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CRLF is obsolete and should be abolished

(fossil-scm.org)
422 points km | 4 comments | 13 Oct 24 19:16 UTC | HN request time: 0.425s | source
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michaelmior ◴[13 Oct 24 20:03 UTC] No.41831072[source]▶
> various protocols (HTTP, SMTP, CSV) still "require" CRLF at the end of each line

What would be the benefit to updating legacy protocols to just use NL? You save a handful of bits at the expense of a lot of potential bugs. HTTP/1(.1) is mostly replaced by HTTP/2 and later by now anyway.

Sure, it makes sense not to require CRLF with any new protocols, but it doesn't seem worth updating legacy things.

> Even if an established protocol (HTTP, SMTP, CSV, FTP) technically requires CRLF as a line ending, do not comply.

I'm hoping this is satire. Why intentionally introduce potential bugs for the sake of making a point?

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1. phkahler ◴[13 Oct 24 20:19 UTC] No.41831225[source]▶
>> I'm hoping this is satire. Why intentionally introduce potential bugs for the sake of making a point?

It's not satire and it's not just trying to make a point. It's trying to make things simpler. As he says, a lot of software will accept input without the CR already, even if it's supposed to be there. But we should change the standard over time so people in 2050 can stop writing code that's more complicated (by needing to eat CR) or inserts extra characters. And never mind the 2050 part, just do it today.

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2. michaelmior ◴[13 Oct 24 20:58 UTC] No.41831535[source]▶
Ignoring established protocols doesn't make things simpler. It makes things vastly more complicated.

Let's absolutely fix new protocols (or new versions of existing protocols). But intentionally breaking existing protocols doesn't simplify anything.

3. nsnshsuejeb ◴[13 Oct 24 21:42 UTC] No.41831898[source]▶
Yes. We all know how to do this. You know that API version thingy. I agree to drop the carriage return when not needed but do it in future protocols.

Obviously IPv6 shows you need to be patient. Your great grandkids may see a useless carriage return!

Windows doesn't help here.

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4. perching_aix ◴[13 Oct 24 22:00 UTC] No.41832062[source]▶
Versioning provides people with capability for change management, but won't perform it on their behalf. Who knew.