xml-dev - Re: Microsoft's Role in the XML Community (WAS RE: Important: The SAX C+

["Jonathan Borden" <jborden@mediaone.net>]

Len,

> What precisely did they do wrong?  They worked with the
> MIT personnel, then they extended by implementation, then
> they required protection for the IP associated with that
> extension?  Umm... that is done every day in the CS
> industry particularly where some improvement if announced
> may a) cause others to use a half-baked plan b) give a
> competitor an advantage c) otherwise make it impossible
> to use the IP to gain an advantage.

Umm.. and people, developers, users etc. have a right to express their
displeasure with implementations of so called standards. To me, if an
implementation calls itself a "Kerberos server" and another implementation
of a "Kerberos client" can't use its services, it means that if the client
correctly implements the protocol, the server doesn't work. Servers might
reasonably extend protocols for certain clients, but they ought provide base
services for all conformant clients.

Corporations react to the marketplace. We are the marketplace. If we value
interoperability then we need to express our views loudly and clearly.

<example>
In healthcare it is now common to use so called generic drugs, (which
usually work perfectly well). Suppose I were to offer a new 'implementation'
of a drug called digoxin/digitalis but it were extended to have twice the
potency of the other 'implementations' called "digitalis". Would that be a
good deal for the consumer? No, because people would die of overdosing. That
is why we have the FDA which regulates drugs. Compliance within the medical
community to "acceptable" standards is not solely the mandate of the
government: recognized organizations exist which define standards (e.g.
medical boards). Pharmecutical companies have broad "freedom to innovate"
yet these innovations are also subject to quite strict regulation prior to
being released to the general public.
</example>

In the XML community, particularly for the SAX protocol, the xml-dev list
sets standards of behavior. Perhaps we define simply 'not playing nice with
the other children' as what was done wrong.

Jonathan Borden



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