On 5/25/12 8:43 AM, Gervase Markham wrote:
> On 24/05/12 18:29, Anant Narayanan wrote:
>> Clicking an install button is just not the same as clicking a hyperlink.
>> Context is very important for the former.
>
> The context of _where the app comes from_ is important for the former.
> The context of _where the button is_ is not important.
These two are contradictory statements. The user has no way of knowing
where the app comes from by clicking an install button on a third party
page.
>>>> Would you be okay with allowing any site on the internet to distribute
>>>> Firefox? I certainly wouldn't be.
>
> BTW, I would - and thousands of sites do. Why would you stop them?
Perhaps the Firefox analogy isn't the right one because the user
actually gets a file which is the point at which the install actually
happens and is in Mozilla's control (downloading from the website was
not "installing firefox"). To correct my earlier question, would you be
comfortable with any random website be able to control the *installer*,
and in general, the install experience for Firefox?
> I'd say universal linkability is one of the key things which has made
> the web what it is today. It's very much in line with Mozilla's "no
> gatekeepers on the Internet" thing. Why would we want to go out of our
> way to break that feature for apps?
I agree that linkability is a key feature of the web and that we should
maintain that for apps. Nobody is suggesting that we prevent people from
linking to apps, anybody can always link the the app's page on a
marketplace, or even better, to the developer's site itself where
there's a big shiny install button for a self-install.
The spec disallows a *direct* install from a third party page, if the
developer chooses to disallow it - again, the default is open. The
distinction is important because in a direct install flow, there is the
risk that a user will perceive that the app comes from the site they're
at right now rather than the actual author.
-Anant
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