- From: Pat Hayes <phayes@ihmc.us>
- Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:02:28 -0600
- To: "Tom Stambaugh" <tms@stambaugh-inc.com>
- Cc: "Simon J. Hernandez" <simon@w3.org>, "Dave DeCaprio" <daved@broad.mit.edu>, <public-semweb-lifesci@w3.org>
> > Although we realize that there may still be some email clients that do not >> make it >> straightforward to filter based on any of these headers, we still do not >> provide a subject >> tagging facility for our lists because we would rather see effort invested >> in getting mail >> software fixed to do the right thing than provide workarounds that provide >> no incentive to do >> so, at the expense of users whose mail clients already do the right thing. > >The arrogance of this posture, excerpted from Simon's earlier link, is >staggering. Is it any wonder that other communities find we software >professionals so difficult to work with? In short, this message says "We >have it, you don't, and you can go suck eggs." Statements like this >exemplify an attitude that is already a prime complaint of the life-science >community about us. Seems to me that the message is more like this: "Our (W3C) job is to set IT standards. Regarding the issue you raise, we have done that. The world has not yet caught up, but it is important that we maintain a consistent stance with regard to the standardization effort, by encouraging vendors to conform to the standards rather than adapting the standards to the current market situation." I don't think this is an arrogant posture for an organization whose only purpose is to create and maintain standards. (It might be slightly Quixotian after five years with no sign of vendor progress, but that is a different criticism.) Basically, we can live in an IT world where there are open standards, or one where the de facto standard is set by the largest or most aggressive vendor. The W3C sets out to attempt to achieve the first. This is sometimes inconvenient, but I applaud the goal and respect the technique. As with dealing with hostage situations, it is important to keep to a rigorous stance, even if this seems harsh or arrogant, because giving in only encourages them. >Off topic? Maybe. Sometimes things need to be said. Quite. No more from me on this topic. Pat Hayes -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- IHMC (850)434 8903 or (650)494 3973 home 40 South Alcaniz St. (850)202 4416 office Pensacola (850)202 4440 fax FL 32502 (850)291 0667 cell phayesAT-SIGNihmc.us http://www.ihmc.us/users/phayes
Received on Tuesday, 31 January 2006 19:02:39 UTC