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Browsers barely care what HTTP status code your web pages are served with

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Re: Browsers barely care what HTTP status code your web pages are served with

#162
post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I despise that check engine light for exactly that reason. It would be much more helpful if the car also displayed the error code that made the light turn on. Then I'd know how urgent the issue is and whether I need to take it to the shop. But then, I'm a dev, not a normal person.

The light tells you that already: take it to the shop. The annoying part for folks used to having control (eg power users) is that someone else decided that that was enough info for drivers. If you want the power-user car UI, you'll need to get out of the driver's seat and put on your mechanic hat. (Like sibling comment who purchased an ODBC reader.)

> The light tells you that already: take it to the shop.

That's not enough information. At a minimum, there should be a way to distinguish between "you should make an appointment with a mechanic at your earliest convenience" and "pull over right now and call a tow truck, or you'll have to completely replace your engine and transmission".

Re: Browsers barely care what HTTP status code your web pages are served with

#163
Browsers are just shit user interfaces. They've never prioritized the user experience, nor actually integrated good solutions to common status problems. Designers even actively avoid common widgets because they're so bad.

Every once in a while they remove widely used functionality from the UI or bury it behind a lot of other crap, so someone has to invent an extension to bring it back. It's terrible.

All the alternatives have varying degrees of suckitude, and there's no way to just make an alternative browser without like $1.5 million dollars and two years of development.

Re: Browsers barely care what HTTP status code your web pages are served with

#164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Users have no business seeing error codes. Those are for devs. Hiding them away in devtools is a very good thing. I can't say I agree. That would be a good idea in a world where users never encountered errors in normal circumstances, but in fact computers don't work very well and users encounter errors on a regular basis. Using computers is a skill. It takes study. You can either pretend that it doesn't, giving user…

> in fact computers don't work very well and users encounter errors on a regular basis. Using computers is a skill. It takes study. I think what's been lost -- or perhaps never been gained -- is an art of dual tiering error condition messaging. Highest visibility messaging should be the simple & for the most general audience: "You Gave us Bad Information, here's how to fix it" for cases where that applies, with more…

[deleted]

Re: Browsers barely care what HTTP status code your web pages are served with

#165
post #14

(I'm not sure there's any way to find the HTTP status code in a modern Firefox environment short of using web developer tools. It's not in places like 'Page Info' as far as I can see.) I'm old enough to remember times before browsers showed 'friendly' error messages, and a 500 response from a server would display a '500 Server Error' message to the user. Users hated it. They'd panic and think they'd broken the websit…

I disagree. I think users should be aware of any breakage up front, and center. We encourage drivers to recognize warning signs in the operation of their vehicles; we should do the same with browsers. Hiding information from the user is not ethical.

Then again, I also think people should be taught better than to hop on the Web without any training or knowledge. Computers and illiteracy go together about as well as books go with illiteracy. It takes effort to be computer literate, and hiding the information will make that journey to literacy more daunting than it needs to be.

Re: Browsers barely care what HTTP status code your web pages are served with

#166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean ... cars have had different error lights for decades. Doesn't seem like that much of a stretch that people would be able to use a little critical thinking when looking at computer error messages too.

In my experience, people hate when cars just flash a "check engine" light. It is impossible to tell the difference between "probably OK but get it looked at", "might leave you stranded", and "might literally explode". Cars show error codes every few months or years and there's nothing the average driver can do to fix them. Computers show errors on a daily basis and most of them are trivially fixable.

Now imagine if every driver had the OBD2 connector and the owner's manual explained how to use it...

Re: Browsers barely care what HTTP status code your web pages are served with

#167
post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I despise that check engine light for exactly that reason. It would be much more helpful if the car also displayed the error code that made the light turn on. Then I'd know how urgent the issue is and whether I need to take it to the shop. But then, I'm a dev, not a normal person.

The light tells you that already: take it to the shop. The annoying part for folks used to having control (eg power users) is that someone else decided that that was enough info for drivers. If you want the power-user car UI, you'll need to get out of the driver's seat and put on your mechanic hat. (Like sibling comment who purchased an ODBC reader.)

> The light tells you that already: take it to the shop.

No, it doesn't. The light comes on for routine maintenance that doesn't require a shop, and it comes on for things that might require a shop, but not urgently as well as things that are urgent.

I did get an ODBC reader just for this reason. But I shouldn't have had to. The car should just give me the code(s) itself.

> The annoying part for folks used to having control (eg power users) is that someone else decided that that was enough info for drivers.

I'm not annoyed at not having control. I'm annoyed that whoever decided that a single light gave enough information was incorrect.

Re: Browsers barely care what HTTP status code your web pages are served with

#168
post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even more terrifying for the uninitiated back in the day: fatal error

Window's blue screen of death (full of cryptic error codes), for those old enough to remember! Edit: Is the blue screen of death still a thing these days? I haven't actually used Windows in a decade.

Yes, though the color varies by release and build channel. The current GA release has B(lack)S(s)oD.

Re: Browsers barely care what HTTP status code your web pages are served with

#169
post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I despise that check engine light for exactly that reason. It would be much more helpful if the car also displayed the error code that made the light turn on. Then I'd know how urgent the issue is and whether I need to take it to the shop. But then, I'm a dev, not a normal person.

The light tells you that already: take it to the shop. The annoying part for folks used to having control (eg power users) is that someone else decided that that was enough info for drivers. If you want the power-user car UI, you'll need to get out of the driver's seat and put on your mechanic hat. (Like sibling comment who purchased an ODBC reader.)

And that's a flaw in the design of modern vehicles. The vague error messages give mechanics lots of leeway on screwing over people, much like computer repair shops will charge exorbitantly to the person who doesn't understand computers.

Transparent error messages are more useful, and gatekeeping drivers with a connector and a list of codes should be considered unethical. Too many industries are trying to sell you something, but not let you make it yours or let you understand it. Before long, the value proposition will fall.

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