Slashdot Mirror
CDN Optimizing HTML On the Fly
Caerdwyn writes "Cotendo, which is a content distribution network, has taken to altering HTML as it passes through their CDN to optimize web pages for faster rendering. This is essentially a repackaging of the Apache mod mod_pagespeed (from Google), with the critical difference being that the rewriting of HTML occurs inline rather than at the web server. We all know that well-written HTML can result in much better rendering of whatever your content is; the questions are 'Will this automatic rewriting cause other problems, i.e. browser quirks?' and 'Assuming that only the web pages of Cotendo's customers are altered, are there nonetheless potential legal troubles with someone rewriting HTML before delivery to a browser?'"
the questions are 'Will this automatic rewriting cause other problems, i.e. browser quirks?' and 'Assuming that only the web pages of Cotendo's customers are altered, are there nonetheless potential legal troubles with someone rewriting HTML before delivery to a browser?'
I couldn't give a rat's ass about legal troubles. Slashdot is still a tech forum, right?
There are LOADS of much more interesting questions to ponder, such as: what is exactly the speed improvement? And does it work for Javascript and CSS too? And wouldn't it be much better to work on images instead? Or is that too computationally intensive? What kind of algorithm do they use? In what language is it implemented? Et cetera. Legal troubles shmegal smougles.
8 of 13 people found this answer helpful. Did you?
Though I agree with your point, what about the other side of the coin: CDN's service removing content from a page being delivered such as an infection? Could this be used to strip those nasty javascript code injections or Flash-based shenanigans from an infected site 'on the fly'? Removing infections would be as 'good' as inserting ads, toolbars, etc is 'bad'.