> > If people have used it successfully in the past, are there instructions on
> > how to use it successfully posted somewhere, and if so, could they be put
> > there?
>
> There was a mailing list post once in the past. I guess google might be able
> to help you find it. I'm not sure it has any relevance anymore though since it
> was a few years back, IIRC.
>
> The javascript engine was the one in Mozilla. Try their site.
>
> > Don't get me wrong, I think curl is very useful, and I do use it for ftp.
> > I just think that me and a hell of a lot of other people *can't* use it
> > effectively if this is not supported.
>
> Perhaps.
>
> > And since all the main browsers support javascript, more and more websites
> > (not just company access methods which a lot of poeple use in themselves)
> > will become inaccessible by curl and therefore curl will diminish in value.
>
> I don't see the need for it. I don't feel like coding it. I don't agree with
> you about the importance of doing this. I think you excaggerate the frequency
> of this need.

well, to address that last point, consider two scenarios:

        1) I'm at one site, with about 10000 internet users. We use websense for the
       purpose of filtering web traffic. Places that I've worked for in the
           past have had the same thing. Its going to get more common in the future.

           Now, it follows pretty simply that <number of users> times <number of sites>
           cannot use curl effectively because this javascript layer prevents them from
           doing so.

        2) I want to ship curl with an application for the purpose of providing an 'auto
       update' for my project.

       How can I possibly do this if I can't mirror the connection setup that they
       have on there side?

For #2 - most large sites have their connection setup stuff determined by browser
policy, either in internet explorer or in netscape.

For almost all of these sites, this policy is set up inside the browser, under the
automatic proxy determination. Which is what my post was about in the first place.

So - by not supporting this, IMO, curl is missing out on a large number of users and
some very important uses. It all comes down to intentions - do you want curl
to have a growing user base, or do you want it to be mainly used in an academic setting?

Ed

(
ps -

    I might be able to wrap around it in a half-hearted way, but IMO my points about
    usability stand. If I have to wrap around a tool for 75% of the uses of that tool,
    it needs a usability improvement.

    As for coding it seamlessly, I'm not a curl expert in any sense of the word. I could
        provide bug-fixes and portability support, but I'm not sure how useful I would be
        on the upfront coding effort.
)
Received on 2004-03-01