Netscape Dumps Critical File, Breaks RSS 0.9 Feeds

An anonymous reader writes "In the standard definition of RSS 0.91, there are a couple of lines referring to 'DOCTYPE' and referencing a 'dtd' spec hosted on Netscape's website. According to an article on DeviceForge.com quite a few RSS feeds around the web probably stopped working properly over the past few weeks because Netscape recently stopped hosting the critical rss-0.91.dtd file. Probably someone over at netscape.com simply thought he was cleaning up some insignificant cruft." Some explanation has been offered by a Netscape employee.

Comments

Ack

[Cygfrydd]

I would've seen this post sooner, but my RSS feed was broken... something about a 404?

the probably web

[Anonymous Coward]

what is the probably web?

Doesn't AOL own Netscape?

[gravesb]

And if so, why would anyone rely on AOL to make something on the web work?

HAHA

[eMbry00s]

Suck that, Web 2.0!

Host it yourself!

[nascarguy27]

This is the precise reason why I host everything myself including my own series of tubes, dubbed the Internets. I host not only every file that my site uses, but I also have a program that regularly crawls the entire Internet and compresses it onto my own distributed system. That way I can browse the Internet by myself without worrying if someone else's system will fail. Although I do need to replace systems every now and then. But that's not a problem, b/c the distributed system has 3-5 copies of the Internet, each copy in a different place. Wait, isn't their some other company that does that? I can't quite place the name.

Seriously though, relying on some other system so your site will work is a recipe for disaster. It's similar to relying on someone to take you to work everyday. After a while, you get used to that fact that someone else is driving you that you don't even think about it. Then your driver gets deleted somehow. And you're stuck with no way to work.

This is a major problem,

[Morky]

This could seriously affect both of the guys using Netscape.

Why should anyone contact you?

[Anonymous Coward]

It is not the first time that Netscape dropped important files and Netscape didn't care in the past. E.g. the RDF schemata http://home.netscape.com/WEB-rdf and http://home.netscape.com/NC-rdf bite the dust some time ago and Netscape gave a fucking fart. Other format specs are also gone for years, but I am to lazy to look up what whent missing years ago.

But hey, from where I sit Netscape is anyhow run by a bunch of liberal arts graduates and doesn't have any technical competence left.

Re:Sorry about that

[christopherfinke]

Sorry, I meant that it was unacceptable that a member would have to take all of those steps to actually contact someone, not that it was unacceptable for people to contact the emplpoyees.

A rewording...

[Shaltenn]

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I websurfed, weak and weary, Over many a strange and spurious bookmark of 'free news galore', While I clicked my fav'rite feed, suddenly there came a warning, And my heart was filled with mourning, mourning for my dear amour. "'Tis not possible," I muttered, "give me back my free news source!" Quoth the server, "404".