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On Tue, Aug 04, 2009 at 05:17:02PM +0100, Simon Robert wrote: > On Tue, 2009-08-04 at 15:18 +0100, Benjamin M. A'Lee wrote: > > On Tue, Aug 04, 2009 at 02:36:04PM +0100, Simon Robert wrote: > > > I still think it's nothing to do with what type of browser you happen to > > > be using. I notice that when the registration process is started the top > > > of the page says Siebel eService. A few seconds googling and I see that > > > siebel eservice is a CRM product that allows users to build portals or > > > will sell them packages. Without actually spending any time looking for > > > its' tech reqauirements I would imagine that it is this crm software > > > that is the problem, not the browser involved or the javascript that > > > serves the forms - as noted this all works with firefox and ubuntu at > > > least as far as the point when you select the type of benefit you want - > > > I didn't go beyond that point. > > > > A web application (HTML and Javascript only) is not in any way dependant > > on the client operating system, only the client browser. Unless there’s > > some external component (a Java applet, or some other plugin, or > > something that needs to be downloaded and run) there’s no need for it to > > require any given operating system. I’d understand (though disapprove) > > if they required specific browsers (at least, if they required IE only), > > but requiring a specific operating system and not a specific browser is > > nonsensical. > > > > the point is that it is only partly a web application, behind it is a > massive and complex application. The web part seems to work fine with > any browser yiou want to throw at it. It would appear that the data > crunching afterwards can't handle anything but MS. So it looks like you > can make your application and fill in the forms, but after that nothin g > will happen as your data will have fallen into a black hole. If the only way you are communicating with the application is via a browser, it doesn’t matter how massive and complex it is — the only relevant part of it is the web part. The browsers all pass in the data in the same way, no matter what — that is the point of standards. The only difference the backend application would see would be a different value in the User-Agent string. > As for your point, yes the browser, javascript is not OS dependent. > Didn't I just say it wasn't. That's why it works! It would seem that > beyond that something can't handle the data transfers from these apps if > linux is serving them. I really don't think that this department is so > dumb that they'd say "you can enter data using Apple/Unix, but it's not > going to work" if what they meant was "only IE will work with this > site", which is patently not true. I think they are telling the truth > and are trying to stop linux/mac users wasting time entering data when > nothing is going to result from it. Obviously I’m a lot more cynical than you are about the competence of web application developers, especially ones employed by the government. My guess is that they’re too lazy to test on anything but Windows and too incompetent to realise that there are other browsers besides IE. -- Benjamin M. A’Lee || mail: bma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx web: http://bma.subvert.org.uk/ || gpg: 0x166891C7 “…But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is an intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense.” — Bertrand Russell
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