The Modern Web

Solderpunk has a well thought-out commentary on the issues with web
apps:

gopher://sdf.org/0/users/solderpunk/phlog/web-apps-are-houses-built-on-sand.txt

Of the advantages, I'd say the most important is the cross-platform
nature of web apps. This was very true with the simple CGI form of
server-side apps in the 90s/00s, a bit less so with modern apps that
tend to brittleness with differences in javascript and CSS parsing.

I would also add that web apps are increasingly being sidelined in
favor of mobile apps, which are an even more restrictive way to
interact with the web. At least with the current crop of
javascript-heavy web apps, I still have _some_ control. The
javascript runs on the client, I can tweak it or block it at will. I
use this all the time to, for example, delete the read-only property
on a form field, or get rid of a modal popover. Not so with mobile
apps. You are locked into whatever actions the limited interface
allows.

I suppose this is part of the allure of SDF. For those of us who
remember the pre-www internet, all of this chafes. It's like being
in a straight jacket. SDF once again merges community with freedom,
in part by embracing and making older protocols available, like
gopher, but also by rejecting the overt commercialism and
restrictions of the modern web.

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