Re:The first conformant M1 GPU driver
by sheepscreek on Tuesday August 22, 2023 @07:42PM
(#37230029)
Perhaps it was fast due to lack of tight security policies etc. These days, everything has to be containerized or be in a sandbox. That adds layers of overhead. Probably also why Google killed NaCl (Native Clients for Google Chrome). It was loosely in the same space as Flash and ActiveX - anyone remember that?
I've thought about that too. Can only guess about it myself. Old software tends to be faster just because it has to be, and there isn't always a compromise other than time-to-implement.
Not sure how ActiveX's sandboxing worked, but I'll bet it was even less than Flash, since it was running actual x86 code.
Re:The first conformant M1 GPU driver
by londons_explore on Wednesday August 23, 2023 @03:38AM
(#37232905)
ActiveX required that the ActiveX code you wanted to run be already installed on your computer. The security mechanism was that users obviously wouldn't install insecure stuff...
Turns out nearly every extension had gaping security holes.
Not quite. ActiveX would download and run unsandboxed native code direct from the web, even if it wasn't installed. The security mechanism was a popup dialog that contained the publisher name as verified by a code signing certificate.
This is how I remember it. I was dealing with early 2000s smart home software that used ActiveX. I'd visit a website in IE, press ok, and run their "web app" that had raw access to my serial and ethernet ports. It was bizarre even for back then.
I guess Flash had to die because of how outdated, insecure, and proprietary it was. It did seem like a nightmare to support well on mobile. Just wish someone made something strictly better.