Basic needs

In the discussion we came up with the following list of basic needs, that is functionality required by application developers:
  1. resolving URLs
  2. authentication of users
  3. communication (and negotiation)
  4. distribution - eg. applets accross sites
  5. security - authentication of network identity
  6. configuration - also the delegation of configuration
  7. billing and payment
  8. application persistence - i.e. states
  9. QOS and QOT demands - e.g. bandwidth
  10. notification and monitoring
An additional need that was mentioned later on is support for multiple (natural) languages, see  [MAITS]. Admittedly, in this list of basic needs, no distinction is made between the various possible perspectives, server-side, client-side, or what have you. The best we can do, as was suggested by Frystik Nielsen, is to gain experience with existing APIs (such as the ones listed in the catalogue and share these with the community.