Re: HTTP 1.1 Server Available for Testing

On Thu, 15 Aug 1996, John C. Mallery wrote:

> At 1:29 PM -0700 1996-08-15, Roy T. Fielding wrote:
> >Before people start getting jumpy ...
> >
> >The Apache Group is not planning on releasing any server that uses
> >the native HTTP-version "HTTP/1.1" until after the IESG approves the
> >draft for RFC status (i.e., fixes that version in stone).  Since all
> >of the HTTP/1.1 features can be tested as an HTTP/1.0 server (assumimg
> >you are careful not to send HTTP/1.1 features to HTTP/1.0 clients
> >where it is noted in the spec that you MUST not do so), I strongly
> >suggest, for the sake of interoperability, that no application be shipped
> >with the "HTTP/1.1" label until after we all know that there will be
> >no further requirements placed on HTTP/1.1 applications.
> >
> 
> Are you saying that 1.0 clients do not ignore headers they don't understand?
> Or are you trying to say don't send chunked encoded stuff to 1.0 clients?
> 
> I checked every occurence of MUST in the spec to make sure we were conforming,
> and I believe we are.

No, he's saying don't call yourself HTTP/1.1 until there is a HTTP/1.1
spec to ahere to. See, the IESG could come back and say "Whoa,
folks. We'll approve this spec, but only if you add a section that
says every time a request is made, the server MUST send to the
Pentagon, via overnight mail, a hot dog with lots of jalapeno
mustard." Unlikely, but if it happened, you'd have a server that
called itself HTTP/1.1, but was not HTTP/1.1 compliant. Which would be
a bad thing. So until the IESG approves the spec, you need to call
yourself HTTP/1.0.

-- 
________________________________________________________________________
Alexei Kosut <akosut@nueva.pvt.k12.ca.us>      The Apache HTTP Server
URL: http://www.nueva.pvt.k12.ca.us/~akosut/   http://www.apache.org/