Re: Web Philosophy

["Simon St.Laurent" <simonstl@simonstl.com>]

At 06:52 PM 3/27/01 +0200, Martin v. Loewis wrote:
>Now I understand. You are not (primarily) criticizing the technical
>results that they get, but the process by which they obtain them.

I criticize both, when appropriate.  There are times where (from my 
perspective) political process can lead to unpleasant technical results.  I 
don't believe that technical and political problems can be neatly separated 
by experts, either.

> > That might seem quaint, nostalgic, or naive to some people, but I
> > think it's a pretty reasonable, even moderate, stance.
>
>I think it is confusing that you apparently disagree with the results
>based on the process in which they've been produced. While I can
>understand the criticism, I'd agree it is naïve to assume that
>anything will likely change in that respect in foreseeable future.

Things actually are changing, even at the W3C - see earlier notes regarding 
the protocols and semantic web activities.  Naivete may not be such a bad 
strategy.

At the same time, the W3C is picking up substantial competition, especially 
on the Schemas front.  RELAX is moving through ISO, TREX through 
OASIS.  Competition, even between processes which may have their own flaws, 
may improve the situation overall.

>Furthermore, I cannot agree that the process is closed - nor do I see
>reasonable alternatives.

Yeah, well...


Simon St.Laurent - Associate Editor, O'Reilly and Associates
XML Elements of Style / XML: A Primer, 2nd Ed.
XHTML: Migrating Toward XML
http://www.simonstl.com - XML essays and books