Re: [xml-dev] Pragmatic namespaces

[Liam Quin <liam@w3.org>]

On Thu, Aug 06, 2009 at 08:08:45PM +1000, rjelliffe@allette.com.au wrote:
> >> the right problem being having a namespaces-like mechanism
> >> that the HTML working group would be happy with.

+1

> > No, the HTML WG has to come up with a mechanism that the rest of the
> > community is happy with (or at least, is prepared to live with). If they
> > fail to do so, they will fail.

No, HTML isn't going away just because they introduce incompatibilities
with some XML spec or other.

> Eh?? The XML community cannot pretend to be or speak for the HTML
> community. There is no push to change namespaces except for HTML by the
> HTML WG.

There's some from other people too, although when doing the XIN stuff I
did talk to a number of HTML and XHTML people first.

> So we can expect the XML community to block any changes unless the changes
> offer some *significant* benefit. The support of the HTML WG is necessary,
> if not sufficient.

ALso agree 100%

> I think the key issue is non-distruptiveness. The XML side won't accept
> something that is too disruptive on balance; and the HTML side is to some
> extent saying that Namespaces have proved too disruptive for HTML to
> swallow.

Right.

> (My own opinion is that this is all a side-effect of the W3C's intense
> desire to avoid anything like a long-term plan or a co-ordinated strategy.
> For example, what if 2000 the HTML group had decided that by 2010 HTML
> parsers should accept full XML, including qualified names?

They (we) did exactly that - the problem is getting Web browsers and
site developers to follow...

So it turns out thatit's not that simple.

Liam

-- 
Liam Quin, W3C XML Activity Lead, http://www.w3.org/People/Quin/
http://www.holoweb.net/~liam/ * http://www.fromoldbooks.org/