Midrash HaWeb

 From the Jewish Genealogy list

Subject: Midrash HaWeb

Rabbi Tarfon of Bet Shean said of Rabbi Shlomo ben Yechezkel of
Tiverya: It is said that in those days Rabbi Shlomo ben Yechezkel of
Tiverya designed a web site for the mother of his father, Sarah the
daughter of Pinchas, who begat Yechezkel, who begat Rabbi Shlomo ben
Yechezkel of Tiverya. Thus Rabbi Shlomo ben Yechezkel of Tiverya
performed the mitzvah of web site design.

Rabbi Michal ben Elkanah, who had only one eye, said: But is it
not also said that in those days there was no web, only gopher?

Rabbi Shmaryahu of Hevron said:  It is true, but as it is written:
"A web browser may also use the gopher protocol, in addition to the
HTTP protocol."

Rabbi Eliezer asked:  Why does it specifically mention that the web
browser may also use the gopher protocol, when it is written elsewhere
that a web browser may use any protocol?  Because the gopher protocol
is especially meritorious, since it enables support of legacy systems.

One time a poor man came into the home of Rabbi Shmaryahu of Hevron
and asked for two megabytes of disk space on the web site of Rabbi
Shmaryahu of Hevron.  Rabbi Shmaryahu of Hevron refused the man, but
instead gave him a personal web server for his own use.  At this point
Rabbi Yehudah  ben Yerachmiel asked Rabbi Shmaryahu of Hevron: Why did
you refuse this man's request, but instead give him a personal web
server for his own use?

Rabbi Shmaryahu of Hevron replied:  It [the Mishnah] teaches:  "When
a poor man comes into your home and asks for disk space on your web
site, first ascertain whether he is going to use it for his own
purpose or for the purpose of idol worship.  If he is going to use it
for his own purpose, grant him the space he asks, unless it exceeds
twenty ephraot [one ephrah  213 kilobytes], in which case you may
refer him to a local Internet service provider, for as it is written:
It is not upon you to complete the task, but neither are you free to
desist from it. If he  is going to use it for the purpose of idol
worship, then do not give him the space, but instead rebuke him,
that he might see the error of his ways and refrain from idol worship."

Rabbi Gideon of Shechem disagreed, saying:  It [the Mishnah] also
teaches: "When a poor man requests space on an FTP server, you must
grant it without asking why he is going to use it."  Why would the
Mishnah impose requirements on a web server but not an FTP server?

Rabbi Shmaryahu of Hevron said:  Rabbi Eliezer said:  Why does it
specifically mention that the web browser may also use the gopher
protocol when it is written elsewhere that a web browser may use
any protocol? Because the gopher protocol is especially meritorious,
since it enables support of legacy systems.  Similarly, the FTP
protocol is especially meritorious.  Therefore, it is unfair to
deny a poor man access to FTP, whereas it is sometimes permitted to
refrain from giving a poor man  access to HTTP, because without HTTP
he can still serve files using FTP, but without FTP he will be unable
to put his files on the server, since the means for saving files over
HTTP are unreliable.

from Mottel Gutnick on J.O.I.N.

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