Why do browser developers use prefixes?

Question

css

Hello!
The question is purely out of curiosity. Can't we just take the linear-gradient property and teach the browser to understand it instead of adding some unnecessary prefix? If I were a browser developer, this is exactly what I would do. What is the logic, or is it just an attempt to highlight your browser for the worse ?
PS And not to say that these are attempts to predict the future name of a property that has not yet been approved, because the same IE successfully introduced its own prefix after this property was supported by everyone else.

Answer 1

When a new property is announced, it is still not really known what the resulting syntax will be. Quite often, the final syntax changes completely (as it was, for example, with flexbox). If you look at the same gradient, you'll see that all prefixed properties describe it differently. If this property were introduced immediately without a prefix, then in outdated (but used) browsers it would not work at all now, and in sites created a year ago, it would not work in modern ones, respectively.

Answer 2

Most likely the reason is that on the official CSS website the last snapshot of the standard dates back to 2010 and the linear-gradient property is not mentioned in it.
It is declared in CSS Image Values ​​and Replaced Content Module Level 3 , which has the Draft status, which means that changes are possible in the future (and, judging by the line "It is expected that the next level of this module will provide the ability to define the gradient's direction relative to the current text direction and writing-mode." they will).
Therefore, an implementation without a prefix may not conform to the final standard, if one ever appears :-)

Answer 3

That's why vimeo.com/47210831