Re: Libcurl and WebSockets

Daniel Stenberg via curl-library <[email protected]>
Newsgroups gmane.comp.web.curl.library
Message-ID <[email protected]>
On Tue, 7 Jan 2025, Gavin D. Howard via curl-library wrote:

> However, I think the "client side only" part of libcurl is already dead,
> and I think that you were the one to kill it.
>
> The reason I think so is your own advice to not mix URL parsers I
> previously mentioned. [2]

Okay, that is one way to look at it but I think it is a stretch.

Several of the API calls in the library can certainly be used even when you 
implement server-side components, but I don't think that significantly changes 
the "client side only" rule. It is just that some functions are general 
purpose enough to get used even outside pure client side roles.

> Again, I am biased (although I am willing to help out!), but I think the 
> world would be incredibly blessed to have a libcurl that can be on both ends 
> of the network because servers are often clients themselves, and using one 
> library for both would reduce code duplication and attack surface.

Yes, for users already using libcurl anyway, putting adjacent functionality 
into libcurl makes perfect sense. It does not necessarily mean it is a good 
idea for the library in general. We get suggestions for adding feature XYZ all 
the time when users are already using XYZ + libcurl.

> And if I were to appeal to your need for food and shelter, I think there 
> would be more companies willing to pay for professional support on libcurl

I appreciate your concern for my livelihood, I really do. curl is however not 
done for *me* nor *my* concerns. It is a team effort with a huge community and 
a giant user base. For the world.

My opinions about what curl should and should not do is not based on possible 
revenue or income. It is rather for functionality, stability, sustainability 
etc. Including avoiding creeping featurism - especially features that is or 
could be seen as outside of curl's scope.

> I think WebSockets would be a great pilot program for that since it's so 
> symmetrical, and I would bet there are already servers running it with the 
> raw API.

Exactly how would this new proposed look and work? I can't even fathom how an 
API for this would look like to be usable in a server setting.

-- 

  / daniel.haxx.se || https://rock-solid.curl.dev
-- 
Unsubscribe: https://lists.haxx.se/mailman/listinfo/curl-library
Etiquette:   https://curl.se/mail/etiquette.html
lmpx.com only provides a reader for public news (NNTP) servers. It is not affiliated with the servers or forums shown here and is not responsible for the content of articles, which is written by their respective authors.