[MUD-Dev] Clients based on Netscape 5?

[Vadim Tkachenko]

Caliban Tiresias Darklock wrote:

> Chris Gray wrote:
>
> > [Greg Munt:]
> >
> Client and server side scripting could both use JavaScript, a clone of
> the Microsoft Active Server Page standards could be hacked into the server, and
> the rendering code could be maintained in order to allow text effects and
> multimedia. Rooms could contain multimedia content such as background sounds and
> music, by extending the server to handle HTTP using the same code already in
> Netscape. Java applets could be used to generate dynamic maps based on the
> current state of the database. When you think about it, you can probably use the
> NSAPI to make a MUD server that plugs into an existing web server -- which could
> lessen the memory and processor load of a MUD considerably, and make it largely
> platform-independent.
>

>From my standpoint, I'd rather avoid any Misrosoft solutions in any form just
because they're tied too strongly to Win32, NSAPI because it's just another
proprietary technology (Netscape's in this case), and you can use servlets (which
all decent HTTP servers support at the moment), which gives you even more platform
independency than the solutions you've mentioned.

> This is all off the top of my head, of course, and while a lot of people might
> wonder what the hell I'm thinking by saying that we could actually use
> JavaScript as a MUD scripting language,

Don't you think it's too unstable for a complicated solutions? Every Javascript app
I've seen so far is way too flaky...

> > it could simply mark the
> > death of Netscape as a company (with the original sources out there, the
> > browser itself should survive for a long time).

One of my co-workers gave it 4-5 years just a couple of months ago :-))

> Netscape has always realised its greatest revenue from sales of its server, so I
> don't think it's going to suffer overly. Reports are showing that their revenue
> from client sales are pretty minimal at present, as well... so I don't think
> this is going to hurt them much. What it WILL do, however, is get millions of
> people to say 'Netscape is cool' and talk about them more.

Sure it will :-)

> Incidentally, this is perfect timing. My Netscape client software subscription
> certificate was about to expire. ;)

For me, it's a blessing - I've just bought a computer :-)

> =+[caliban at darklock.com]=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=[http://www.darklock.com/]+=

--vt

PS: This is a first message I'm writing from Netscape 4.04 for Win95, and the
quoting style looks weird - can someone drop me a note if it looks weird for you
too?