But the more every actor aims to follow the spec rather than reproduce everyone else's bugs, the less quickly the ecosystem devolves into a horrid tangled mess that's nigh impossible for a new entrant.
Re:You can't just assume UTF-8
by quectophoton on Tuesday April 30, 2024 @03:39PM
(#40215345)
"So you're saying that I can have an advantage over everyone else if I implement all the spec features, plus one extra feature that adds convenience to our users?
And you're saying that by doing this, not only do I gain an advantage over the existing competition, but I also make it more difficult for more competitors to appear?
[takes notes]"
E.g. you produce valid .wat files, but my software which also outputs those has some bits screwed up.
My program can read both .wat but yours can't, but I have 5% market share.
Your users complain they sometimes receive files your software can't read while the competitor can. Do you tell them "well that file is invalid, tell whoever sent it to you to change the software they use"?
The genie can't stay in the bottle unless you have some sort of certification authority and even that may not be enough (see USB)