App stores as unique entry points

I think it is likely impossible (and also not something to wish for) to
have an imposed unique point of entry for Web apps, given the highly
decentralized nature of the Web.

That being said, browsers are today single point of entry to the Web,
and indeed, are already being used as a portal to find and "install" Web
applications (Opera widgets, Chrome Store, Firefox add-ons and
marketplace to name the ones I'm familiar with).

There is currently a lot of fragmentation in this space, at different
levels; hopefully SysApps and Webapp will address the fragmentation
linked to packaging and security model. But I doubt this would be
sufficient for making it easy for developers to have their Web apps
appear in these various stores. I would very much welcome feedback on
what other missing features in this space ought to be addressed sooner
rather than later, or contact information with people that could help me
understand this space better.

Also, I'm interested to hear ideas on how to enable a broader ecosystem
in this space, where many Web apps stores could emerge, with either
competitive or complementary scopes; I know that this is again a space
where Mozilla has been working on, but would certainly love to
understand more about the concrete ideas on the table.

Dom

Received on Thursday, 7 March 2013 10:58:02 UTC