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Re: [RFC PATCH 1/4] Document the HTTP transport protocol

From
Shawn O. Pearce <spearce@spearce.org>
Date
Oct 16, 2009, 14:21 UTC
Message-ID
<20091016142135.GR10505@spearce.org>
In-Reply-To
<20091016071942.GC3009@glandium.org>
Mike Hommey <mh@glandium.org> wrote:
Show 14 quoted lines
> On Thu, Oct 15, 2009 at 10:59:25PM -0700, H. Peter Anvin wrote:
> > On 10/10/2009 03:12 AM, Antti-Juhani Kaijanaho wrote:
> > > On 2009-10-09, Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> wrote:
> > >>> +If there is no repository at $GIT_URL, the server MUST respond with
> > >>> +the '404 Not Found' HTTP status code.
> > >>
> > >> We may also want to add
> > >>
> > >>     If there is no object at $GIT_URL/some/path, the server MUST respond
> > >>     with the '404 Not Found' HTTP status code.
> > >>
> > >> to help dumb clients.
> > > 
> > > In both cases - is it really necessary to forbid the use of 410 (Gone)?

My original text got taken a bit out of context here. I guess MUST was too strong of a word. I more ment something like:

  If there is no repository at $GIT_URL, the server MUST NOT respond
  with '200 OK' and a valid info/refs response.  A server SHOULD
  respond with '404 Not Found', '410 Gone', or any other suitable
  HTTP status code which does not imply the resource exists as
  requested.
Show 6 quoted lines
> > 410 means "we once had it, it's no longer here, no idea where it went."
> >  It's a largely useless code...
> 
> There is an additional meaning to it, that is "it will never ever
> return". It thus has a stronger meaning than 404. Sadly, not even search
> engine spiders consider it as a hint to not crawl there in the future...

I know. I broke a URL on a site back in Janurary, MSN keeps crawling it anyway. F'king spiders.

-- 
Shawn.
Previous: Mike HommeyNext: Antti-Juhani Kaijanaho
Message 19 of 46 in “Return of smart HTTP”
  1. 0/4 Return of smart HTTPShawn O. Pearce, Oct 9, 2009
  2. 1/4 Document the HTTP transport protocolShawn O. Pearce, Oct 9, 2009
  3. 2/4 Git-aware CGI to provide dumb HTTP transportShawn O. Pearce, Oct 9, 2009
  4. 3/4 Add smart-http options to upload-pack, receive-packShawn O. Pearce, Oct 9, 2009
  5. 4/4 Smart fetch and push over HTTP: server sideShawn O. Pearce, Oct 9, 2009
  6. J.H.Oct 9, 2009
  7. Sverre RabbelierOct 9, 2009
  8. Sverre RabbelierOct 9, 2009
  9. Alex BlewittOct 9, 2009
  10. Shawn O. PearceOct 15, 2009
  11. Jakub NarebskiOct 9, 2009
  12. Jeff KingOct 9, 2009
  13. Shawn O. PearceOct 15, 2009
  14. Jeff KingOct 15, 2009
  15. Junio C HamanoOct 9, 2009
  16. Antti-Juhani KaijanahoOct 10, 2009
  17. H. Peter AnvinOct 16, 2009
  18. Mike HommeyOct 16, 2009
  19. Shawn O. PearceOct 16, 2009
  20. Antti-Juhani KaijanahoOct 16, 2009
  21. Tay Ray ChuanApr 7, 2010
  22. Tay Ray ChuanApr 7, 2010
  23. (resend v2) Re: [RFC PATCH 1/4] Document the HTTP transport protocolTay Ray Chuan, Apr 7, 2010
  24. Junio C HamanoApr 7, 2010
  25. Tay Ray ChuanApr 8, 2010
  26. (resend v2) Re: [RFC PATCH 1/4] Document the HTTP transport protocolTay Ray Chuan, Apr 7, 2010
  27. Tay Ray ChuanOct 10, 2009
  28. Scott ChaconApr 6, 2010
  29. Junio C HamanoApr 6, 2010
  30. 00/14 document edits to original http protocol documentationTay Ray Chuan, Sep 10, 2013
  31. 01/14 Document the HTTP transport protocolTay Ray Chuan, Sep 10, 2013
  32. 02/14 normalize indentation with protcol-common.txtTay Ray Chuan, Sep 10, 2013
  33. 03/14 capitalize key words according to RFC 2119Tay Ray Chuan, Sep 10, 2013
  34. 04/14 normalize rules with RFC 5234Tay Ray Chuan, Sep 10, 2013
  35. 05/14 drop rules, etc. common to the pack protocolTay Ray Chuan, Sep 10, 2013
  36. 06/14 reword behaviour on missing repository or objectsTay Ray Chuan, Sep 10, 2013
  37. 07/14 weaken specification over cookies for authenticationTay Ray Chuan, Sep 10, 2013
  38. 08/14 mention different variations around $GIT_URLTay Ray Chuan, Sep 10, 2013
  39. 09/14 reduce ambiguity over '?' in $GIT_URL for dumb clientsTay Ray Chuan, Sep 10, 2013
  40. 10/14 fix example request/responsesTay Ray Chuan, Sep 10, 2013
  41. 11/14 be clearer in place of 'remote repository' phraseTay Ray Chuan, Sep 10, 2013
  42. 12/14 reduce confusion over smart server response behaviourTay Ray Chuan, Sep 10, 2013
  43. 13/14 shift dumb server response detailsTay Ray Chuan, Sep 10, 2013
  44. 14/14 mention effect of "allow-tip-sha1-in-want" capability on git-upload-packTay Ray Chuan, Sep 10, 2013
  45. 1/4 Document the HTTP transport protocolScott Chacon, Apr 6, 2010
  46. Junio C HamanoApr 6, 2010

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