Friday Flame Fest, anyone???

GAO says XML not ready for extensive government use
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/02/04/05/020405hngaoxml.xml 

'The absence of a complete set of XML standards poses potential development pitfalls "that 
could limit its potential to facilitate broad information exchange or adversely affect 
interoperability," the agency said. The lack of complete standards could prompt agencies to 
develop their own data definitions and proprietary extensions and make changes that could hurt 
system security.  

The strong leadership approach advocated by the GAO is not too dissimilar from what occurs in 
the private sector, said Rob Perry, an analyst at The Yankee Group in Boston. In specific 
industries, large companies such as an automobile maker often mandate XML standards for 
business partners. "Somebody in the government has to say, This is the format that we're going 
to use,? " he said." '