Re: LYNX-DEV cookie handling

[Foteos Macrides]

Matthew Kelly <address@hidden> wrote:
>I was just waiting for feedback so I could polish and then post diffs, but
>if people'd like, let me know and I'll generate them frmo what I have and
>post them.

        The IETF's RFC for cookies is not going to be implemented by
either Netscape or MicroSoft, except for addition of configuration
options on whether to accept them silently, with default, YES, and
persistent, annoying prompting for every Set-Cookie header received
if you figure out how to set it NO and do that.  A modified RFC is
in the works for the benefit of browsers with a greater concern for
user privacy/security issues, but it seems premature, IMHO, to make
hard decisions on mods of the current code.  What you're suggesting
is fine if the current RFC were going to stand, but might not remain
appropriate in relation to likely changes of the cookie handling
itself.  It you have a way to offer your patches via a server, my
suggestion is to make them available that way via the Lynx links
patches page, so that people can use them with the current code, and
offer suggestions for improvements, etc.  You're basically talking about
the start of across-session cookie handling, and my predisposition
is to handle that via a distinct file or file set, rather than in
the RC file, and via extensions of the Cookie Jar Page, rather than
the 'o'ptions menu.  It also needs to take into account that there
are still lots of anonymous accounts for Lynx, for which across
session settings may be inappropriate, and parallel sessions under
the same username must be handled distinctly.

                                Fote

=========================================================================
 Foteos Macrides            Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research
 address@hidden         222 Maple Avenue, Shrewsbury, MA 01545
=========================================================================
;
; To UNSUBSCRIBE:  Send a mail message to address@hidden
;                  with "unsubscribe lynx-dev" (without the
;                  quotation marks) on a line by itself.
;