other words, WebAssembly is another step in the saga of systems that try to fill the hole left by the absence of capability based security in the Operating System.
If it gets me a way to get back into the business of developing programs for a desktop, and avoiding worry about details of web servers, tls, caching, and endless browser specific bugs, I'm all for it, especially if I can write a program that uses a PowerBox to get a capability to a local file. At that point, I could just load the file from a disk, or via the web server/browser pipe, and it will work the same.
Eventually, someone will figure out that a capability based OS for the desktop could launch a trillion dollar market for new applications without the need for a vendor specific web store or lock-in, and we'll be off to the races again, like in the 1980s shareware boom.
In other words, WebAssembly is another step in the saga of systems that try to fill the hole left by the absence of capability based security in the Operating System.
If it gets me a way to get back into the business of developing programs for a desktop, and avoiding worry about details of web servers, tls, caching, and endless browser specific bugs, I'm all for it, especially if I can write a program that uses a PowerBox to get a capability to a local file. At that point, I could just load the file from a disk, or via the web server/browser pipe, and it will work the same.
Eventually, someone will figure out that a capability based OS for the desktop could launch a trillion dollar market for new applications without the need for a vendor specific web store or lock-in, and we'll be off to the races again, like in the 1980s shareware boom.