Basic Versioning Packages

  Another question regarding basic versioning packages.

Section 2.1 of the spec states:

> Although a server MAY support any combination of versioning features, 
> in order to minimize the complexity of a WebDAV basic versioning 
> client, a WebDAV basic versioning server SHOULD support one of the 
> following three "packages" (feature sets):
>
> - Core-Versioning Package: version-control
>
> - Basic-Server-Workspace Package: version-control, workspace, 
> version-history, checkout
>
> - Basic-Client-Workspace Package: version-control, working-resource, 
> update, label
>

In reviewing the features, it seems to me that a combination of 
version-control and checkout-in-place would meet our needs very well and 
provide a minimalist yet complete package. Yet, the spec states that we 
SHOULD not provide this combination. I'm trying to get a feeling for 
this statement from the spec.

What is the rationale behind this restriction?

The referred spec, RFC 2119, defines SHOULD as,

>This word, or the adjective "RECOMMENDED", mean that there
>   may exist valid reasons in particular circumstances to ignore a
>   particular item, but the full implications must be understood and
>   carefully weighed before choosing a different course.
>
The full implications of ignoring this SHOULD are not at all clear to 
me. My proposed combination seems reasonable. Can someone please 
enlighten me?

Jeff Thompson

Received on Monday, 24 March 2003 13:37:59 UTC