Tempest in a Teapot: Apple's "Programming Secrets"
by Sam Dean - Mar. 05, 2008Comments (4)- Related Blog Posts
- Checking in on Mozilla's Financial Health
- Over 50 Free, Must-Have Open Source Resources
- 6 Easy Ways to Secure Your Hotspot Sessions
- Has Microsoft Suddenly Awakened to Open Source?
- Firefox's Birthday, and Mozilla's Opportunity
In case you haven't noticed, a blog post from a few days ago by developer Vladimir Vukicevic, who is working on performance enhancements for the Firefox 3 browser, has been making major waves for allegedly pointing to programming and API "secrets" that enable Apple's own applications to run more efficiently with its operating system than other applications can. InfoWorld and other tech publications have made a big deal of the post, and the hubbub made it to Slashdot. The whole thing looks like a tempest in a teapot to me.
Vukicevic's post was interpreted as pointing to some undocumented APIs that purportedly allow Apple's Safari browser to perform more efficiently than, say, any open source browser can. That interpretation then gathered steam until charges of attempts from Apple to "cripple" non-Apple software have been flying around.
Vukicevic did uncover some undocumented APIs, but an update to his post makes clear that he himself finds the coverage of his findings sensational. "To be clear, I do not think that Apple is in any way trying to purposely 'cripple' non-Apple software," he says. "I also do not think that undocumented APIs give Safari any kind of significant performance advantage. However, as I said, the undocumented functionality could be useful for Firefox and other apps to implement things in a simpler (and potentially more efficient) manner. I don't think this is malicious, it's just an unfortunate cutting of corners that is way too easy for a company that's not fully open to do."
Moreover, I can echo Vukicevic's confidence in the performance of Firefox 3. I've been steadily using the beta versions, and performance is one of the main reasons why many people will upgrade. I already find its performance perfectly competitive with Safari.
Undocumented APIs, historically, have been exploited to lend an advantage to software companies who own both an operating system and key applications, as was true in Microsoft's past. Such lack of openness can put open source applications, in particular, at a disadvantage. However, in this case, it seems clear that the allegations of intentional crippling of competitive applications are overblown.
Do you think Apple should be more open?
