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bez talk the-problem.md
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The Problem #

(sorry but this is going to be a roundabout story but it does get somewhere interesting in the end)

the web today #

  • 3 web engines: chromium, webkit, gecko
  • 3 US companies
  • web standards are a side effect of implementations
  • so control of what the deployed actual web is belongs to the implementers
  • while they fight, all three also leverage that power to hold the web back in ways that serve their interests

we need a 4th engine, outside of the US

web engines and geopolitics #

  • US is chaos troll mode
  • EU realizing that they run almost entirely on US platforms
  • and that is not great for their cybersecurity, nor economic security

screenshots of eu tech sovereignty stories, eurostack effort, etc

up and comers #

(show servo and ladybird logos and screenshots)

  • servo and ladybird are both getting better
  • but far from production level
  • and also they're both old already, servo > 10yrs and ladybird >5yrs

Servo #

  • Servo is maintained primarily by Igalia, a tech co-op in Galicia
  • this year i helped Igalia get a significant EU Horizon grant
  • pays for a few devs per year over 3yrs

YAY... for small victories i guess, but...

what even is the web? #

turns out, until recently nobody could definitively say

but we have new ingredients now

  • BCD - browser-compat-data ~17,300 capabilities,
  • Web Features
  • Baseline
  • the browser-specs repo
  • structured data through Webref,
  • Web Platform Tests getting better and better,

how big is the web #

cool, so we just implement those 17k pieces and we're done right

how fast is the web growing #

velocity parity

  • the web is not static, it's always changing
  • so implementing it is a never ending job

Servo readiness report #

so let's get Servo into shape

that means hitting velocity parity

  • 50m/yr screenshot 😱
  • 2032

ok say we do it #

  • an EU entity
  • multi-stakeholder governance
  • hundreds of millions of EU funding per yr
  • 7-10 Igalia-alikes, worker-run co-ops building an open web

a paradise of anti-capitalist structures building digital critical infrastructure while paying equitable salaries, a steady-state harmonized around the web as a public good that floats all boats

magic.gif

Marxist vs Maoist revolutionary theory #

the locus of control #

  • a 4th engine is now a new single control point
  • even if we go full multi-stakeholder governed cooperative anchored in a foundation etc etc etc
  • need to fund 3-5 Igalias for years
  • it's an uphill slog in 18 ways

and same old problems

  • small set of decision makers
  • resistance to paradigmatic change
  • meets needs of the many, while not protecting the few

see u in 2040, when we have a new engine to complain about