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Re: Lynx alters downloaded HTML LYNX-DEV


From: Michael Sokolov
Subject: Re: Lynx alters downloaded HTML LYNX-DEV
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 1997 16:20:33 -0400 (EDT)

   Many people would probably agree that having a browser modify the
documents it browses is just as unacceptable as having a voltmeter alter
the voltage it measures. The primary purpose of the download command is to
get THE EXACT BINARY IMAGE returned by the server, equivalent to the
binary/image mode in FTP. You may argue that Lynx does that when the server
returns a binary content-type and adds the two extra tags only if it
returns text/html, but that's a very imperfect test. Although a correctly
working server should never return a content-type of text/html on a binary
file, if one uses Lynx for non-traditional purposes (e.g., testing an
experimental server), such situations may arise. Editing downloaded HTMLs
in an editor is a very poor man's workaround. Lynx MUST support clean
downloads.
   IMHO, the best way to solve the problem is to throw out the dirty
download code altogether and make downloads always clean. If a user wants
those tags, he/she can add them manually with an editor. If your novice
users won't let you do that, the next best solution is to make it a user-
selectable option that could be saved in .lynxrc.
   
   Sincerely,
   Michael Sokolov
   Phone: 216-646-1864
   ARPA Internet SMTP mail: address@hidden
   
   P.S. If you are going to make it an option, PLEASE put it in .lynxrc,
rather than in lynx.cfg or userdefs.h. I'm sick and tired of setting
options in lynx.cfg and userdefs.h that really are personal preferences.
Putting such options in these global files forces a sysadmin to be nasty
and force his/her own preferences on all users. The two global files should
be reserved for system paths and security-related settings, but nothing
more.
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