if all the
users of your Web app always access it from the same browser, then it is
not an issue, but if you can be sure of that, then a desktop GUI app
might have been a better bet.
I disagree. The key here in my opinion is that Mozilla/Firefox does provide a practical standard basis for building and maintaining reliable cross-platform applications.
I second Jim's disagreement and would add 2 other notions.
First, to restate the obvious: ever since real web applications became technically feasible, there have been compelling reasons to choose to develop browser-based web apps over desktop apps in certain cases. Cross-browser incompatibility has always been one of the major obstacles (but not the only one) toward friendly web software. If this problem were to disappear, it would certainly not invalidate the web application model, as the original poster implies.
Second, taking a note from classic intranet deployment, it is possible for IT staff to impose a browser type on the user population, since the team that develops the intranet also generally works closely with (or is identical to) the team that maintains user computing environment. Fantastic way to avoid many app behaviour problems.
I would have thought that in a service-oriented (opensource) IT environment, medical software developers who offer training and support (or their representatives), would equally be able to impose a browser on a user group in a healthcare setting. Yes? No?
Denny Adelman
