Now we are moving even further off topic but I've got to put my $0.02 in
here. :) So what if older browsers might get stuck in an infinite loop.
GOOD! That's what they deserve for not upgrading their browser. I've
already got to develop DOWN to version 3.0 of the browsers. Now I have to
worry about them not sending the host: header? H*LL no! What percentage of
people are still browsing with browsers that don't send that header?
According to the figures that I've seen no more than 2%. Oh no, I'm missing
out on 2% of the market. :) I'd rather have 98% of the market and be able
to use some important features rather than really dummy things down.
This is all my personal opinion but at some point, we all as developers have
to look at what we are doing and decide exactly how far back we are going to
be compatible with browsers. My personal opinion is that I go back only 2
versions. If someone is still (again IMHO) stupid enough to continue to use
an old version of a browser when they can download the latest versions, then
whatever they get, they deserve.
--
Jeff Stuart
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Winstead [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Friday, April 07, 2000 12:08 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [slightly OT] Problem with cookies
On Apr 07, Randal L. Schwartz wrote:
> I think this also suffers from placing the burden on the client. The
> [R] there with an external rewrite means that the client will get
> redirected if it doesn't tell you the right "Host:" header. But
> HTTP/1.0 and older browsers (and some spiders) will NOT tell you that
> header, so you get in an infinite loop.
>
> The solution is that you must allow for an unspoken "Host:" header to
> fall through to a generic v-host.
An important point is that although "Host:" wasn't required until
HTTP/1.1, all of the common browsers have sent it with 1.0 requests
for some time. This includes Netscape since version 2.0 and Internet
Explorer since 3.0. Most browsers released since 1996 have sent
it. I strongly suspect that all of the reputable search engine
spiders send it as well.
(That doesn't mean you shouldn't be careful and structure it so
that you don't send Host-less requests into a redirect loop, I just
want to make sure people know the situation isn't quite as dire as
Randal may have made it sound. There are a large number of people
relying on browsers sending the Host header to great effect.)
Jim
