Should Gemini clients alert users upon redirect?

[Luke Emmet]

On 19-Sep-2020 11:47, Leo wrote:
>
> Using the web does not mean redirections happen seamlessly, or happen at
> all. Users can have their browsers alert for redirects, or simply not
> follow redirects. The HTTP spec seems to support this use case as well.

I don't know of any web client that generally implements browser alerts 
for redirects. Maybe they do exist though, or perhaps you can configure 
them to do so.

> So common web browsers, like common gemini browsers, might redirect
> seamlessly, but "User Agents" (instead of popular software that are
> agents of someone else) still reserve the right to ask the user
> what to do at any point.

I get your shift of emphasis here, but a Gemini client is a user agent 
(as is a web browser) in the protocol sense - it retrieves content on 
behalf of a user request. The web is so complex that most end users are 
not in a position to control the fine grained behaviour, beyond a few 
preferences here and there. Although in Firefox there are more 
parameters you can configure if you are willing to delve in about:config.

Due to its simplicity, one of the nice things about Gemini is the wide 
choice of clients. And of course the barriers to writing your own client 
that implements exactly the behaviour you want are much lower.

Best Wishes

  - Luke