Support IPv6 link local address literals

[becarpenter]

The problem is that techie users (not regular users) sometimes need to access literal (numeric) IPv6 link local addresses, and the only existing browser that can do this is the doomed Internet Explorer. The use cases are documented in a draft [1] submitted to the IETF.

The solution is also documented in [1]. In brief, support URLs like https://[fe80::abcd%25eth0] or https://[fe80::abcd%eth0]. The draft in fact discusses several alternatives. The IETF WG would like developer feedback on the alternatives.

This is a long standing request that the browser "establishment" has several times rejected because it's "only" useful to technical specialists. See [2], [3], [4].

Perhaps some experienced Waterfox developer will have the courage to tackle it. I patched wget to support this and it was easy [5]. I looked at the Firefox sources but it needs more expertise than I have. Direct contact welcome (my email is in [1]).

[treysis]

It's not only technical specialists. Everyone who wants to configure their printers or other devices over the web interface will need this.

[becarpenter]

There's a new draft at https://www.ietf.org/archive/id/draft-carpenter-6man-rfc6874bis-03.html.

[becarpenter]

The IETF 6MAN WG has just formally adopted our document draft-ietf-6man-rfc6874bis-00. All we need is a developer who understands all the places where URLs are parsed (there are several) and where the actual socket calls are made. I'm glad to help if such a developer contacts me.

[becarpenter]

New version of the draft published: https://www.ietf.org/archive/id/draft-ietf-6man-rfc6874bis-01.html.
Among other things it adds a juicy Microsoft Windows use case,

[becarpenter]

The relevant URI syntax update is now in IETF Last Call, i.e. the last opportunity for public comments: https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/ietf-announce/BqBF9qvZ8qZR4ZPlawPvQSe0WbU/

[MrAlex94]

Thanks for the update @becarpenter. It looks like you're active in the Bug for it as well. Once Mozilla implement it, we'll inherit it as well.