[thelist] www prefix is it necessary?

Jonathan Dillon jonathan at boehm-ritter.com
Mon Jan 24 16:07:44 CST 2005


> I try to avoid using the www prefix when witting and talking about 
> URL's.  As far as I know all urls will work without the www.
> My question is why is this prefix used if it's not necessary?

Look, the bottom line is that they're still necessary for lots of sites.
And, the possibility exists that a web server can be configured with or
without.  Even many web hosting automation suites will do it one way or the
other, and some will not set up a dns record for the non-www domain if you
sign up for your account with the www.domain.com domain name (Ensim 3.5 has
issues with this).

At the end of the day, there is no rule.

Check out this high-profile example:

www.usda.gov

Won't work without the www.  

There is no standard, it's a "personal choice" and probably a worthless
discussion.

Jonathan



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