This is a ridiculous conversation though. The default choice for what?
What are we even contemplating building here? HTTP is clearly not a sane choice for everything, and most likely not a sane choice for the majority of things people build.
This argument is like saying "If you're going to write any software, you should assume you'll write it in Java, unless you have a good reason not to". (Which some people were probably chanting in 1998).
To be fair, I've at least taken the approach of starting with HTTP for many projects (knowing I'll probably ditch it at some point) - the author does have a point about it being very easy to debug using things like wget and your web browser.
Sure, but if we were working on something like skype, or a multiplayer gaming network, or an instant messaging system, HTTP wouldn't be an obvious choice.
Maybe I missed the part in the article where it said "In the world of websites/webapps... etc" :)
What are we even contemplating building here? HTTP is clearly not a sane choice for everything, and most likely not a sane choice for the majority of things people build.
This argument is like saying "If you're going to write any software, you should assume you'll write it in Java, unless you have a good reason not to". (Which some people were probably chanting in 1998).