Web sockets against antiviruses. First round

Not far off is the influx of html5 applications. For users, this is even more interactivity and new features, primarily due to local storage and websockets technologies. For developers, this is another headache for compatibility. The first blow below the belt came from the Firefox4 and Opera11 teams, disabling websockets support by default. The developers endured, having placed instructions on how to enable them in their faq and lining them in the form of a flash component emulating websockets support for very outdated browsers.

When translating the Treljazh Club from comet long polling event processing to the websockets model, we were faced with the fact that the trouble came from where it was not expected. And she came from the camp of antiviruses.

Tested on a large number of combinations of browsers and operating systems, the application refused to work with a significant group of users. It turned out that they all used Avast antivirus in the default configuration. It includes the so-called "Web screen" mode, which decided that the ws protocol is bad and needs to be silently cut. Avast evangelists, in turn, slurp trolls with links about "Web Sockets and the risks of unfinished standards" without understanding their essence (this issue was repeatedly discussed on the hub)

According to the old Russian custom, after the question “who is to blame?” Is closed, the question “what to do?” Is usually raised. We have already encounteredwith insane antivirus behavior. In that case, the answer was obvious. In this - everything is much more complicated. Convincing users to turn off the Web screen, changing the antivirus / browser / operating system, as practice shows, is not particularly effective. Throw away Avast support with requests to remove this check, or at least give users the opportunity to configure a list of exclusions for specific sites - akin to complaints to Sportloto and the League of Nations.

It remains only to wait. Wait for the heavyweights and google / facebook / ... to pull up, and websocket applications will be released very, very necessary for users. And here the manufacturers of [anti] viruses will not get out.

In conclusion, I would like to say the following. If any site or service suddenly stopped working for you, do not rush to write everything off to the crooked hands of developers. Perhaps a suddenly updated antivirus decided to review your security policy.