Another Angle To WAP And Linux

An anonymous reader pointed us to an article running on LinuxDevices.com talking about Supporting WAP in Linux and why this should be a priority. WAP has taken a lot of (deserved) heat, but this is a good argument on the other side.

Comments

Re:What deserved heat?

[interiot]

A few articles that speak against WAP:

• Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox -- WAP Backlash
  
• The Harm of the Wireless Application Protocol (patents inhibiting WAP and some good anti-WAP links)
  
  • The WAP Trap
    
  • WAP - The Patent Problem
    
  • W* Effect Considered Harmful
    
  • Attacks Against The WAP WTLS Protocol
    
  • Underwhelmed by WAP - Impressions from the coalface
    
  • WAP Lash
    
• It really stands for 'What a Pain'
  

  
  
  The issues raised include:

  • WAP isn't patent free
  • Not an open standard ($27000 entrance fee)
  • WAP reinvents a large part of open internet standards, resulting in immature protocols with the associated security problems
  • WAP aims for the lowest common denominator rather than allowing for growth in mobile web browsing

--

Support everything.

[Spudley]

Some people will say that you shouldn't support WAP because of it's shortcomings. I would argue against that viewpoint.

An OS (ie Linux) should be able to support as many protocols/standards/etc as possible of each type. The ideal is for people to be able to choose each aspect of their system, without it breaking other parts, or requiring X so I can use Y. Everything should be as interchangable as possible.

WAP should be supported simply because it's there. You don't have to use it; just accept that it's there. That way, everyone can see it and try it, and the same for any alternatives that are offered. Then they can pick the one they like, or even use a mixture of them all. Interchangability.

The philosophy here is to make all the options available. If everyone can use whichever option they like best, and have the chance to make the judgement freely, they will for the most part use the best option. Of course, "best" means different things to different people, so you may still end up with several standards, but the poor ones will fall away, and the good ones will survive.