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Comment by WiseWeasel | Hacker News Reader

As a web developer, it's been great not having to worry about supporting/testing with Opera's rendering engine, (or simply another rendering engine, nothing against Opera in particular) thanks to its low market share. I hope this doesn't mean I have to start testing with yet another browser. Can't FB use Webkit like everyone else?

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I think your proposed cure (a rendering engine monoculture) is worse than the disease (having to test in multiple engines).

I'm not saying it would be good for humanity or anything; I'm just saying I'm lazy and content with not supporting Opera.

Having around three-four rendering engines on the market is a good thing, they each separately fuel development of new standards and other projects. We don't want Webkit to become the new IE6.

Webkit is open, and actively developed.

IE6 was closed, and laid stagnant for years.

Webkit by itself can't fuel the development of new standards. You need several competing parties for that.

How does FB buying Opera change the number of rendering engines on the market? As a user, I wouldn't touch FB Opera with a 10-foot pole, but I do at least consider using Opera as the product of an independent company.

> I hope this doesn't mean I have to start testing with yet another browser. Can't FB use Webkit like everyone else?

If you're not testing in more than 2-3 browsers, I seriously have to question your acumen as a "web developer". Browsers do exist outside of the Webkit bubble.

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