Re:Clang runs in the browser and compiles C++ to WebAssembly
by ryandrake on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @12:50PM
(#16053633)
> You don't ever install anything, it just exists when you ask for it. That is something native applications have never done
Actually, this used to be common, and still is for things like game consoles. You used to stick the floppy disk in, and run the program directly from there. No concept of installing anything. Indeed your computer may not have even had writable storage to "install" anything onto. At worst, if you did have a hard drive, you were free to copy the (single) executable onto your drive so you didn't need to rummage through your stack of floppies to find the program every time you wanted to run it. That was the extent of installing something.
The situation where your program consists of multiple files, each of which had to be copied into some special location on your hard drive by an "installer"--is a relatively new (since the 90s?) concept.
It's actually refreshing nowadays when I stumble upon one of those rare applications where everything comes in a single executable file and it can be run from anywhere. Dying breed.
Actually, this used to be common, and still is for things like game consoles. You used to stick the floppy disk in, and run the program directly from there. No concept of installing anything. Indeed your computer may not have even had writable storage to "install" anything onto. At worst, if you did have a hard drive, you were free to copy the (single) executable onto your drive so you didn't need to rummage through your stack of floppies to find the program every time you wanted to run it. That was the extent of installing something.
The situation where your program consists of multiple files, each of which had to be copied into some special location on your hard drive by an "installer"--is a relatively new (since the 90s?) concept.
It's actually refreshing nowadays when I stumble upon one of those rare applications where everything comes in a single executable file and it can be run from anywhere. Dying breed.