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Re: What are the arguments *for* XHTML 2.0?

• To: xml-dev@l...
• Subject: Re: What are the arguments *for* XHTML 2.0?
• From: Uche Ogbuji <uche.ogbuji@f...>
• Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2002 10:59:25 -0700
• In-reply-to: Message from "Ann Navarro" <ann@w...> of "Wed, 20 Nov 2002 11:19:13 EST." <EOEMKFKJILKOONCOJGEACEMJDPAA.ann@w...>
• Sender: uche.ogbuji@f...

> Well, if there's no flamage to be found here, we'll just go dig it up
> elsewhere, apparently:
> 
> 'Andrew Watt
> "XHTML 2.0 - the W3C leading the Web to its full potential ... to implement
> yesterday's technology tomorrow"'

<rant>
This is the sort of thing that has really got my goat lately.  I have no 
patience for people who insist only on tearing down the work people are doing, 
without doing any competing building of their own.

I think this already characterizes too much of the debate against RDF.  Rather 
than people saying "hey, I don't like RDF, but rather than using it, I'll 
use/invent technology X for the following technical reasons...", people are 
asking vacuous questions such as "what value does RDF add?"  Now this sort of 
nonsense seems to have spread to discussion of XHTML.  I have no problem with 
opposition to, say, RDF or XHTML itself.  I have a lot of respect for the 
Topic Maps folks who say "we think RDF is broken: look at what we're building 
instead".

The sad thing is that none of those making vacuous attacks against XHTML seem 
to be building any alternatives in the open.  They want to maintain the status 
quo, despite the fact that if we are not erecting edifices in the open, 
commercial interests will build their own skyscrapers behind their corporate 
cloaking devices, unveil them all of a sudden, and suddenly charge us all 
taxes for viewing the altered skyline.

People who do not like WXS have done impressive work around Schematron and 
RELAX NG.  Some of us who do not like XPath and XSLT 2.0 are earnestly trying 
to get work going on XPath NG.  Progress is made when the competition features 
plumbers on both sides.  When we have plumbers on one side, and just pundits 
on the other, the result is pure bathos.

Andrew, this is a list of *developers*.  Therefore, by every cultural 
convention, it is *your* burden to prove why people should not be building 
things rather than insist that they make formal justification before laying 
every brick.
</rant>


-- 
Uche Ogbuji                                    Fourthought, Inc.
http://uche.ogbuji.net    http://4Suite.org    http://fourthought.com
Python&XML column: 2. Introducing PyXML - http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/09/25/p
y.html
The Past, Present and Future of Web Services 1 - http://www.webservices.org/ind
ex.php/article/articleview/663/1/24/
The Past, Present and Future of Web Services 2 - 'http://www.webservices.org/in
dex.php/article/articleview/679/1/24/
Serenity through markup - http://adtmag.com/article.asp?id=6807
Tip: Using generators for XML processing - http://www-106.ibm.com/developerwork
s/xml/library/x-tipgenr.html

• References:
  • RE: What are the arguments *for* XHTML 2.0?
    • From: "Ann Navarro" <ann@w...>

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