3 ms·

My main objection is that the name you call something does matter. SPDY is a very different protocol from HTTP, which addresses a very particular set of concern

My main objection is that the name you call something does matter. SPDY is a very different protocol from HTTP, which addresses a very particular set of concerns. It diverges quite a bit from the "intent" of HTTP. This is all fine and good until you change the name from SPDY to HTTP 2.0. One expects 2.0 of something to continue the same philosophy and motivation that produced 1.0. When that doesn't happen (R6RS is another good example) you can expect some pushback. In this particular case, the "label swap" nature of the process is generating animosity from those who feel that the process has been co-opted by people trying to pull a fast one. I don't think SPDY is intrinsically wrong, I just don't think it looks like a natural successor to HTTP. I wouldn't expect HTTP 2.0 to address every known problem with HTTP at once, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect at least a few aesthetic improvements.

chc 13y ago
I don't see how this follows from your earlier objections. "It doesn't add session handling and it doesn't simplify header parsing, therefore it diverges from the intent of HTTP" seems like a non sequitur.
- fusiongyro 13y ago
  Don't confuse my objections with PHK's objections. There may be good technical answers to his objections; Thomas replied to them above quite cogently, but in any event, PHK's opinion carries a lot more weight than mine. I'm just a spectator. My objection (observation, really) is that one expects protocol 2.0 to do more than address performance optimization. Simplifying the protocol is a good thing to do with a major revision; they didn't do that. Making the protocol more friendly for upper layer users is another good thing to do with a major revision; they didn't do that either. Instead they took an obviously different protocol designed to address a handful of extremely technical performance matters and rubber-stamped it as HTTP 2.0. Whether you like SPDY or not, it should be clear that this kind of "process" is going to leave people feeling disenfranchised. The spirit of HTTP, inasmuch as such a thing exists, is one of simplicity. SPDY just doesn't "smell" like the successor. I think the comparison to R6RS is very appropriate to my point. R6RS was designed to address well-known shortcomings of Scheme. The process it took to get approved circumvented a lot of the community. A large segment of the community responded to this by essentially whining about it and ignoring it. We already see the whining about HTTP 2.0. I predict it will be followed by ignoring it, and some years in the future, an HTTP 2.1 or 3.0 that more closely resembles HTTP 1.1.

chc 13y ago

I don't see how this follows from your earlier objections. "It doesn't add session handling and it doesn't simplify header parsing, therefore it diverges from the intent of HTTP" seems like a non sequitur.

fusiongyro 13y ago
Don't confuse my objections with PHK's objections. There may be good technical answers to his objections; Thomas replied to them above quite cogently, but in any event, PHK's opinion carries a lot more weight than mine. I'm just a spectator. My objection (observation, really) is that one expects protocol 2.0 to do more than address performance optimization. Simplifying the protocol is a good thing to do with a major revision; they didn't do that. Making the protocol more friendly for upper layer users is another good thing to do with a major revision; they didn't do that either. Instead they took an obviously different protocol designed to address a handful of extremely technical performance matters and rubber-stamped it as HTTP 2.0. Whether you like SPDY or not, it should be clear that this kind of "process" is going to leave people feeling disenfranchised. The spirit of HTTP, inasmuch as such a thing exists, is one of simplicity. SPDY just doesn't "smell" like the successor. I think the comparison to R6RS is very appropriate to my point. R6RS was designed to address well-known shortcomings of Scheme. The process it took to get approved circumvented a lot of the community. A large segment of the community responded to this by essentially whining about it and ignoring it. We already see the whining about HTTP 2.0. I predict it will be followed by ignoring it, and some years in the future, an HTTP 2.1 or 3.0 that more closely resembles HTTP 1.1.