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Don Melton
donmelton.com · Personal blog · on HN since 2012
Don Melton, who started the Safari and WebKit projects at Apple, writes about that history and his retirement from Apple.
What HN saysHN links it for the inside account of Safari's creation. Commenters read it as showing the passion behind early Safari and cite its credit to Forstall.
29HN people shared it
13linked it in comments
29stories submitted
2.3Kstory points
1 year agolast shared
2012people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1Memories of Steve6 people · 640 points · first shared 2014 · 152 comments on HN
- 2Safari is released to the world6 people · 426 points · first shared 2013 · 120 comments on HN
- 3When I first heard the name "Safari"2 people · 350 points · first shared 2012 · 177 comments on HN
- 4Why I Retired From Apple2 people · 303 points · first shared 2013 · 63 comments on HN
- 5Keeping Safari a secret2 people · 285 points · first shared 2013 · 102 comments on HN
- 6Why they call me “Gramps”2 people · 3 points · first shared 2015 · discussion on HN
- 7Don Melton: happy twentieth to Safari and WebKit (2021)2 people · 2 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
- 8About2 people · first shared 2013
- 9What the new video compression strategy from Netflix means for Apple and Amazon1 people · 158 points · first shared 2015 · 97 comments on HN
- 10Link rot and redirect madness1 people · 93 points · first shared 2015 · 53 comments on HN
- 11Regarding fake projects and loyalty tests1 people · 48 points · first shared 2013 · 15 comments on HN
- 12Lesson learned from a performance scare1 people · 9 points · first shared 2013 · discussion on HN
- 13Be still my beating heart1 people · 5 points · first shared 2015 · 1 comments on HN
- 14Missed opportunities1 people · 3 points · first shared 2015 · discussion on HN
- 15My Traitorous Move to Windows1 people · 3 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
What HN people wrote when they linked it
Lammy · 2019-04-09
Sadly Apple took the wind out of my all-time favorite browser, Camino, née Chimera, when they started up the WebKit/Safari project by hiring away key people like Dave Hyatt: https://donmelton.com/2013/01/10/safari-is-released-to-the-world/
whizzkid · 2018-12-06
Priorities change unfortunately. Read this article if you have time. It highlights the importance and passion that was given to safari at a time. I am sure most engineers working on safari are still having great ideas for the product but management will not be on the same page as them.
https://donmelton.com/2014/04/10/memories-of-steve/
jmspring · 2013-05-10
This applies to our own industry.
For those of us that have been in it for awhile -- keeping abreast of what is going on, reading about "new paradigms" and how they may just be new incarnations of what we have seen before, continuous learning is key.
For those getting started, battle stories can be interesting and provide insight.
Don Melton's blog - http://donmelton.com
JWZ's blog - http://jwz.org
The * at Work series (Coders, Founders, etc.)
Usenix archives on the subject of choice
Are some that come to mind. Others are there, but it's been a long day and I am a bit burnt.
What do others read for their history lessons?
kanamekun · 2013-01-11
From his website: "Hello, I'm Don Melton, probably best known as the guy who started the Safari and WebKit projects at Apple. These days I'm just an aspiring writer and a recovering programmer."
http://donmelton.com/about/
caycep · 2025-09-16
I'm pretty sure Melton credited Forstall with giving with the support and cover for safari/khtml - she's written extensively about it.
https://donmelton.com/2013/01/10/safari-is-released-to-the-world/
And for Apple Maps, I remember reading somewhere that one reason Forstall refused to sign the infamous apology letter was that the initial release was from a team not directly under his supervision, but I can't find the old reference to that...granted, whatever went down was probably a joint failure of everyone involved
dannyobrien · 2022-04-26
Interestingly, that the progress bar/URL field combo was co-invented by Steve Jobs: See https://donmelton.com/2014/04/10/memories-of-steve/
simonh · 2022-04-18
That’s not at all the impression I get from interviews and reports by former Apple employees (0)(1). They almost always have huge respect for the execs they worked for. Bear in mind all the Apple execs for engineering groups are themselves engineers. It’s a highly disciplined and focused organisation, but that’s not the same thing as top down and good engineering is highly prized.
Take Steve Jobs. He was infamous for his perfectionism. But on the other hand he trusted his team. When several of his execs insisted that they should build an App Store, which he initially opposed, he folded and let them do it. He once said there’s no point hiring A grade engineers and then telling them what to do and how to do it. I hire A grade engineers so they can tell me.
(0) https://donmelton.com/archives/
(1) https://youtu.be/N8Vz1BeymHE
ksec · 2020-12-03
And Safari Story from Don Melton
https://donmelton.com/2013/01/10/safari-is-released-to-the-world/
favorited · 2018-12-07
Not sure if you're getting downvoted for "gramps" – but in case people don't know:
https://donmelton.com/2015/11/30/why-they-call-me-gramps/
jimbokun · 2015-11-12
On one of the Debug[1] podcasts (I can't remember which one now), Don Melton[2] claims the decision to not allow other web rendering engines or Javascript implementations is because they don't know how to allow those and keep iOS secure, and that is the reason behind a lot of limitations enforced in iOS.
Apple is certainly more closed than Microsoft ever was. The difference in perception is likely because Apple has never had a monopoly. There are more Android phones than iOS.
[1] http://www.imore.com/debug
[2] http://donmelton.com/about/
duncanwilcox · 2013-05-04
Whether something like this ever becomes widespread depends on WebGL becoming popular, which in turn depends on WebGL becoming sufficiently secure.
In an interview on the Debug podcast, Don Melton describes hardening WebGL, which involves hardening the whole stack down to the hardware level, as a significant challenge.
http://donmelton.com/2013/03/25/im-on-the-debug-podcast-this-week/
I wouldn't hold my breath.
niggler · 2013-01-11
Wow, the original submission which linked to this article (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5041354, http://donmelton.com/2013/01/10/safari-is-released-to-the-world/) is #1 and this submission is #4