But when I asked for a concrete example that doesn't involve audio or video, I literally got "suppose you are using the web UI on a refrigerator, you might want a data channel to go direct to the fridge instead of to the webserver". At least BitTorrent is a more reasonable example.
Furthermore, data channels break the security model of a browser just using HTTP as configured, as WebRTC bypasses your proxy settings without notice.
WebRTC data channels should NOT be enabled by default and should cause a dialog, as shitty as that is. My approach is to disable it and stick my head in the sand and hope it'll go away, but people seem irrationally excited about it. Basically WebRTC right now is shittier than NetMeeting (1996) but "cool".
Now if someone could explain why I'm getting downvoted to hell...
10 points gone so far. I've never experienced this. Are people really that uncomfortable with opinions? Perhaps I've slain someone's sacred cow :)
Plus permissions dialogs sorta don't work, especially for something like networking. "This page wants to use the Internet: Allow?" would just confuse the hell out of users. The alternative, acknowledge that WebRTC data should be a really limited use case, doesn't appeal to the authors/implementors.
Yes: javascript and browsers. But its just imaginary internet points, they don't really matter that much.
