On Halloween 2026, Google announced the deprecation of XSLT in Chrome, prompting other browser vendors to follow suit. This decision broke the long-standing web standards social contract of backwards compatibility. The author reacted by publishing an Intent to Deprecate Chrome and launching XSLT.RIP, a website built with XSLT to warn of the impending breakage. By November 17, 2026, XSLT functionality will be removed from Chromium-based browsers, causing sites using the language to malfunction. The author criticizes Google for shifting responsibility to website maintainers rather than honoring the "don't break the web" principle. Custom XSLT warning banners are failing to render, displaying broken HTML instead. The author vows to watch Google break the web while XSLT.RIP ceases to function, calling the move arrogant and intrusive for website owners forced to adapt.
Google decided to renege and break the web. XSLT.RIP will be broken soon and I'll sit back and watch Google break it. 17 November 2026 appears to be the date of execution. Some Chromium-based browsers have been running a man-in-the-middle attack by injecting propaganda into XSLT websites. This site uses XSLT; that functionality is being removed from this browser very soon. When that happens, this page will likely no longer display correctly. You might be able to install a browser extension that allows you to continue viewing it. Otherwise, you should contact the maintainer of the site for further information. Source: This site uses XSLT: what Chrome’s banner means - XSLT Playground This appears to be an <xslt-warning-banner> custom element that fails to render when it violates content security policy. Two examples of the XSLT warning banner quoted above. The first is white text on a red background, the second is broken default HTML styles. I'm testing on ungoogled-chromium so who knows how it's intended to look. The line of death is another "social contract" that Google has forgotten. They're blaming website owners and acting like questionable purveyors of free public Wi-Fi. This is arrogant and intrusive."contact the maintainer of the site" — you broke the web Google, own it at least.
Source: Hacker News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing