xml-dev - Re: Realistic proposals to the W3C?

[Sean McGrath <sean@digitome.com>]

At 01:59 PM 10/16/00 -0400, Mike.Champion@SoftwareAG-USA.com wrote:

>  I think it would be great if this group could help the XML community as 
> a whole sort out what it wants from the W3C, what it can realistically 
> DEMAND of the W3C, and what it must find elsewhere. If some reasonable 
> consensus emerges, perhaps it could be quasi-formally submitted to the 
> W3C in some form.

I have one suggestion for the W3C. Stop writing standards and start writing
- and encouraging third parties to write - cool Web software in interesting 
areas.
When running code does cool stuff in a new and interesting area, form a working
group to spec out a baseline specification for other implementations to 
conform to.

Nothing new here. The "running code wins" principle is all.  A very useful 
principle
which occasionally raises its head in ISO as well as W3C circles, only to
disappear again thus playing into the hands of those who interpret and
extend abstract specifications while implementing them - thus inhibiting
the interoperability the specs were written to promote.

regards,
Sean

http://www.pyxie.org - an Open Source XML Processing library for Python