Re: [w3c/manifest] Remove store metadata into own spec or note? (#876)

I personally think that we place too much emphasis on the idea that a "user agent" has to be a web browser. We go to a lot of mental gymnastics to avoid using the term "web browser" in specs, instead using the generic term "user agent", and that's because the specs are intended to be interpreted by non-web-browser user agents as well.

The W3C [definition of a "user agent"](https://www.w3.org/WAI/UA/work/wiki/Definition_of_User_Agent) [this may be obsolete, since the actual spec it links to doesn't make this distinction] includes "Primary User Agents" (basically, web browsers) and "Web-Based User Agents" (basically, websites that interpret web content on behalf of the user).

An app store web page that reads a manifest file and displays it to the user _is a user agent_. Therefore, these fields are meaningful within the context of user agents — just not typically web browsers.

Whether there actually are any such web-based user agents that interpret these at the present time is another question, which we should answer in deciding whether to keep these things. If they are being used by at least two implementations, I think they should be kept in the spec as-is.

Preferably, this stuff would go into a sub-member of the manifest, but if they're already being used then it's too late for that.

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Received on Monday, 25 May 2020 04:42:53 UTC