[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] Re: W3C's 'Moral Majesty'
[David Megginson:] > Rather, Steve is arguing that universal names should not be an end in > themselves -- and that's a very reasonable argument -- but that hardly > disproves the claim that Namespace-qualified names are > universally-distinguishable. Thanks David. You're right. When Tim Bray said "universal", I understood it in the general sense of the word, not in the sense of "universally distinguishable." I do believe that namespaces make names universally distinguishable, and, in fairness, that is all that the namespace spec claims. Tim Berners-Lee's universalistic claims for namespaces and RDF, including his interpretation of the namespace spec, are what I take issue with. He is creating expectations for reliable information interchange on which he cannot deliver, but which are crowding real solutions out of the public mindspace. When W3C does not deliver something that works, and instead delivers something that does not work, the official explanation is, "This is part of the solution, so use it, trusting us when we tell you that rest of the solution is coming Real Soon Now." It's very dominant-software-vendor-ish behavior: when you don't have anything, occupy the market space with promises, thus starving the competition for business. My point is only that the W3C is a software-vendor-dominated group, and it behaves as such. "By their fruits ye shall know them." That's neither good nor bad; it's just a fact that should be borne in mind by those who are thinking about looking to the W3C for technical leadership. For some people, including the largest software vendors, the W3C is a good choice. For many, it is best to regard the W3C as just one leadership resource -- one that has much to offer. I believe that some of its gifts are Trojan horses, and I can't be silent about that, even if I have to play the role of Cassandra. "Look inside the horse before taking the horse inside your city walls." That's all. -Steve -- Steven R. Newcomb, President, TechnoTeacher, Inc. srn@t... http://www.techno.com ftp.techno.com voice: +1 972 231 4098 fax +1 972 994 0087 pager (150 characters max): srn-page@t... 3615 Tanner Lane Richardson, Texas 75082-2618 USA xml-dev: A list for W3C XML Developers. To post, mailto:xml-dev@i... Archived as: http://www.lists.ic.ac.uk/hypermail/xml-dev/ and on CD-ROM/ISBN 981-02-3594-1 To (un)subscribe, mailto:majordomo@i... the following message; (un)subscribe xml-dev To subscribe to the digests, mailto:majordomo@i... the following message; subscribe xml-dev-digest List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (mailto:rzepa@i...)
|
PURCHASE STYLUS STUDIO ONLINE TODAY!Purchasing Stylus Studio from our online shop is Easy, Secure and Value Priced! Download The World's Best XML IDE!Accelerate XML development with our award-winning XML IDE - Download a free trial today! Subscribe in XML format
|