Skip to main content

Mutable Web: A Semantic-Based Web

Core Concepts​

Apps and Mutations: In Mutable Web, there are Apps and Mutations. Apps allow widgets to be injected and new functionality to be added to websites. Apps can access website content and place widgets either as floating elements or at specific insertion points. A Mutation is a community-managed collection of Apps that can be shared among community members.

Roles and Permissions: All Apps and Mutations have owners, but anyone can fork them or create new ones. Users can offer their Mutations for community use or request to merge them with another Mutation. Anyone can modify the website as they wish, but no one can impose these changes on others.

What is a Site Mutation?​

A Site Mutation consists of additional functionality (called Mutations) that can be developed independently. These Mutations can be shared within the community, unlike standard browser extensions, which are often for individual use.

Every Mutation consists of reusable Widgets, allowing developers to create Forked Mutations, where they can add, replace, or enhance functionality. These Forked Mutations can then be proposed to the community, giving them control over the website’s look and feel.

Each Site Mutation has a unique Content ID that allows it to be shared. Users who apply the same Site Mutation will experience the same version of the website and share the same functionality.

Decentralization of Website Control​

  • Communities can assign symbolic tags to Mutation IDs, following a similar approach to the git scheme.
  • The community could even host the mutated website on a separate domain, reducing dependency on the original owner's domain.

What is the Impact?​

Even though the original website may be owned, the community can use a mutated version instead of the original. Multiple versions of the website can coexist, shared among different sub-communities.

This model reduces the owner's excessive control over the community. The community can fork away from the owner’s version if the owner misbehaves. As a result, the original owner becomes just one of many service providers for the community.

In this Mutable Web, any developer who creates a Mutation owns their version, but just like the website owner, they cannot gain excessive control over the community. Mutations can be forked, allowing the community to adopt a fork if they disagree with the Mutation owner.

Conclusion​

μWeb—the Mutable Web—is a new, user-centric web model where the user is king, and the owner becomes one of many service providers.