[Bug 25985] WebCrypto should be inter-operable

https://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/show_bug.cgi?id=25985

--- Comment #18 from Ryan Sleevi <sleevi@google.com> ---
(In reply to Boris Zbarsky from comment #16)
> > You try it. It either works, or it does not. If it does not, you inform your
> > users.
> 
> That's sort of ok for controlled environments where you know where you'll be
> running (like operating systems), but seems _terrible_ for the web.  What it
> will mean in practice is sites being created to run in only one browser, and
> likely only in particular versions of one browser...

Even within the OS space, you find additional variance within the OS versions
you wish to support. The lack of AES/ECC on Windows XP, for example. Or of
SHA-2. Without trying to go into a tangent on XP's EOL, it's more a remark
about how things can vary, even within an API.

How is this any different than a "random chat with someone" site, like
ChatRoulette, detecting if you have a camera and microphone? Or an application,
like Google Maps, detecting if you have GPS to offer higher-precision
information?

Each of these algorithms are, again, conceptually device APIs. Application
developers will not require the set of (all or none), they will, depending on
their application, require certain ones.

Within these APIs, as well, it's not a case of requiring all or no capabilities
- they may have different requirements, some that have graceful fallback /
opportunity to try other permutations (eg: generating keys), while other use
cases may have no fallback method (eg: verifying signatures)

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Received on Thursday, 5 June 2014 16:11:42 UTC