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by askvictor 1144 days ago
If only there were some kind of language that could compile to a code that could be run on any operating system that could be used for this sort of thing. Oh wait, it's Java and it's been around for 25 years. But quite restricted in it's interaction with the OS, for good reason. As is WASM, for good reason as well. If printer drivers in Java didn't become a thing, I doubt that WASM printer drivers will.

Though I can't really understand why a printer driver needs such low level OS access so as to become a security risk as they sometimes are - aren't they basically a program that converts one image format to another, then flings that down a USB or network port?
1 comments
incrudible 1143 days ago
WASM is not a language though, the equivalent here would be a JVM, but that enforces all sorts of Java specific constraints that you do not want in a driver.

The short answer to your question is: No.

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askvictor 1143 days ago
Yeah, I get that WASM is like JVM (or even more accurately, java bytecode), but doesn't WASM have as many constraints on it?

Can you elaborate on your answer? Linux printer drivers seem to be entirely in userspace, so why do Windows drivers cause so much grief?

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