During last week's heating issues, I needed to send someone a link to download the Windows software for our heating controller. I grabbed the link I made a note of nine years ago and tested it quickly before sending:

[david@cp:~]$ wget https://innotech.com/DownloadFiles/Software/icomm_v130_rel19.exe                                 (02/02 19:25)
--2020-02-02 19:25:41-- https://innotech.com/DownloadFiles/Software/icomm_v130_rel19.exe
Resolving innotech.com (innotech.com)… 2606:4700:3037::6812:28dc, 2606:4700:3031::6812:29dc, 104.18.40.220, …
Connecting to innotech.com (innotech.com)|2606:4700:3037::6812:28dc|:443… connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response… 200 OK

Two things about this please me greatly:

  • Cool URIs don't change. I had no doubt that the software would still be available; it's used for a range of devices some of which are still for sale. But that the same link from 2011 still works is impressive.
  • The download happened over IPv6! Naturally, this isn't because a random HVAC supplier has rolled it out explicitly for their website; they're using CloudFlare. And why not? Takes care of the SSL, caches those downloads closer to global customers and thus saves bandwidth, keeps you up to date without you having to lift a finger. CloudFlare's control panel doesn't let you turn IPv6 off if you're on their basic package - it rightly explains that there is no good reason to do so.