They are a small team of I think 20 people, but it goes to show how complex and exhausting writing a modern browser truly is.
In terms of talented individuals, I actually emailed Fabrice Bellard on the topic because he wrote QuickJS along with everything else he’s known for. Even he admits writing a browser is a very complicated task because a lot of information is not correctly specified. He did however write QuickEmacs 20 years ago which supported html and css rendering.
It’s sad, even when W3C and other committees try their best to keep the web strictly standard, it truly isn’t. And like I said, it hasn’t been enough of an issue to raise any concern outside of bubbles like here.
I think the masses need to learn about the importance of keeping fundamental software free and standard as a whole before they can learn why browsers and OS’s should be. But it’s tough because the average user doesn’t know what a library is. A lot of people think that even in app development, the programmer does it all from scratch.
My understanding is it's been a long time since a browser was a cool little thing a single person could hack up in a reasonable amount of time. Now web standards are such that it's like some massive line-of-business app with a million requirements that all have to be implemented (and be fast, and be memory efficient) or something will break/someone will complain.
That is why. A browser engine today is TOO complex.
Don't get me wrong I would love for this happen, just don't count on it.
And please, when SerenityBrowser have 80% market share in 10 years, don't hesitate to parade that comment all over HN or whatever cool website we'll be on.