Re: HTTP 1.1 Server Available for Testing

On Thu, 15 Aug 1996, Roy T. Fielding wrote:

> Great -- but what I was saying is that you can't be sure you are conforming
> until the document stops changing, which means when the IESG recommends
> it for RFC status.  So, you need to wait for that before you can ship
> software that responds with "HTTP/1.1 200 OK".

C'mon Roy, they announced an experimental implemntation and solicited 
testing against it with experimental HTTP/1.1 clients. Your response
is quite harsh when you should be lauding their attempts to verify the
specification by attempting to implement it.

> I don't anticipate any more changes to the protocol, but stranger things
> have happened.  I'd like to minimize the number of noncompliant servers
> advertizing HTTP/1.1, and one way to do that is to encourage people to
> implement the features within HTTP/1.0 first and only switch the version
> when it can be tested against a completed RFC.

Impossible Roy ... many aspects of the new protocol depend on the version
for a experimental client to recognize the server as 1.1 and vice versa.

It is VERY IMPORTANT that such experimental servers not be released /
distributed as anything other than internet drafts until the RFC is
approved. But lets focus on the issue that experiments be identified
as such. Who knows, perhaps the protocol will change as a result of 
this experiment.  

Dave Morris

Received on Thursday, 15 August 1996 18:04:09 UTC