[deeringc]

A zip file on a web server that supports etags, that's polled every time access is required. When nothing has changed since last time, you get an empty HTTP 304 response and if it has changed then you simply download the <1MB Zip file again with the updated etag. What am I missing?

[throwing_away]

You forgot to get yourself paid.

[tryauuum]

Probably nothing

My concern was "what if file is updated while it's mid-download" but Linux would probably keep the old version of the file until the download finishes (== until file is still open by webserver process). Probably. It's better to test

[tbrownaw]

Is it updated in place (open/write), or replaced (rename)?

If it's updated in place, did the web server read the whole thing into a buffer or is it doing read/send in a loop?