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Firefox Nightly adds Web Serial after years of saying no (www.theregister.com)
submitted 4 months ago by to c/firefox@lemmy.ml
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cross-posted from: https://lazysoci.al/post/46128508

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[–] 26 points 4 months ago (1 child)

It's about time. I hate having to use another browser so I can use a few web apps that need to connect to serial devices.

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  • [–] 6 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    Aren't there native applications being able to do that?

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  • [–] 15 points 4 months ago* (1 child)

    Why install a native app when a website can do it? It's very common to use a website to flash ESPHome for example.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    Well you have more control over it and not dependent on the server. Also it should be more private I guess. I'm not judging, just asking if there was no native app that you felt forced to use a worse browser.

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  • [–] 7 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 child)

    not dependent on the server

    It doesn't have to be - a developer could also provide a HTML file that the user can download and open locally.

    And to be honest, if someone had to build a user-friendly cross-platform GUI app for connecting to some sort of serial device, they'd probably just end up using web technologies (Electron or Tauri) anyways. May as well avoid the extra overhead of Electron.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago

    I encountered such programs in the past. It's basically simple HTML with JavaScript, to run with my "favorite" browser and not being packaged as an Electron app. But that is very rare. Still better than dependent on the server, which solves a huge issue (which was my point). But the other point isn't solved, if the person is "forced" to use a browser he or she does not like.

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