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Arjun Ray writes: (with [] off-list correction)
> | You insist that the Web needs a total cleanup, perhaps a rebirth,
> | before it's worthy of further consideration.
>
> Actually, no. The problem with "SGML on the web" is with the article
> "the". One could think about "SGML on a web", and work towards it,
> but the idea SGML/XML can coexist on the same web [with Tag Soup] is
> a geeky delusion.
>
> The social phenomenon being ignored is Gresham's Law ("cheap currency
> drives out the dear".)
I don't think Gresham's Law applies very well here. Gresham's Law only
works when you can buy the same things with the debased coinage as you
can buy with the good (typically gold) stuff.
SGML and XML buy you many more things than can Tag Soupish HTML,
though they certainly can provide the same things as HTML. I think the
problem for XML has been convincing anyone that they actually need
those additional things, and Tag Soup continues to dominate in the
absence of any convincing need for serious change.
XML's offerings for the Web come with a big learning curve and the
benefits are still mostly trapped on the server. Tag Soup started with
a smaller set of ambitions and a more complete toolkit. Perhaps XML
would be wise to take a similar approach; I don't think it's too late
for that, though it might need yet another acronym change to make people
forget about the 1200-page "XML" books.
> Perhaps I should marvel at the "thinking about structure", or perhaps
> at the grasp thereof, that went into class names such as
> "fourhundred" and "fifty" and "orangebox".
Sorry - in the context of the conversation, I thought you were bemoaning
what they were doing, not the labels. Yeah, "orangebox" is probably not
a great label for consistent reuse over time.
> Oh, I get it. Do as they say, not as they do, right?
That's the nature of a transition, yes.
-------------
Simon St.Laurent - SSL is my TLA
http://simonstl.com may be my URI
http://monasticxml.org may be my ascetic URI
urn:oid:1.3.6.1.4.1.6320 is another possibility altogether
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