comment on the draft

Hello,

all we have lived for decades using traditional apps, implemented in C++
and Java, accessing the local filesystem and the whole OS. It is time to
shift from these technologies to the new web ones, and implement apps using
html and javascript -- providing that we can do the same things at least.
Security is an issue, but it applies to apps implemented with traditional
technologies.
When I download Firefox, or Libreoffice, I trust them not to wipe out my
filesystem or disrupt my OS because I trust the people that implemented
them and I trust the place from which I downloaded them (i.e. that they are
not counterfeited and, e.g., contain viruses).
Once I have installed them I have effectively granted them access to my
computer.
This simple scheme could also apply to system web apps. Note that
downloading a (traditional) app such as Firefox, installing it and running
it is something that is nowadays done using the web. So, the distinction
between apps and web apps tends to be confined to the technology that is
used to implement them. From the users' perspective they differ mostly in
the way they are installed.
That said, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. A binding for javascript
that allows to access the OS, like, e.g. the Posix primitives, is all what
we need.
I have seen in the proposal a number of APIs which seem quite dedicated to
specific system apps. I think that here generality is a must: once we have
access to the primitives of the OS in some standardized way, we can
implement any app, much the same as we have done for decades with
traditional technologies. It is as simple as that. Extra APIs to access
specific things, such as the Contacts are specific for some particular
applications, and thus should be provided as an additional part.

Thank you
-Angelo Borsotti