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Gerald Bauer wrote:
> Hi,
>
> to help the XUL discussion get started may I quote
> from Paul Prescod's xml-dev post from last summer:
>
>
>>Although Mozilla has a community around it,
>>XUL seems not to have reached that point as an
>>independent entity. Maybe it needs a mailing
>>list and some leadership.
Well you've used my name so I'm going to say that I do NOT endorse this
incarnation of xul-list.
Last summer, I said that XUL needs two things:
1. Mailing list
2. Leadership
You've provided the first and I know you are trying to provide the
second. But I do not think that your combative style is what is needed
to build a XUL community. Competition is fine but to build a community
what you need first is _cooperation_. Unfortunately every thread you
participate in seems to devolve into fractious argumentation and
sometimes all-out name calling. xul-list devolved into flaming faster
than any mailing list in history. You've only just appeared on xml-dev
and people are already asking you to leave. There is a problem here!
If you really want XUL to succeed (and I know I certainly do) I would
encourage you to reconsider your approach. One important aspect of
leadership is picking your battles. But you always want to fight about
everything. XForms and XUL could work together nicely. But instead you
want to insult potential partners. Similarly, XUL could work great for
describing Windows user interfaces but you can't help but conflate XUL
with Linux advocacy and anti-Microsoft rhetoric. You say that
terminological differences are "hair splitting" and yet you refuse to
back down and thus create enemies where there is nothing to be won and
everything to be lost. I honestly believe that you prefer the adrenalin
rush of battle to success.
That's not what XUL needs right now. Leadership is about cooperation and
intelligent compromise. Consider Linus' live and let live attitude about
proprietary software. Consider Guido's and Larry's support for Windows
versions of their programming languages.
So I'm going to renew my call. XUL needs two things:
1. Mailing list
2. Leadership
XUL is a mind-numbingly simple idea which should be much further ahead
than it is right now. On the one hand you've got its undeclared enemies
who I'm sure would fight its standardization at the W3C and then there
is the old saying: "With friends like these..."
I'm going to do my best not to respond publically to replies to this
message.
Paul Prescod
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