Chris TrottierNov 30, 2022
One of the biggest mistakes the Internet made was trying to make HTTP do everything.
Show threadChris TrottierNov 30, 2022

What was HTTP supposed to do?

Transfer hypertext.

Transferring hypertext is simple. It has a utility.

Then we decided to transfer photos. Still simple. But photos are neither text not hypertext.

But that wasn't enough either. We added stuff like GIFs, JavaScript and Flash.

Fast forward. Now everything HTTP does is so complicated, a web browser can be more complex than an operating system.

Show threadBen Ramsey
@atomicpoet HTTP itself is still fairly simple, as protocols go, which makes it really easy to build complex applications on top of it.
Nov 30, 2022 at 4:11amWeb
Show threadChris TrottierNov 30, 2022
@ramsey Oh yeah, the protocol itself isn't the problem. I just question why the protocol must do everything.
Show threadBen RamseyNov 30, 2022
@atomicpoet That question is why we now have HTTP/2 and HTTP/3. 😉
Show threaddragonfrogNov 30, 2022
@atomicpoet @ramsey we should make more use of egregious DNS abuse. 😛