Re: [9fans] HTTP tunnelling of 9P -- taboo?

["matt" <matt@proweb.co.uk>]

> is the fact that WebDAV is a set of http "extentions" really a
> selling point for most of its users? i doubt it.

lack of unified document management tools for web authoring is the key to
it's appeal

"it works in a browser" is certainly a selling point, the many windowed
desktop is too noisy, user context switches seem less expensive inside the
same application - witness ftp in a browser etc.etc. For years I've bemoaned
the death of the application and the rich controls available to application
programmers. The people at my latest job were delighted when I switched them
from browser based <textarea> maintenance to "use a text editor & ftp" !

The biggest headache for many a web development house once the first
iteration is out of the door is maintenance.
Clients *never* ask about it, their focus is on what the customer will see.
Very rarely have they even considered what pages they themselves will want
and need [and it's a contract winner to mention it - makes you sound
professional].

The webDav FAQ provides the most compelling reason for massive wheel
re-invention : efficiency !!

http://www.webdav.org/other/faq.html#Q19

Q. Why should I use DAV instead of FTP?
A. Since DAV works over HTTP, you get all the benefits of HTTP that FTP
cannot provide. For example: strong authentication, encryption, proxy
support, and caching. It is true that you can get some of this through SSH,
but the HTTP infrastructure is much more widely deployed than SSH. Further,
SSH does not have the wide complement of tools, development libraries, and
applications that HTTP does.
DAV transfers (well, HTTP transfers) are also more efficient than FTP. You
can pipeline multiple transfers through a single TCP connection, whereas FTP
requires a new connection for each file transferred (plus the control
connection).


So, there you have it, re-tool your business to WebDAV and you can save a
few TCP connections

M


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