Re: domain-name?

>No, it is not required, and yes it is sufficient.  There is absolutely
>nothing you can do to prevent an old client from accessing a root
>URL of a multi-named host.  The same result applies to a new client
>that does not include Orig-URI in the request.

We've beaten this to death on multiple occasions, so I won't belabor the
point. If the HTTP standard fails to provide information relating the
domain name of the server as part of the request, you've failed to
implement one of the most asked for changes to the standard. By making it
optional, you continue to propogate a problem that could easily be remedied
by making the full URL/URI a required portion of any request from a client.

There will always be people who use old, out of date software. But that is
NO excuse for sidestepping the issue of mandating that all new software
implement this portion of the standard. The bottom line is that if it isn't
required, you cannot implement systems that depend on its presence.
Therefore, if it is optional, you have to consider that it doesn't exist as
a reliable part of the standard. Optional == useless in this particular
case.

I, personally, have no problem with an implementation of the new standard
that demands to only speak to software using the new protocol. The only way
to get the user base to upgrade to new standards is to mandate the change
in a way that while backwards compatibility can be maintained, it isn't
desirable from a functionality perspective. That is, users of old software
will be made aware that they are unable to perform certain operations
because they aren't conforming to the current implementation of the
protocol.

--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Chuck Shotton                               StarNine Technologies, Inc.
chuck@starnine.com                             http://www.starnine.com/
cshotton@biap.com                                  http://www.biap.com/
                 "Shut up and eat your vegetables!"

Received on Thursday, 21 September 1995 14:34:51 UTC