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If we turn the web itself into an actual developer (and user) friendly platform, then we could probably start making better use of it as an application delivery vehicle. To enable this, I've been furiously working on this OS-in-a-browser concept for the past 3+ years: https://linuxontheweb.appspot.com

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"This site relies upon cutting-edge web technologies that only Chromium-based browsers have implemented."

This might as well be Java.

> This might as well be Java.

Chromium specific certainly isn't as good as open standards, but it isn't as bad as Java. Once chromium is ported to something it doesn't face legal uncertainty.

Everyone that follows the Java license never had any issues.

Only the two companies that tried to screw Sun had any issues with it.

If you write a free application that runs on Java on the raspberry Pi you (probably) owe Oracle nothing. If anyone builds a console around that raspberry Pi, Oracle probably is owed money because the device is no longer a general machine. That is very different than chromium or anything else that is license compatible with your typical Linux distribution.

Whether or not someone owed damages is immaterial to the problem of trying to get everyone an appropriate license who might want to run your software in contexts you haven't imagined yet.

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