Re: Report on testing of the link relations registry

On Wed, Aug 18, 2010 at 4:30 AM, Ian Hickson <ian@hixie.ch> wrote:

> On Tue, 17 Aug 2010, Tantek Ã~Gelik wrote:
> > On Mon, Aug 16, 2010 at 4:25 PM, Silvia Pfeiffer
> > <silviapfeiffer1@gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > I believe if we set up another registry, we will eventually run into
> > > the same problems -
> >
> > I believe this is not only an unfounded supposition, but there is
> > evidence to the contrary.
> >
> > I.e. so far that hasn't happened.
> >
> > Two successful counter-examples:
> >
> > * http://microformats.org/wiki/ and in recent years the very thorough
> > documentation of rel values here:
> > http://microformats.org/wiki/existing-rel-values
> >
> > * The WHATWG rel value registry
> >
> > And even though they are not perfectly harmonized, so far, in
> > practice, that hasn't been a problem, and over time, I expect that
> > further harmonization will occur.
>
> Note also that the WHATWG rel registry hasn't really been actively
> maintained yet, because the spec hasn't until recently been at all stable,
> and since becoming more stable the maintenance of the registry has been
> put on hald waiting to see what happens with the rel registry issue. If
> we begin active maintenance I would expect it to quickly converge with the
> Microformats wiki page.
>

Which organisation would you trust to be the most consistent about
maintaining the registry? Would the WHATWG registry disappear and just point
at the Microformats registry as the authoritative one? Or the other way
round?

Since both, the WHATWG and the Microformats are more "living" lists, i.e.
take on experimental work as well as an interim list, could they be used as
contributors to the IANA list, where only the well-accepted ones get listed?
If so, maybe a simpler process for moving something from the
Microformats/WHATWG list into the IANA list could be determined?

It actually seems to me that the W3C is standing in the middle of three
other organisations that are trying to claim authoritative registry status
for different reasons and we are only moderating because we have a big stake
in the use of the names. Are we even in a position to resolve this or is
this just a random discussion?

Cheers,
Silvia.