RE: SD1 - Short End Tags

There have been some good arguments against short end tags, and some
good arguments advanced in favor of them, but one category of argument
we should avoid is the "slippery slope" one.  It is essentially saying
"Don't give sweets to kids, because that leads to smoking, and then
marijuana, and before you know it they are doing heavy drugs in some
crack house in New York . . . "

If there are no good reasons for short end tags, and we put them in
anyway, then--and only then--does it begin a slippery slope of putting
in bad features. But, if short end tags have actual value, and if they
are different in character from other abbreviations, then there is no
slippery slope.  That is, the slippery-slope-syllogism is valid only if
its major premise (short end tags are bad) is true; else it is just
circular reasoning. So, let's concentrate on the main argument: Are
short end tags different in character from OMITTAG, SHORTREF etc.? Do
they have compelling value for certain applications such as data
transfer?

Received on Monday, 19 May 1997 12:53:13 UTC