• From: "Simon St.Laurent" <simonstl@s...>
• To: "xml-dev@l..." <xml-dev@l...>
• Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 08:06:26 -0400

On 4/10/13 7:51 AM, James Fuller wrote:
> On Mon, Mar 25, 2013 at 4:35 PM, Simon St.Laurent
> <simonstl@s...> wrote:
>> If you enjoy the disease, you're unlikely to want a cure.  Some
>> diseases are like that.
>
> After reading various email threads ... I am still at a lost at what
> you are identifying as the disease that is in effect here. ... can
> you explain too me the symptoms and specifics of the disease you
> speak of ( in terms a small child can understand )?

The disease is the brittle legalism that schemas encourage and then 
enforce.  We mistook this disease for the true promise of XML - 
agreements! transparency! - and encouraged it to rage in epidemic form, 
driving developers and organizations away from XML and markup entirely.

It is not the only issue driving developers away from the XML ecosystem, 
as previously discussed.  However, it seems to be the issue made 
invisible by our blinders, the piece we just can't imagine is really a 
problem.

The odds are excellent this post will provoke more "brittle legalism? 
But it isn't!  It couldn't be!  It works for me!" replies, though 
hopefully that phase of the conversation is coming to a close.

The cure is more complicated, but the first step is acknowledging the 
need for (heck, the existence of) alternative approaches.

Thanks,
-- 
Simon St.Laurent
http://simonstl.com/

• Follow-Ups:
  • Re: Not using mixed content? Then don't use XML
    • From: James Fuller <james.fuller.2007@g...>

• References:
  • Re: Not using mixed content? Then don't use XML
    • From: James Fuller <james.fuller.2007@g...>