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Comment by anon1385 | Hacker News Reader

None of that helps if you want to do something that is prohibited by the javascript sandbox.

To pre-empt the inevitable response that everything you want to do is possible inside the javascript sandbox: for a lot of people everything they want to do is possible inside the iOS app store restrictions. That still doesn't make iOS an open platform suitable for general computing, and neither is FirefoxOS.

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I don't see what that has to do with language choice.

Criticising FirefoxOS for being 'javascript only' can mean a variety of things. It can mean the author doesn't like the javascript language and thinks they will inevitably be forced to use it at some point. Or it can mean they don't like only being able to target a very restrictive sandbox that is defined by a couple of very powerful corporations. Or both.

FirefoxOS and ChromeOS are attacks on general purpose computing just as much as iOS is.

It can mean anything you like; I just think that makes little sense.

Every platform has one "base" language - even rms' laptop can only run MIPS instructions; everything else must be compiled or interpreted. FirefoxOS just uses JS as its base language.

And it can use Asm.js to run LLVM code.

Not really, because your not restricted by store policies but rather the runtime and it's APIs. Your free to make a app for whatever purpose you want without worrying about whether it's fits in line with how the platform holder wants you to use it.

If having restrictions on the runtime is your criteria for judging whether or not it's "general purpose" or not then every platform with a kernel fails because everything is subject to the restrictions it imposes.

Or it can mean they don't like only being able to target a very restrictive sandbox that is defined by a couple of very powerful corporations. Or both.

But Firefox is in control of its sandbox. It has provided a lot of native API access that other platforms don't have.

The correct test is simply whether the owner of the device has a clear path to root.

Trying to divine somethings "general purpose" via just evaluating the runtime is murky and distracts from the core issue.

By the root standard iOS fails completely.

ChromeOS, Android and FirefoxOS all get middling grades in this.

I would disagree with FirefoxOS, as you can root the device it runs on without doing hardware modifications, unlike ChromeOS.

That being said, consumer devices need to be able to pass a sort of "slave test"; if your device can't hook up to a printer/scanner, or other peripherals, it is a device meant to enslave you in a digital jail.

Mozilla seems to be the best citizen thus far when it comes to user rights, and I wouldn't expect that stance to change much due to a different formfactor. this is still very much the same project JWZ founded.

It should be noted that Chrome (and hence ChromeOS) has USB, Bluetooth and even serial port APIs¹ for its apps. Though you do have to include the specific device codes in the app manifest, so it's probably not very useful for general purpose devices.

¹ https://developer.chrome.com/apps/app_usb

Right, and for that reason, I view ChromeOS as sort of a "House Arrest" sort of situation; still a jail (hardware bypass required to write to the drive? Wtf.), but more lenient. A kinder, gentler slavery, as George HW Bush might have said.

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