[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] RE: participating communities (was XML Blueberry)
Thanks. If I reload SoftQuad Author/Editor and load the right declaration, I should be able to use the XML software too. Nice how that works. SGML is still there in case given decisions such as "we don't want these characters in XML because given the business case, we don't need them", those who do need them can. Now, despite all the smileys, past posts, and a background in Eastern religions, do you really think I want the Buddhist texts to disappear? Or is it perhaps the case that reliance on requirements such as DePH, Internet Time, "it MUST be simple", and so forth, eventually lead to the kinds of absurdities, perhaps even injustices that a mature and dedicated group of designers would avoid? A few years ago as the XML design effort was beginning, I received a very serious email from a very well placed W3C member suggesting XML and the Web should be "english only" based on implementation costs and access. I realized at that moment just how carefully such privately-based initiatives should be monitored particularly if they are launched and sustained with slogans and propaganda that seek to replace completely the original working solutions. Making XML subject to only requirements a programmer recognizes is to lose the very benefits it offers. Machines reading and exchanging markup documents aren't the only things to be satisfied. Nor are particular cultures. Who should decide when cost is more important than culture? I agree with Elliotte that the analysis should be thorough, but at the end of that, the decision should be humane. Otherwise, we impoverish ourselves and our heirs. If Blueberry or something like it doesn't pass, based on what we are reading here, we will lose something of value, or force it back into SGML where if I am to take the SGMLSux folks seriously, it would be accessible only to folks like myself who actually still do have a leg to stand on. It may be the case that these are not the kinds of decisions consortia or mail lists should be allowed to make. It is the case that ISO with the government as its customer thought longer and harder about such requirements and did create a better design even if harder to implement. At the very least, they considered the alternatives. Protect your options. They are harder to put back than to take out. Len http://www.mp3.com/LenBullard Ekam sat.h, Vipraah bahudhaa vadanti. Daamyata. Datta. Dayadhvam.h -----Original Message----- From: Guy Murphy [mailto:guy-murphy@e...] Well, nobody actualy cut your foot off Len. SGML is still there if you care to use it.... just a large body of people decided to hop of in another direction. Not commenting on the broader issue of SGML and XML simply pointing out that *your* foot is still intact should you care to use it.
|
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
|