At 09:51 PM 11/08/2001 -0700, David Schwartz wrote: >Louis-Eric Simard wrote: > > > The major distinction here should one of action-domain constraints; > > Exactly. > > > As we are limited by the fact that the shoddy name space is now > > prevalent, > > then context needs to be taken into account. As one types in a > > URL without > > specifying the underlying protocol (http:// or file://), there > > should be no > > ambiguity that the expected protocol is http, just as we do not naturally > > expect file system requests to be carried over the web. The fix is in > > filling-in missing protocol details, within logical usage > > contexts, before > > the request allocator gets a chance to goof it up. > > For the record, I have submitted complaints/requests to the > coders of both >IE and Netscape arguing that, for example, 'ftp.microsoft.com' should be >interpreted as 'http://ftp.microsoft.com' and not 'ftp://ftp.microsoft.com' >(and analogously, the brower should not try to figure out what the user >meant (ESP?) but should have a consistent default). I was basically laughed >at by both Microsoft and Netscape. > > I don't think it's unreasonable to have different operating modes > where >different defaults take place. For example, when acting as a 'file manager', >file:// can be the default protocol. However, IMO, in ALL cases, the >fully-qualified URL of the site/file you wind up at MUST be shown to the >user. It is a serious error to abbreviate the displayed URL as IE does. I do >not believe Netscape does this. > > DS Right. The other consequence of the muddled/"guessed" semantics is that misspelled, URL-less filenames (those, by lieu of their misspelling, not found on the drive), end up as keyword queries (in IE, to auto.search.msn.com; in Netscape, in a less ususal scenario [eg, mistyping in a way that causes the filename period to be missing]) transmitted in the clear, opening up some privacy/confidentiality/security problems. Having distinct access tools for distinct information domains solves, on the surface, this problem (less so when you bring plug-ins, web-enriched directories, shared protocols, etc. into the picture), but limits the possibilities for conversant data access; going for multi-domain access using unified tools requires that some intelligence be injected into the process. Both cases would require more responsible engineering than what we have now. Cheers, + Louis-Eric Simard The Freedom Factory, Inc.
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