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RE: A milestone in XML

• From: Dave Winer <dave@u...>
• To: xml-dev@i...
• Date: Mon, 17 May 1999 07:52:39 -0700

Thanks for reminding me of the flaw in CDF that RSS addresses.

CDF asked you to name N pages on your site that should be watched for changes.

RSS doesn't require that the pages be on your site, and further, it assumes 
that they could be different from day to day. This reflects what's actually 
happening in WebLand. Each story gets its own URL. That way when I go look 
for it two months from now it's still there. I remember programming CDF 
support in Frontier and realizing it had nothing to do with the kinds of 
sites people actually do. To me, that's why CDF didn't go anywhere.

Why is RSS a milestone for XML? Because it's being so widely supported by 
webmasters of news oriented sites.

Dave


At 07:18 AM 5/17/99 , Jeffrey Ricker wrote:
>Sorry for the delay in response. Short vacation with the family.
>
>First things first: Of course CDF is XML. It is one of the very first uses
>of XML.
>
>You would be hard pressed to say I am in the Microsoft ecosystem, but lets
>give credit where its due. Yes, channels were overhyped and didn't go
>anywhere. (I personally believe the same fate awaits portals.)
>
>But look at the underlying purpose and capability of a CDF file. I
>designates a group of related files, describes them and tells you if and
>when they change. Now that's practical and it works.
>
>Are you going to tell me CDF is complicated? If you want complicated, look
>at ICE! But then realize that ICE is industrial strength content
>syndication, not intended for the pedestrian web page hacker.
>
>Climb under the hood of PointCast some time. It is very simple, make that
>practical, technology. CDF didn't meet all their needs, but they didn't
>throw the baby out with the bathwater. They didn't reinvent anything. They
>simply extended it. Isn't that what we did with HTML for the past few years?
>
>PS. Why do you call it a milestone, anyway?
>
>At 07:03 AM 5/15/99 -0700, Dave Winer wrote:
> >I haven't answered this question because I don't know the answer. Who knows
> >how anyone else thinks? Especially a big corporation that's just been
> >acquired by an even bigger corporation? Anyway, from my POV, CDF is a dead
> >horse. We did some work with it when it first came out, but it seemed
> >fairly useless and never went anywhere that I could see. Beyond that, I
> >have not got a clue what CDF was supposed to do that anyone wanted. RSS on
> >the other hand is quite useful, and lots of people are getting on the RSS
> >train, so of course we supported it enthusiastically. That's the big
> >picture from where I sit. Dave
> >
> >
> >At 01:36 AM 5/14/99 , Matthew Sergeant (EML) wrote:
> >> > -----Original Message-----
> >> > From: Jeffrey Ricker [SMTP:ricker@x...]
> >> >
> >> > Dave,
> >> > Why did Netscape feel it necessary to invent RSS rather than use CDF as
> >> > Microsoft, DataChannel, PointCast, etc. do?
> >> >
> >> >
> >>         Perhaps because CDF isn't XML?
> >>
> >>         http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/delivery/channel/cdf1/cdf1.asp
> >>         http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/delivery/cdf/reference/xml.asp
> >>
> >>         Matt.
> >>
> >>
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• References:
  • RE: A milestone in XML
    • From: Dave Winer <dave@u...>
  • RE: A milestone in XML
    • From: Jeffrey Ricker <ricker@x...>

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