[thelist] OT-ish purely image based websites
Sam-I-Am
sam at sam-i-am.com
Tue Jan 20 17:46:29 CST 2004
>
> Oh - and did very early Web content using HTTP or do I remember reading
> somewhere that FTP was mainly used?
Don't forget Gopher, though I think FTP was always more widesread. Also
I've met a few people who claim to have been building web sites longer
than the web has existed. When pressed they usually mean they were
maintaining BBS's.
I think though a web site must involve HTTP. The world wide web as
announced by Tim Berners-Lee back then was an announcement of the HTTP
protocol first and foremost, an addressing mechanism: URLs, with the
HTML markup language a proposed document format. (and hyperlinking as an
intended use). I'd argue the web (and by extension a web site)
implements at the least these 3 components. (Somewhere I have this
announcement - it was in a CERN newsletter - so if I can find it I can
check my facts.)
I think one or more linked pages consistutes a site.
Some will argue that if I create or download a site onto my local drive,
this is still a web site, even though I don't really need to involve
HTTP in viewing it. I can't really refute that, but I dont like it :)
If I place a gif file on a HTTP server, is it a web site? It has a URL,
and relies on HTTP, but I think it would be stretch to describe it that
way.
Of course history is only one way of approaching a definition. Common
usage is what is probably more useful for this exercise.
Sam
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