Google is opening up the Chromium project, the foundation of the Chrome browser, to more tech companies. Major competitors, such as Microsoft, Samsung, and Brave, already use open source software. But the Alphabet subsidiary wants to further expand control to “improve web browsing in the future . “
In March, Google admitted that developer Manuel Rego Casanovas of the Igalia company had a leadership role in the Chromium project . The process reinforces the change from the old dynamic, in which only Google engineers approved or disapproved of the implementation of new features.
Casanovas is the third outside leader to join the team and the first in a new nomination system. According to Alex Russell , senior developer who leads Chrome’s web standards group, the idea is for more third parties to join the initiative next year.
Chrome open source security
Google’s initiatives run counter to the vision of another major industry company, Apple. While the owner of Chrome is pushing the boundaries to reach more businesses and create new features, Apple is keeping tighter limits on its apps saying it fears for their safety.
In response, Google argues that due to sandbox technology, web applications are more secure than native applications, and that limiting the advanced interactivity of native applications hurts the web in the long run. The main companies contributing to Chromium are Microsoft, Intel, Igalia, Samsung, Opera, and LG.
Google says that among the hundreds of new contributors who came to the platform, 90 came from Google and many more came from outside. Microsoft, which joined the project in December 2018, accounted for 35% of non-Google contributors in 2020 , and its developers were responsible for 4,443 changes to the project.
