

Wget is looking for a maintainer - obsaysditto
http://www.gnu.org/software/wget/

======
pyre
One issue that I have with wget (and IIRC curl too) is that when downloading a
file from a URL like, "<http://example.com/file.php?id=1234> it will download
the file to 'file.php?id=1234'. This fails because the HTTP headers could
specify the filename when returning the data (which wget will ignore) or that
URL could be a redirect to the actual URL which contains the filename (but
wget blindly uses the first url supplied). I understand that this
functionality is probably desired when it comes to wget's mirroring functions
(since the src= and href= values won't point to the redirect URL or actual
filename) but there is no option to parse out the original file name even if
all you are doing is providing a list of URLs to download (not mirror).

{edit} To be fair, this is a pain in the ass to do w/ LWP::UserAgent in Perl
too:

    
    
      sub download_file_callback {
          my ($response,$useragent,$h) = @_;
          return undef if $response->code >= 300 and $response->code < 400;
          my $fname = $response->filename();
          $useragent->remove_handler('response_header',owner => 'billy');
          return $useragent->get($response->request()->uri(), ':content_file' => $fname);
      }
    
      $ua->add_handler( response_header => \&download_file_callback, owner => 'billy');
      my $response = $ua->get($url);

~~~
sumeeta
cURL ignores the filename header, but Wget actually gets it right by default.

------
pquerna
a 'maintainer' is a single point of failure.

build a community around a project, look at wget's main competitor, curl, for
an example: <http://curl.haxx.se/mail/list.cgi?list=curl-library> (299
messages so far in april!)

~~~
avar
Some of the issues they cite ("doesn't currently handle HTTP authentication as
well as it might", "no support for HTTP/1.1") look like they could be solved
by using a HTTP library like libcurl instead of rolling their own thing. I
wonder if there's political opposition to that (since cURL isn't GNU).

~~~
pquerna
yes, but that is what makes a good project design, a good separation of UI
from what its doing -- its why libcurl is adopted by dozens of other projects
for their http library, while wget doesn't have a properly written separate
library for 3rd party use, they significantly reduced the group of people who
would contribute.

In addition, because curl is under a BSD/MIT/apcahe style license, you are in
a better position to develop a diverse community.

------
marssaxman
Strange to read about this here: Micah is a childhood friend of mine.

I'd still rather use wget than curl, with its clunky syntax, but most places
have curl and not wget, so I'm stuck with it.

~~~
guelo
Most places? I rather doubt that. Maybe most Mac places. I think most Linux
distros and other unixes tend to favor wget.

------
sandGorgon
what are advantages of wget over curl - warm, fuzzy feeling aside ?

~~~
sesqu
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1241479>

