Re: XML: status update

[Christopher Blizzard <blizzard appliedtheory com>]

Elliot Lee wrote:
> 
> On Tue, 9 Jun 1998, Christopher Blizzard wrote:
> 
> > I brought up the idea of adding a generic HTTP access library to the
> > gnome libraries so that applications could access web resources and was
> 
> Why add it when libvfs already provides it?
> 

Can you do file uploads with libvfs?  Can you set content types and do
content negotiation with it?  Can you do byterange requests with
libvfs?  libvfs is supposed to be a drop in replacement for open()
close(), etc.  HTTP is stateless and trying to place a stateful layer on
top of it is just asking for problems.  Square peg, round hole, you know
what I'm saying...

> > Personally, there are a lot of things that I would like to see done with
> > integration with the web and the desktop.  You can do a lot more over
> > HTTP than just download web pages.
> 
> It's not OK for Microsoft, but it's fine for GNOME? :)
> 

There are some aspects of Microsoft's integration that don't bother me a
lot.  Some do, some don't.  I just would like to see HTTP used in
applications for transferring data around.  Microsoft seems to be
limited to displaying web pages on the desktop.  HTTP is really great
for internet use because the internet is so inherently flaky.  Just
about any kind of async messaging can go over HTTP and you don't have to
worry about firewalls, support in various operating systems,
authentication, encryption or what have you.  Most of the support is
already there.

But that's just my opinion.  :P

--Chris

-- 

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Christopher Blizzard
AppliedTheory Communications, Inc. 
http://odin.appliedtheory.com/
blizzard@appliedtheory.com
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