[rfc][icedtea-web] IcedTea-Web for Windows

[Jacob Wisor]

On 09/15/2014 at 04:45 PM, Mattias Eliasson wrote:
> Hi!
>
> I have previously discussed using FireBreath as a plugin abstraction layer for
> icedtea-web. It provides a C++ abstraction layer on top of both NPAPI and IE:s
> COM/OLE/ActiveX plugin API. I argued that it would make icedtea-web cleaner by
> hiding all the NPAPI stuff, but it's oven more valid in this use case.

We do not want to hide any NPAPI stuff. As I have already told you, hiding (do 
not confuse with encapsulation) and abstraction layers come always with loss of 
information and sometimes even loss of access to lower layers. This will 
definitely pose problems with FireBreath when trying to tie JVM ends with 
Windows specific ends.

> As you are planning to use add the IE API you should consider using FireBreath
> instead, and hopefully it will also solve your NPAPI worries. You do not
> implement a IOleObject interface with FB, it generates one for you.

Again, as I have already told you, I have looked at FireBreath and I am even 
more convinced today that it would be a bulky unnecessary dependency to the 
IcedTea-Web plug-in. It requires even Boost and Python to build. This is just 
unacceptable for having a slim code base with a simple build system. It is 
ridiculous to have 10+ other dependencies to build just one dependency which is 
of little to no use. The IcedTea-Web plug-in does not do anything complicated 
which would justify such an immense cost. This is like to use a sledgehammer to 
crack a nut.

Oh btw, there are *no* problems with the NPAPI. The NPAPI is very simple and 
easy to implement. If you seem to have problems with the NPAPI or have found any 
bugs in the IcedTea-Web plug-in, why don't you simply report them (or fix them 
yourself) instead of childishly insisting on the IcedTea-Web developers to 
support some sort of your favorite library, in the delusional hope that /all/ 
problems would be solved then?

> I totally agree with you on the need for a Windows/IE plugin and I wish I had
> the time to work on this myself.

You are free to implement your own version. ;-) With or without FireBreath.

Jacob