Re: ISSUE-76: Need feedback on splitting Microdata into separate specification

On Oct 16, 2009, at 16:35, Shelley Powers wrote:

> How can you say it addresses your concerns when you don't care for  
> metadata,

I do care about metadata sometimes. It isn't my primary interest and  
I'm often skeptical of the cost/benefit ratio of metadata. I should  
point out that I don't in any way object to solving the problems that  
Microdata addresses, even though I'm personally more interested in  
solving other problems in the sphere of HTML.

As for how can I say whether my concerns are addressed:

An example of my concern about RDFa is that in uses syntax that in  
Gecko, WebKit and Presto parses to a different DOM Level 2  
representation in text/html and application/xhtml+xml. I can assess  
whether a proposal has this property even if the proposal is solving a  
problem I wouldn't personally pursue solving as a priority. This  
touches on my activities as a parser developer.

An example of my concern about Microformats is that they lack a  
precise processing model. Again, I can assess whether a proposal has a  
precise processing model even if the proposal is solving a problem I  
wouldn't personally pursue solving as a priority. This touches on my  
activities as a validator developer.

> and it seems like you compare it to some form of evangelism?

I used the word "evangelism" in this sense:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_evangelist

> So how can that make you a good judge, even a mediocre judge of what  
> works "best" when it comes to metadata?

I'm not suggesting that Microdata is the best solution in the absolute  
sense. I'm just suggesting that it fixes some flaws that alternative  
solutions have, so it's better (or less bad). I encourage you to help  
the WG make Microdata even better.

> If anything, you, like everyone else who have responded to this  
> discussion have given a good reason to remove Microdata from the  
> HTML5 specification, into its own document. If it is the superior  
> approach you deem it to be, it will succeed;

It may well succeed as a stand-alone thing, but I choose not to  
support splitting it out merely in order to show confidence.

-- 
Henri Sivonen
hsivonen@iki.fi
http://hsivonen.iki.fi/

Received on Friday, 16 October 2009 15:40:55 UTC