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Re: LYNX-DEV Why does Lynx... (was: Commenting on FOTEMODS comment)


From: Foteos Macrides
Subject: Re: LYNX-DEV Why does Lynx... (was: Commenting on FOTEMODS comment)
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 1997 20:09:32 -0500 (EST)

Klaus Weide <address@hidden> wrote:
>On Sat, 26 Apr 1997, Foteos Macrides wrote:
>[kw:]
>> >Not true - try http://www.alis.com/../index.de.html.  They probably
>> >made the server accept such URLs - and there's nothing wrong with that -
>> >to account for improper relative URLs (previously?) found in some of their
>> >pages.
>> 
>>      Yes, they hacked the server to do the "error recovery" equivalent
>> to that in the FOTEMODS.
>
>They my not have had to "hack" it, just to configure it so it does what
>they want.  But of course you may know from something other than
>speculation what they did, or whether something like this can be done just
>by appropriate configuration for the NCSA/1.4 server.
>[...]

        The point is that the Alis server indeed is rejecting the
/../index.de.html path, but as a special favor to Lynx users (with
one of the only browsers at this point in Webspace which does not
doctor such paths itself), instead of returning a 304 error message,
it returns its index.de.html file, via the hack of mapping

        /../* to /*

in its configuration file.  I should return redirection, instead.


>> >                       - I didn't take those changes into the devel
>> >code, so you are safe from this bug if you use that.
>> 
>>      How lucky for the devel code users.  Are you writing a "Why
>> does Lynx do this?" supplement for "Lynx links" about the failures when
>> the lead "../" isn't stripped (except for the Alis server)?  :) :) :)
>
>Yes indeed.  Playing along here (instead of spoiling it by saying
>whoever made Lynx 2.7 do what it does now should write that
>supplement...), I have to say: Given the choice to either add yet
>another piece of data-changing, protocol-violating code, or explain
>"Why?", I personally choose the latter.  Of course somebody else may
>decide differently and add that code to the development set, I am not
>the only one who has access to it and have no monopoly on
>incorporating your (or others') changes and don't want one.  That
>somebody else might even be you, if/when you decide to have a more
>direct role as a contributor to the development code.  [And I wouldn't
>be so childish to start a war of undoing those changes again with my
>next checkin.]

        Only active developers should modify the devel code set.
Maybe Wayne will take pity on Lynx users and do that. :) :) :)


>If you think this is the right thing for Lynx to do, I don't
>understand why you don't put it in HTParse() so it will be taken care
>of for all (http?) URLs.  What's specific to HTML about it?

        I spent too much time making HTParse.c parse properly to
want to break it now.  I'm simply mapping /../* to /* selectively
for http (and https) URL resolving of partial HREFs and SRCs in
HTML markup, generated for the most part by HTML authoring tools
developed and sold by vendors who don't know anything about HTML
or valid URL resolving, for people you don't know much more.  Thus,
the Alis WebMaster need not take pity on Lynx users, and hack its
configuration file to do that.  :) :) :)

        Lynx will still use http://host/../foo.html if a user
types that intentionally for command line startfiles and 'g'oto
entries, as it should, IMHO, because all Lynx users are very
aware that they should read and understand the RFCs and IDs
made accessible to them via the online 'h'elp, and would use
such URLs themselves only for a good reason, right?  But if they
are not C programmers, they can't do anything to avoid failures
due to bad partial http (or https) HREFs and SRCs that the Web
throws at them.  My mods do issue a statusline message about
the bad partial reference, so that the user can fix it if it's
a typo (Heaven forbid!) in his/her own document, or notify
whoever inflicted that on the Web.  :) :) :)


>Anyway, since most current Lynx users (I suspect) are using neither
>our collective development code nor your latest patches, the following
>should be useful to some of them, and it doesn't really matter how
>lynx2-7-1+fotemods differs from lynx2.7.1ac-0.*.
>Hereby submitted to Subir (if he wants it):

        It's much, much too verbose, but *is* understandable (not
riddled with buzz words :) :) :) :) :) :) :).


                                Fote

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 Foteos Macrides            Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research
 address@hidden         222 Maple Avenue, Shrewsbury, MA 01545
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