Re: Should the XML "recommendation" have an expiration date?

[cbullard@hiwaay.net]

Not unless the documents with XML Decls in the head do.

Remember XML is also used Off The Web.

The irony is XML was created when the SGML revision was too slow in  
coming and from what was considered to be The Wrong Authority For Web  
Purposes, ISO.

len

Quoting "Costello, Roger L." <costello@mitre.org>:

> Hi Folks,
>
> In the article "Vulnerable Compliance" the author Dan Geer suggests  
> that standards [recommendations] should have an expiration date:
>
>     If one interprets a standard as a kind of license,
>     then perhaps standards should come with an
>     expire-by date. Some attacks that are not possible
>     in today's state of the world may become possible
>     in the future and invalidate the design environment
>     in which a standard was crafted.
>
> Is the design environment in which XML was crafted (circa 1998)  
> invalid in today's state of the world?
>
> There are a number of potential benefits to having an expiration date on XML:
>
> 1. A looming expiration date will force a lot of smart people to  
> work on creating something better -- less vulnerable to attacks,  
> faster, smaller, and more capable. (Necessity is the mother of  
> invention.)
>
> 2. Constant churning and change seems to be consistent with the way  
> nature and complex systems work. (I guess this isn't a benefit, it's  
> more of an observation.)
>
> 3. It will create jobs.
>
> 4. It's fun to create new things and people like new things. There  
> will be lots of conferences and workshops, attended by thousands of  
> people.
>
> There is, of course, a disadvantage:
>
>     It will take significant effort and money
>     to replace the existing tools and standards.
>
> Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantage?
>
> What do you think, should the XML recommendation have an expiration  
> date? If yes, what date would you set as the expiration date?
>
> /Roger
>
>