James G. Sack (jim)([EMAIL PROTECTED])@Sun, May 07, 2006 at 07:18:47PM -0700: > Tracy R Reed wrote: > > Wade Curry wrote: > >> One thing that i've wondered on occasion... Why is it that no one > >> has written a Firefox extension that can deal with a different > >> scripting language directly? Instead of writing python that gets > >> translated into javascript, wouldn't it be better to write python > >> that runs as python in the browser without translation? > > > > If it does not ship with the browser nobody but you and me are going to > > be able to use it so why bother? > > > > ..then there are the security concerns, too. > > A new plugin would have to fit into some existing security framework (is > there such a thing?), or face some kind of qualification/approval cycle > before you would really want to allow anyone to execute his code from > your browser. >
Which is why I made the remarks towards the end of the post about Java having a sandbox to run in. I was mostly thinking out loud, and didn't organize the thoughts very logically, but Java would be a much better language to use than javascript, assuming it has access to the same facilities and functions that javascript has. If another language like python were used, then it would need to be executed in a sandbox, too. I imagine that this would be the difficult part... but I'm not in a position to say for sure. And in response to Tracy... I'm not sure I agree with your assessment. People use Java all the time, but it doesn't ship with any browsers that I know of. People dl shockwave and flash by the bazillions, too. That's not in the browser by default, either. Replacing javascript with Java, then, would not likely have the problem that no one would use it. Many already do have it. If python were used instead of Java, then why would it be hard to get people all over the Net to dl a python plugin? They click OK to accept SSL keys that they didn't read. They click on the jumping monkeys in banner ads believing that they're one in a million to win that new PC plus $10K in cash and prizes. They answer the Nigerian spam scam... Surely more than just Tracy and Wade are willing to dl a python plugin. :-) Wade Curry -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-lpsg
