'Huh? Why would that be a valid point? It's no harder to swap
out different kinds of render methods than it is to swap
style sheets.'
its much much harder to switch rendering engines than to switch css files
try changing this websites rendering engine, first you need to hack the server, then you need to understand the source code(and learn the language if you dont know it already), then learn how the renders are perfomed, how the data is modelled.
then try switching its stylesheet, that can be a click away if you want it.
What you say is true, but only because the software most people use on their servers makes it true. The conclusion is not that we should continue to use the current broken infrastructure, but that we should build different infrastructure. Your argument is kind of like someone in 1904 arguing that air travel will never be commercially viable because there aren't any airports.
I find it a bit distressing that I would have to explain this here on HN of all places.
I didnt make an argument I pointed out a blatantly incorrect statement.
but to follow your point is there anything fundamentally flawed in the concept of html/css/javascript that makes portable sites impossible, or are you suggesting we make some pluggable generic server side rendering that can be controlled by the client because css doesnt deal with heights very well yet?
> is there anything fundamentally flawed in the concept of html/css/javascript that makes portable sites impossible
No, of course not.
> or are you suggesting we make some pluggable generic server side rendering that can be controlled by the client because css doesnt deal with heights very well yet
Yeah, pretty much. That way you don't have to wait for the standards bodies or the browser developers.
its much much harder to switch rendering engines than to switch css files
try changing this websites rendering engine, first you need to hack the server, then you need to understand the source code(and learn the language if you dont know it already), then learn how the renders are perfomed, how the data is modelled.
then try switching its stylesheet, that can be a click away if you want it.