[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] Re: Do you enjoy neighborhoods where every house looksthe same
Thank you for providing a classic ideological response: largely polite, but assuming that all sophistication and structure is somehow on the side of expert culture. On 8/28/13 10:17 PM, Toby Considine wrote: > While we are indulging in so many mixed metaphors, and not a smooth > mix, but chunky (think chocolate chip and nuts in cookie dough, where > the un-mixed parts are the most interesting) > > I think of fashion ,wherein it has long been considered that one > needs basic, without which that single accent, whether a jewel, or a > scarf, or a custom vest, works, because it is laid against a > background of basics. > > I think of dance, wherein all twerking looks pretty much the same, > but creativity within, say, an Argentinian tango offers creativity > and uniqueness far beyond that offered by unstructured dance⦠> > Or even essential commerce, wherein one can get clothes from any > seamstress, but the notion of pants (two legs, inseam, waist) creates > a market in which creativity can flourish None of the metaphors you suggest resemble in any way the construction of XML vocabularies. * All have design components, but all are cases where styles emerged independently and continue to evolve. * None of them developed from any kind of standards process. * Tango has loose formal criteria for some competition purposes; the others remain basically unspecified. Ruskin, Morris, and Alexander do not propose an assault on structure or sophistication. They assault the way we've developed structure over the last few centuries, the top-down approach that leads to both inferior work and the 'degradation of the workman'. <http://www.balisage.net/Proceedings/vol10/html/StLaurent01/BalisageVol10-StLaurent01.html#d145646e201> And then the leap... > No standards, is a chaos of miscommunication and small scale and, as > observed earlier in this thread, uneconomic results. That assertion doesn't connect to the metaphors at all, but it clearly reflects your fears. > Knowing when to > break the standards is the essence of the creativity that this thread > claims to seek. That may be Roger's purpose. I can't speak for him, though he is certainly trying much harder to blend existing standards culture with these proposals. The "essence of the creativity", however, is about working with a minimal set of standards and tools to include as much creativity from as many different people as possible by valuing context over standardization. That's not at all about breaking standards. It's about working with the smallest set of standards that will support the conversation (with the people actually having the conversation in their live contexts) and building appropriately from there. Markup syntax is a convenient minimal standard for supporting electronic communication. There are useful tools for manipulating it. Standardize and improve the tools for manipulating markup, rather than trying to lock down what is said with markup. > Not having any on the first place would put all on > this thread out of work. It is always good to remind people that their existing paychecks may be threatened by proposals that would restructure a business to include many more people. Also note that I've never proposed having no standards at all. Minimal standards does not equal "not having any in the first place." > Simonâs assertions are a great conversation piece and force one to > think of the benefits of transgression. Embracing them without > consideration is unwise. Let the peasants dance, but don't let them form cooperatives! As I said in my talk, XML has long acknowledged a place for such proposals, and insisted that they stay in the corner for just as long. Slide 20 referred to this as "Contains anarchy by treating it as exceptional." Thank you for the confirmation that this viewpoint is alive and well. Slide #5 is for you. <http://www.slideshare.net/simonstl/the-allure-of-gothic-markup/5> Thanks, -- Simon St.Laurent http://simonstl.com/
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