Re: libsoup as a replacement for gnome-http

[Joe Shaw <joe ximian com>]

On Wed, 2001-09-19 at 06:41, Alex Graveley wrote:
> It has been suggested that I introduce the libsoup library as a
> replacement for gnome-http in Gnome 2.  libsoup is well integrated with
> Glib, and with the platform in general, supports a lot of cool features
> not in gnome-http (see below), and is flexible without being too
> lowlevel. 

I love Soup, but I don't think it's ready to be committed to as a
platform library.

(a) It hasn't been ported to the 2.0 platform.  This might be
significant as there has been a lot of work done on GIOChannels (mostly
for UTF-8, if I understand correctly)

(b) The API has changed as recently as last week.  To be a platform
library, we have to be ready to commit to an API (pretty much) forever. 
Are you happy enough with the API as it is to freeze it?  I know that I 
(for example) would like to see the SoupAuth structure refcounted so it
can be used in multiple SoupContexts.

As for gnome-http, I'd suggest it be moved out of the "official"
platform and encourage Soup's use instead, as it has many features
lacking from gnome-http and integrates very nicely with the glib/gtk+
mainloop.

Joe