Re: [v6ops] An Update to Happy Eyeballs

[Stuart Cheshire <[e-mail]>]

On 13 Mar 2017, at 05:49, Philip Homburg <[e-mail]> wrote:

> In my opinion, there is no justification for declaring a single threaded C application that uses getaddrinfo non-compliant.
> 
> So this draft doesn't address my concerns. Just calling getaddrinfo should be enough.

You might think just calling getaddrinfo() should be enough, but it’s not.

You are free to write a single-threaded C application that uses synchronous blocking calls if you like, and it might work okay on Ethernet, but it would give a horrible user-experience on a mobile device with wireless networking (and for that reason your app would fail Apple app review and it would not be allowed on the iPhone, for failing to achieve even minimal usability standards).

We’re not telling you how you should write your app.

But we are publishing a specification that gives guidance about how to write a good app, that gives a good user experience. (You’re not forced to follow that guidance, and you don’t have to if you don’t want to.)

Stuart Cheshire