Python-based browser plugins?

[Terry Hancock]

Paul Boddie wrote:
> Terry Hancock <hancock at anansispaceworks.com> wrote in message
> news:<mailman.1036047036.2186.python-list at python.org>...
>> Anyway, though -- returning to topic, is a C Python solution unviable? 
>> Your defending the Java/Jython option suggests maybe you think so (and
>> that was
>> what I thought before).  I guess I already know the answer here -- but I
>> was wondering if the challenge would pique anyone's interest, as it would
>> be interesting to be proved wrong. :-)
> 
> An interesting project would be a plug-in for popular browsers based
> on Python/Pygame/SDL. The hard part of this would surely be the
> integration with the browser, but I can imagine that IE, Mozilla and
> Konqueror are all open to this kind of thing.

Yes, I Agree.

Now I know that Netscape has had a plugin architecture for a long time, but 
I was never clear on whether other browsers actually implemented plugins in 
a compatible way or just had their own individual mechanisms (I'm sorry, my 
viewpoint is a little parochial, seeing as I've been using Netscape 
exclusively for about 5+ years and only just now started trying out Mozilla 
and Konqueror (I personally have no love for IE, but some 90% of my 
potential users will probably be using it, so whatever I do had better be 
IE-compatible).  I'm also unclear on how much the plugin specs have changed 
(presumeably backward-compatibility has been a high priority, though).

I did some tinkerng with SDL awhile back, and I was quite happy with it. Of 
course, even if you acknowledge that SDL supports many different 
OS/Architectures, it still does mean a separate binary for each.  
Presumeably, the "signed loader" would have to sniff the machine's 
architecture, OS, and whether a suitable python was already available (or 
else always assume it has to provide its own).  Alternatively, we'd have to 
provide a plugin that could simply be downloaded and installed at the 
user's discretion (as opposed to simply asking for approval).

Is there such a thing as a single plugin that can be written once and 
simply built for Konqueror, IE, Mozilla, Netscape, and others?

Cheers,
Terry

-- 
Anansi Spaceworks
http://www.anansispaceworks.com