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Re: The "what is XML" permathread revisited -- was Re:[xml-dev

• To: Rich Salz <rsalz@d...>
• Subject: Re: The "what is XML" permathread revisited -- was Re: XML Binary Characterization WG public list availabl e
• From: "Stephen D. Williams" <sdw@l...>
• Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 13:31:37 -0400
• Cc: bob@w..., 'Elliotte Rusty Harold' <elharo@m...>,'Michael Champion' <mc@x...>,''xml-dev' DEV' <xml-dev@l...>
• In-reply-to: <407C0DE1.8070002@d...>
• References: <00e301c420d3$a436a750$650aa8c0@BOBDEV> <407C0DE1.8070002@d...>
• User-agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.6b) Gecko/20031208

IMHO, there's no magic in the pointy brackets of the specific syntax of 
XML, all of the magic is in the agreement on a small set of rules, 
idioms, conventions, certain types of flexibility, and a path to 
building on that base.  That is why keeping everything but the specific 
syntax still feels like XML+ to many of us.

In spite of that, I can see value in coming up with an alternate term 
that conveys the above meaning and distinction.  Possibly:
XIS = eXtensible Info Set
XIS - binary-structure-encoding == XML - pointy-bracket-structure-encoding

Just saying that
XML - pointy-bracket-encoding == NULLSET, not-worth-talking-about, 
unrelatable-to-XML, of-no-use-to-anybody, 
not-allowed-to-leverage-XML-progress
is not helpful.

Until we come to a solid concensus on such a name, it's difficult to 
convey "just like XML except for the structure encoding" without using 
"XML".

sdw

Rich Salz wrote:

>>     Can we stop arguing about whether a binary alternative to XML
>> is, can, or should be called "XML"? The case has been made over and
>> over again that if it ain't pointy brackets and all the other stuff in
>> the XML specifications, then it ain't XML!
>
>
> I think that when even a W3C Activity Lead uses the "wrong" term, as 
> recently as a couple of weeks ago, that it is premature to call for an 
> end to discussion about the terminology.
>
> Sure, in many cases here it is preaching to the choir, but it's not a 
> universal meme yet.
>     /r$
>


-- 
swilliams@h... http://www.hpti.com Personal: sdw@l... http://sdw.st
Stephen D. Williams 703-724-0118W 703-995-0407Fax 20147-4622 AIM: sdw

• References:
  • RE: The "what is XML" permathread revisited -- was Re: XML Binary Characterization WG public list availabl e
    • From: "Bob Wyman" <bob@w...>
  • Re: The "what is XML" permathread revisited -- was Re: XML Binary Characterization WG public list availabl e
    • From: Rich Salz <rsalz@d...>

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