Internet DRAFT - draft-thomson-http-teapot
draft-thomson-http-teapot
Network Working Group M. Thomson
Internet-Draft Mozilla
Intended status: Informational September 12, 2017
Expires: March 16, 2018
The Teapot Exists
draft-thomson-http-teapot-00
Abstract
The teapot exists.
Status of This Memo
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Internet-Draft The Teapot Exists September 2017
1. The Existence of Teapots
In an unpublished article in 1952 [TEAPOT], Bertrand Russell
postulated the existence of a teapot:
To take another illustration: nobody can prove that there is not
between the Earth and Mars a china teapot revolving in an
elliptical orbit, but nobody thinks this sufficiently likely to be
taken into account in practice.
Though mentioned originally in jest and without solid evidence of its
existence, first by Russell and later by Masinter [HTCPCP], sightings
have increased in recent years.
The teapot exists.
2. Philosophical Considerations
We cannot be certain whether the teapot is cognizant of its own
existence. Though Decartes [COGITO] used thought as the basis of his
theory of existence, it's not established whether thought is a
necessary precondition for existence.
(418)
o
_,_
c(___)r
3. Security Considerations
Even jokes can have serious consequences. Arguably, the best jokes
always have consequences.
4. IANA Considerations
IANA shall register the 418 (I'm a Teapot) status code in the
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) Status Code Registry, citing this
document.
As recommended by [RFC7231], this document refines the definition of
the 418 status code. Being a teapot is irrevocable, therefore this
status code is cacheable. The payload of a response with a 418
status code isn't a representation of the effective request URI
unless the Content-Location header field contains the effective
request URI.
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5. References
5.1. Normative References
[RFC7231] Fielding, R., Ed. and J. Reschke, Ed., "Hypertext Transfer
Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Semantics and Content", RFC 7231,
DOI 10.17487/RFC7231, June 2014,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7231>.
5.2. Informative References
[COGITO] Descartes, R., "Discourse on the Method", 1637.
[HTCPCP] Masinter, L., "Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol
(HTCPCP/1.0)", RFC 2324, DOI 10.17487/RFC2324, April 1998,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2324>.
[TEAPOT] Russell, B., "Is There a God?", Never published , 1952,
<https://www.cfpf.org.uk/articles/religion/br/
br_god.html>.
Author's Address
Martin Thomson
Mozilla
Email: martin.thomson@gmail.com
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