Ask HN: Any real "programmable web browser"?
No synthesized answer yet. Check the discussion below.
That said, AFAIK Pale Moon still allows use of XPCOM. And I think Seamonkey may be the closest remaining browser to the Mozilla of old. I believe you can still use all of the XUL/XPCOM stuff there, but don't quote me on that.
Given how big and important a platform the modern web is - I really am starting to think - something like this should exist - where I have a neat little IDE bundled right within the browser using which I can evolve the browser...
Otherwise the less extreme https://luakit.github.io / https://github.com/luakit/luakit comes to mind. It's not dead yet.
On the topic - here were my original points (with some extensions):
1. I want a smalltalk-like environment but with modern languages (webassembly makes this technically possible)
2. Alan Kay himself agrees smalltalk is no longer relevant in a concrete manner anymore - it's too old and outdated. The library support is absymal, and LLMs etc won't be as helpful as modern langs, since the training data available is less in quantity and quality. And I am in line with Dr. Kay's view - Smalltalk is indeed too old. I feel the same way about using Lisp for my particular goals.
3. I am not complaining in any way - just stating my requirements in explicit terms. Also I dont consider myself a "user". I am a system builder. I am fully capable of doing things myself if there's no alternative available.