Date: Thu, 11 Aug 94 14:49:04 -0400
From: Chris Weider <clw@mocha.bunyip.com>
Message-Id: <9408111849.AA04046@mocha.bunyip.com>
To: ccoprmm@oit.gatech.edu, masinter@parc.xerox.com
Subject: Re: [Dienst, A Protocol for a Distributed Digital Document Library]
Hi Michael:
I have a slightly different view of all these tools. WWW is a convenient and
popular way to serve specific types of data in certain ways. Gopher is another.
But all of them are manifestations of a set of general underlying architectural
principles, which are what we are trying to tease out in the work we've been
doing. If we can find a set of general architectural principles for information
delivery (at least as we currently understand it), then we have a solid foundation
for extensions to existing tools and for the creation of new tools. I think a good
analogy might be to the creation of all the different link-layer protocols that
are used. Each of them have made certain design choices which allow them to
fit certain niches in the network world.
I do believe trying to build WWW front ends to some of these new tools is
a good and useful thing. But I don't think any one tool is the whole answer.
Sorry to blather on... this just happens to be one of my hot buttons :^)
Talk to you soon!
Chris