survey

Hi,

Even if it's belated, please note that we might be interested in
contributing modified HTTP server code.  I'm not sure whether I will have
the time to try to figure out the right place to express this interest
otherwise.

--Stuart

=====================================
             LIBWWW SURVEY
=====================================

Opens: September 22, 2000
Ends:  October 6, 2000
Goal:  Get a clear idea of what the libwww user community would like to
       do with libwww
Means: Mail your responses to this form to www-lib-survey@w3.org

---------------------------------------------------------------------
[1.0] Who are you and how do you use libwww
---------------------------------------------------------------------

[1.1] Do you develop or have developed applications that use libwww

[X] Yes
[ ] No

If you didn't answer yes to [1.1], go to section 2.

[1.2] What kind of application (you may cite the name too, if you want)
simple, limited SOAP client and server

[1.2] On which platform and environment (mark all that apply)

[ ] X-Windows
[X] Unix (includes Linux, Solaris, ...)
[X] Win32
[ ] GTK
[ ] Others (please cite):

[1.3] Which language(s) did you use

[X] C
[X] C++
[X] Others (please cite): Java

[1.4] How do you rate your programming skills

[X] Experience programmer
[ ] Average programmer
[ ] Beginner

[1.5] What parts of libww do you use

[X] XML parser
[ ] RDF parser
[ ] HTML parser
[X] HTTP
[ ] FTP
[ ] News
[ ] Telnet
[ ] Gopher
[X] SSL
[ ] Others (please cite):

[1.6] What applications of libwww do you use

[X] Examples
[ ] Robot
[ ] LineMode parser
[ ] Command line parser
[ ] WinCommander

[1.7] What modifications do you make to the code before you use it?
make the HTTP server actually work, at least for this limited purpose

[1.8] If you have any tests for libwww code, what parts of libwww
      do you test and are you willing to contribute the tests to
      the W3C?

[1.9] Anything else you'd like to say
we might be interested in contributing the modified HTTP server code
if it were not too difficult to do so

---------------------------------------------------------------------
[2.0] Your opinion of libwww
---------------------------------------------------------------------

[2.1] In your opinion, libwww is (check all that apply):

[ ] useful to write sample code
[ ] useful for learning how to program a WWW application
[X] useful to write production code - I hope so, I'm trying!
[ ] Other: please cite

[2.2] Do you find it useful that libwww is written in C

[X] Yes Except since it tries to be C++, it would be better if it
        actually were!
[ ] No

[2.3] Please explain your previous answer
      It is nice that it is portable across many platforms, and C
      has better performance than Java.  Also see the note after
      the previous answer.

[2.4] Do you feel that libwww too big?

[ ] Yes
[X] No

[2.5] If so, which parts would you like to remove, or move to other
libraries

[2.6] What are the things that you like the most of libwww

[2.7] What are the things that you dislike the most of libwww
      The attempt to be C++ in C, clever though it may be.  The
      lack of documentation.  It perhaps could be better modularized,
      so that one wouldn't have to understand the inner workings of
      things to use them.

[2.8] What are the things that you would like to change in libwww

[2.9] What are the things you think that libwww are missing
      Better documentation.  There is lots of it, but it is usually
      superficial.  It is not documented well enough for use without
      reading the code.  From another perspective, the documentation
      has many holes when it comes to information needed to modify
      the code.

[2.10] Anything else you'd like to say

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Section 3: The future
---------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------
[3.1] Let's continue with libwww
---------------------------------------------------------------------

[3.1.1] Do you think it's worth it to have a WWW library?

[X] Yes
[ ] No

[3.1.2] Do you know of any other similar libraries (please give a URL to
        the project if possible)

[3.1.2] Do you think it's worth it to invest time continuing enhancing
        libwww and its architecture.

[X] Yes  Clean it up, make it production quality.
[ ] No

[3.1.3] Are you interested in joining the core team of such a project
        (enhancing libwww)?

[X] Yes  To the extent it overlaps with what we would do anyway.
[ ] No

[3.1.4]  If you are willing to write some new documentation or improve
         existing documentation, which topics are you willing to document?
         How about getting the original authors to finish their job,
         say with Microsoft contributing the time of one in particular?
         I would be willing to document what code I contribute, to the
         best of my knowledge as to how it fits in with the rest of the
         system, which I don't completely understand.

[3.1.5] Anything else you'd like to say

---------------------------------------------------------------------
[3.4] Let's invest our forces enhancing an existing project
---------------------------------------------------------------------

[3.4.1] Do you think it's better to enhance another existing project (i.e.,
        merge our efforts)

[3.4.2] Are you interested in joining the core team of such a project
        (enhancing an existing project)?

[ ] Yes
[ ] No

[3.4.3] Anything else you'd like to say

---------------------------------------------------------------------
[3.5] Let's write it again
---------------------------------------------------------------------

[3.5.1] Do you think the project should stop and start again from a clean
        slate?

[ ] Yes
[ ] No
[X] Possibly

[3.5.2] Which language would you use and why (please take into account
        portability among systems)?
        From the perspective of the company I'm doing this work for (which
        is what I mean by "we" elsewhere), Java would be preferable
        because they have religious belief in it.  I personally have
        doubts about its performance, and it is not free of bugs, but it
        still might be the most easily portable.  The other possibility I
        would consider is C++, maybe making use of the GNU compiler, or
        maybe the Open Watcom project.

[3.5.3] Are you interested in joining the core team of such a project
        (starting a new libwww project)?

[ ] Yes
[ ] No
[X] Possibly, again for the functionality we might want to use.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
[3.6] Where to host it
---------------------------------------------------------------------

[3.6.1] Should W3C continue hosting libwww or any other spin-off projects?

[ ] Yes
[ ] No
        I don't know what the implications are.  It was easy enough for me
        to get the source and start working with it, the way it is hosted
        now.

[3.6.2] SourceForge (SF): How would feel if the W3C transferred libwww to a
        SF project?
        I don't know what it is.

[3.6.3] Are you currently involved with any SF projects?

[ ] Yes
[X] No

[3.6.4] If so, do you think libwww would fit into that developement
paradigm?

[ ] Yes
[ ] No

[3.6.5] Do you have other suggestions of where libwww should be hosted?

[3.6.6] Anything else you'd like to say

---------------------------------------------------------------------
[4.0] Your comments
---------------------------------------------------------------------

[4.1] Anything else you'd like to say

      I really appreciate all the work that went into libwww, and the
      other things that w3c does.

Received on Thursday, 23 November 2000 11:36:04 UTC