Eszett (was Implementation questions)

[Shawn Steele]

Mark said:

> I am far from as sanguine as you are about this change. If we could pull a
> magic switch that converted everyone (registries and all lookup programs)
> from 2003 to 2008 at once, these 4 characters wouldn't be a problem. Sadly,
> we are going to have a mixture for the indefinite future, and having an IRI
> go to two different locations depending on the particular program -- or
> version or program -- in use: that is a very significant interoperability
> and security problem.

I don't think that any realistic solution can require servicing existing machines.  For whatever reasons, people don't apply patches or whatever, and some will NEVER be updated, let alone at nearly the same time.  (I think I'm agreeing with what you said :)

> Along the lines of what you are talking about, I think one way to solve the
> problem is to have a requirement on registries in the protocol, that
> whenever two strings differ only by these characters, that they must either
> bundle or block.

I agree.  I'd also recommend the same thing to people asking for registrations since we know that the registries don't always follow the requirements.  I'd recommend that people requesting registrations request both forms.

- Shawn