Re: ARIN Policy on IP-based Web Hosting

[Jeff Mcadams <jeffm () iglou com>]

Also sprach Andrew Brown
> > Where on earth did you get the idea that mime typing requires all
> > that?

> not that it requires it, but that it usually happens.  if i get a file
> via http with a mime type that the browser "knows what to do with", i
> usually don't get a choice.  likewise if i get a file via email with a
> octet-stream mime type, most readers won't show it to me by default.

Usually, but not always, and it is a client config issue.  wget, for
example, dumps to a file regardless of the mime type I believe (I'm not
intimately familiar with wget, but is the behavior I've seen from what
little I've used it)

> the mime type is made up, usually based on the file's extension, which
> is, of course, passed along with the contents of the file when you
> transfer it.  it's no extra information in this context.

Again, usually, but not always.  And seeing as how many systems
*cough*Microsoft*cough* behave so poorly when the mime type and file
extension disagree, it seems we have some more real work to be done in
this area...I won't argue that things are perfect, but the possibilities
are there and you seem to be trying to shoot them down because things
usually aren't done that way currently.  So much for innovation using
that logic.  :)

> when you initiate an "ascii" mode transfer, the remote ftpd translates
> the file from local line termination to network oriented line
> termination (ie, cr, or crlf or lf becomes crlf).  your ftp client then
> translates back to local line termination from network line
> termination.  this is how you can transfer files between windows
> machines, macs, and unix boxes, and always end up with something you
> can read locally.

And this could *easily* be implimented in a web server and web client.
Might I suggest a new mime type (are we eventually going to have to
worry about mime type namespace issues?) indicating that this process is
going on so that the client side can be told that this is what's going
on?  Perhaps text/plain-network, or something like that.

> http doesn't do this.

Currently...it could easily do so.  I don't think that its necessary for
the protocol to define this, when it could easily be handled by *gasp*
indicating this process in the mime type, or perhaps even the
transfer-encoding...just thought about that...haven't given it much
though yet.  :)
-- 
Jeff McAdams                            Email: jeffm () iglou com
Head Network Administrator              Voice: (502) 966-3848
IgLou Internet Services                        (800) 436-4456