nodeSolidServer / nodeSolidServer/node-solid-server

Use URI for X-Powered-By value

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#1,181 5 comments 3 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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enhancement
Dominant language
JavaScript
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Description

[The following is not strictly a node-solid-server issue but I think it can go a long way in setting it as a practice that other Solid server implementations or variations can follow suite. Eventually, this 'feature' can bubble up to the solid-spec - given that it is a common practice (aka sufficiently "incubated")]

The X-Powered-By header value eg solid-server can be more specific/unique. After all, which Solid server or which version? So, Solid servers should announce a URI as a value instead which can potentially be self-descriptive when dereferenced ie. another agent can find out about its capabilities, what specs it implements, making use of vocabs like DOAP stuff. This is beyond content or time negotiation etc.

Edit: granted that the string "solid-server" can mean that it is an implementation of the Solid spec, but that may be under the assumption that the server conforms to the latest state of the spec. While the clients could make that assumption, they can be mislead given what the server actually performs. So, the reality is that, there are indeed different versions of the application, as well as its conformance to the specs. All of that information and more can be discoverable through the URI.

eg curl -I https://linkedresearch.org/ldn/tests/ uses X-Powered-By: https://github.com/csarven/mayktso but it can also point to something more granular and actually return RDF.

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First steps

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  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

No implementation file or test is identified in the issue. Start by locating where node-solid-server sets the X-Powered-By response header, then review the existing comments and Solid-server conventions before deciding what URI and representation are acceptable. Done means the header consistently exposes the agreed self-descriptive URI and its behavior is covered by tests.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
javascript, nodejs
Domain
backend
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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