Whatever the case may be, WWW_protocol_GATEWAY has acted in its
current manner for a very long period of time. I think that
it is unwise to change its action suddenly. A new environment
variable is still justified.
>
> Another proposal :)
>
> |> From: [email protected] (Kevin Altis)
> |> Date: Fri, 11 Feb 94 15:09:43 GMT
> |>
> |> of the HTTP message is the same. For gopher and ftp, the proxy gateway
> |> server will return the data encapsulated as a MIME content type to the
> |> client like a normal HTTP message. HTTP MIME content types are returned for
> |> all URL requests, regardless of the protocol type of the URL. FTP
> |> directories, Gopher directories, etc. are returned as text/html.
>
> I have always wondered, why e.g. gopher gateways should have to
> convert the data they gate.
> With the new gateway code I hoped we might have an *easy* way to gate
> things, simply manage a binary 1:1 connection between client and destination.
> But as I understand it this is not the case?
> But why should a gateway encode the answer from a gopher server e.g.
> wenn a client like Mosaic could do it himself and in a much neater
> way with (internal-) icons and so on.
>
That could be possible (although I'm not sure it's wise) by
specifying a mime type for the gopher directory syntax and
passing that mime type and the gopher syntax to the client.
We can do just as good a job by specifying a common set of
icons with unique names (similar to the internal images
mosaic supports now) and using those names in gopher and
ftp directory listings.
:lou
-- ************************************************************************** * T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F K A N S A S * * Lou MONTULLI @ Ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu * * Kuhub.cc.ukans.edu ACS Computing Services * * 913/864-0436 Ukanvax.bitnet Lawrence, KS 66044 * * UNIX! Cool! I know that! Jurassic Park - The Movie * **************************************************************************