The HTTP 'referrer' typo from the '90s will never be fixed — not even by AI
jimmykoppel · x · 2026-10-15
Jimmy Koppel points out a software flaw that will never be fixed: when the HTTP standard was written in the early '90s, engineers misspelled "referrer". Your browser still sends that typo on almost every web request today.
He turned it into a talk exploring why this well-known legacy mistake cannot be corrected even by AI — a case study in standards, backward compatibility, and ecosystem lock-in.
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