Subject: [ogpx] verbiage : client, server, user agent, etc.

From: Meadhbh Hamrick <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2010 10:35:43 -0700

okay. here's another one for the verbiage file:

we've been using the terms "client" and "client application" and "user
agent" and "viewer" almost interchangeably. there was at least one
request at the f2f to tighten up the terminology a bit.

peeps without direct Second Life (tm) experience may not be familiar
with the term "viewer." it is used to describe the software that runs
on an end user's machine and renders the virtual world. a "viewer" is
to "virtual world" what "browser" is to "the web" (to a first order
approximation.)

in the Second Life (tm) economy, there are multiple viewers. some
developed and deployed by linden lab, others are independent
implementations. still others are modifications of the open source
viewer released by linden lab.

the term "client application" was sometimes used in the pre-IETF
Second Life (tm) interop community to refer to software like a viewer
or utility application that exercised the OGP protocol for the benefit
of an end user. client applications were mainly thought to include
viewers, but also a growing collection of tools that served
administrative or non-interactive functions (like second inventory,
bot control programs, etc.)

then we get to the terms "client" and "server" which have specific
meaning in TCP and HTTP. a "client" is a process or host that
initiates a request or connection while a "server" is the process or
host that responds to the request.

"user agent" is used by both the accessibility community and by SMTP
with very specific meanings.

so... one question...

do we want to deprecate the term "client application" in favor of
"user agent"? it seems that they mean the same thing. or maybe we
could say that a "client application" is a user agent that renders the
virtual world for an agent. or vice versa.

questions? comments?
--
meadhbh hamrick * it's pronounced "maeve"
@OhMeadhbh * http://meadhbh.org/ * [email-masked]