Replace NEtscape (Was: Why disabling....)

[Wain Dobson]

Think that Ulrich has made the best suggestion, yet:

So we should stop revolving around Netscape. Instead we should
propose the development of client software suited for the
special needs of libraries and other institutions who are likely
to offer public internet access.

Personally I do find this fixation on Netscape annoying. Netscape is
what Netscape is about. This constant hammering on how 'to hack
this and how to hack that' has a ring to it that sounds more like
'boys and their toys.' Think that what is being missed about
Netscape is that they are running their own agenda and that agenda
does not include the needs of institutions like public libraries, etc. It
is an agenda driven by 'market price of share' not by needs. Not
that that is wrong, but it does put a different spin on the direction of
development. And that direction is the 'mass market' not the
institutional market. And, by extrapolation, the features which
Netscape chooses to foster are those very features which are not
desireable from the perspective of institutions. However, maybe,
someday, when their 'market share' drops, they might just get
around to devoting some developmental energies to the 
'institutional market.' To this I might add that if you examine all
of Netscape's offerings, you wil find that Netscape is not about the 
provision of information to the public, it's about creating an environment 
in which "$ transactions" can be conducted.

Even more annoying about this 'Netscape Fixation' is the neglect of
'standards,' which we, as librarians, should be concerned about. The
simple reality is that the greater the preoccupation with Netscape,
the more a site is going to be 'Netscaped' and the less likely this
site will be accessible by the 'world.' (Hopefully you will bare with
me on this point as I have been involved in developing a number
of Netscape sites that are only Netscape accessible.) Does it not
strike you as being a bit anti-WWW philosophy when are confronted
with the "this site requires Netscape Version X.XX to be viewed"
and the "click here to download Netscape Version X.XX."

To this I might added that I am a bit taken back by the number of
libraries which have choosen to  utilize Netscape Servers. Why?
CERN, NCSA, and Apache are more than adequate. In fact,
the latter, Apache, is coming along really nicely. In fact, I would
venture to say that if you looked at "http:/apache.org," you just
might be pleasantly suprised.

I should ask the question: Is not the NCSA httpd server and is
not the NCSA MOSIAC developed by public funds? And, given
this would not the ALA or some such organization have sufficient
political pull to suggest that maybe NCSA ought devote some
time to creating servers and browsers to answers the needs of
other public institutions? Being a non-US person, I don't know
the answers, but with the billions of US taxpayers money that,
in the form of grants, etc., that is going into the development of
the US Infomation Highway, I'm sure that it is not too unreasonable
of me to presume that some of these $'s can be channled into
developing an appropriate server/browser for public libraries, etc.

Enough of this digression. To get back to the Ulrich's original idea
of developing a browser, I think that maybe this forum could
develop a set of "specs" that could be formalized and made 
available to developers. I know that I would like toy with it and 
maybe I could even extend my own browser to accomplish a
few more things than just saying hello to the server and then
hanging up. :-) But, the question is not just that of a browser,
I think that the problems outlined in this forum might be better
addressed by a server/browser combination.
----------
From: 	v9100055 at athena.rrz.Uni-Koeln.DE[SMTP:v9100055 at athena.rrz.Uni-Koeln.DE]
Sent: 	Friday, November 03, 1995 4:54 PM
To: 	Multiple recipients of list
Subject: 	Replace NEtscape (Was: Why disabling....)

Hi all,

going through all the messages dealing with how to limit
user control over WWW-Browsers I can draw several conclusions:

1 - Currently, there is no better browser than Netscape, so
    everybody and his brother wants to use it
2 - Nevertheless, some of us (I include myself) feel uneasy about
    letting users/library patrons play around with the system
    settings and accessing "questionable" sites on the net.
3 - Netscape, however, offers no way of limiting (or let's call
    it DIRECTING) user's access. There are several workarounds, 
    some of which were posted here, but they require a fair amount
    of technical knowledge and sometimes even illegal action like
    modifying software etc.

Now, what do you expect from the new version of netscape ??
Even more features that have to be controlled, like mailserver
access for receiving mail and a whole bounty of other options that
are really useful for a single-user-PC - but not for a public
workstation in a library.

So we should stop revolving around Netscape. Instead we should
propose the development of client software suited for the
special needs of libraries and other institutions who are likely
to offer public internet access.

I think we all agree that it should be no problem to shell out
some bucks for really USEFUL software - so here we have a
market for software companies to serve. Where are they ???

Ulrich

-- 
Ulrich Babiak                       |                  Internet Librarian
ubabiak at joe.law.pace.edu            | http://joe.law.pace.edu/staff/ub/ub.html
v9100055 at athena.rrz.uni-koeln.de    | 
FB Bibliotheks- und Informationswesen, FH Koeln / Cologne School of LIS
        ---------------------------------------------------------
Deutschsprachige Internetter duzen mich - wenns auf Gegenseitigkeit beruht...


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