Re: [xml-dev] Memorable quotes from Balisage 2013

[John Cowan <johnwcowan@gmail.com>]

On Fri, Aug 9, 2013 at 5:35 PM, Costello, Roger L. <costello@mitre.org> wrote:

 

Balisage 2013 was excellent. Below are some memorable quotes that I jotted down during the conference.

I know you don't necessarily agree with all of these, but I'll push back on some anyway.

 

3. The value of open source has been oversold. Proprietary is about taking responsibility of the product (contrast with open source, where no one takes responsibility).

*Commercial* software is about taking responsibility for the product.  It doesn't have to be proprietary to be commercial: see Red Hat.

 

8. Namespaces is an enormous sledgehammer to solve a very small problem -- the collision of two names within a single XML document (the occurrence of which is highly unlikely).

That's not really true, though I raised no objection at the time.  The point of namespaces is the same as the point of domain names: to support multiple independent sources of authority.

 

12. There are currently many metadata vocabularies. However, we need to have a standard metadata vocabulary so that we know it will last.

ORLY?  See the sad fate of ANSI X3.60.

 

13. People value things they pay for.

Not judging by the contents of my trash cans (which are shared with about 20 other families).

 

18. Research has shown that you will concentrate better if you remove your socks and shoes. The explanation for this is that shoes and socks keep the feet warm, thus blood flows into the feet. By removing socks and shoes, more blood flows to the brain.

Was this from Liam, or Elliot?

 

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