It's true, a proper desktop editing application would probably be better in most cases, but I guess it would still be useful for the case where your computer can't run desktop applications (ex. chromebooks) or your administrator doesn't give you permission to install such applications.
> Because you'd have to download an app like this and then trust that it won't install malware or spyware or do anything else malicious.
How you would check that web app, which JavaScript/WebAssembly source/binary should be firstly loaded into your browser from 3rd-party website, would not "install malware or spyware or do anything else malicious"?
Modern browsers are pretty secure nowadays. By comparison, you have pretty much zero guarantees about an app you install onto your computer. The only concern is that these browser apps are quietly sending your files elsewhere, but this is easily inspectable via the dev tools.
Or you just run the installer in a sandbox/container, as has been possible for at least a decade in all major OSs
Sandboxee was released in 2004, and there have been various bits of registry journaing/snapshot software since the late 1990's which combined with NT ACLs could provide at least as much security as your getting out of a browser sandbox.
Browsers have an absolutely huge sandbox surface and lack even the most basic of fine-grained security controls out of the box. Enabling even basic restrictions to avoid fingerprinting has turned out to be difficult. How you do you know (particularly with firefox) that one tab isn't actively picking out data from another tab open to your banking site. Much less the problem with malicious javascript being injected via the ad frameworks.
> Or you just run the installer in a sandbox/container, as has been possible for at least a decade in all major OSs
The level of technical know-how necessary to accomplish that is astronomical compared to "here's a link," especially since it's cross-platform out of the box. That's why it's a no-brainer: any sane person is going to prefer that over installing untrusted software. Basically zero users know about the sandboxing solutions available for their system, much less willing put in the effort to Do It Right.
Has you ever read changelogs of Firefox & Chrome/Chromium? There are tons of issues documented related to sandboxing & security each new release happen.
Why would you use browser-based video editing over desktop-based free software, where you can read the source (or listen to someone you trust who has read the source) to make sure it's not doing anything malicious? Besides the fact that it might be easier/simpler for very small projects.
> (or listen to someone you trust who has read the source)
By this I meant to include, for example, the Debian team. Of course there can be bugs/oversights, but the same is true of the browser solution. Is there even one instance of malware being distributed through the official channels of a mainstream Linux distro? Not that an in browser JS video editor isn't cool, but I don't see how it would have technical advantages over the various Linux desktop editors.
So many of the projects I see mentioned here are neat hacks, but that's really about it.
People writing a complete operating system for an 8 bit micro made of discrete chips? That's neat, but not really useful, and most people won't ever take the time to boot it once.
An FPGA that runs web assembly code? That's nifty, but if we want high performance we probably won't use web assembly to do it.
You invented a completely new language that has all the features of C but none of the things that are annoying? We'll add it to the list of C-like-but-not-annoying languages.
Found a great new way to estimate how much capital you should try to get when creating a start-up to sell your all-natural soap products in California? That's great for you... a little bit niche for the rest of us.
You re-implemented emacs in python? That's a really impressive technical achievement. No one will ever surpass you in either emacs implementation or python hacks. Also, no one will ever use it.
Same thing with Hackaday... lots and lots of "cool" projects where neither the creator nor the site mods seem to realize something is just a nifty project, and not the salvation of the world.
You write as if these are bad things, but they're wonderful things. They're also the bread and butter of this site, so it's good that you see them here. Something would be wrong if you didn't.
Pure interest and sublime pointlessness are, of course, two of the classic hacker motivations.
I see such "not really useful" projects much as I do fine art. There's not much measurable use to the world in most painting, sculpture, or music in and of itself - but done well, it brings enjoyment to both the creator and appreciative observers. Count me as an appreciative observer in many such cases.
This would be accessible anywhere on any computer hooked up to the internet, even potentially a phone, tablet, raspberry pi, your grandma's computer, etc.
Many programs that don't need low level access like spreadsheets, pdf readers, word processors, image editors, etc.could be made into single page html files that would both be sandboxed and cross platform.
If so, why just not use native desktop/mobile video editor app instead?