RAND

Hello,

RAND-encumbered W3C technology will not be useful to me as a Web software
developer.

I’ve been working on the server side of n-tier Web applications for about
six years now.  I frequently recommend new technologies to my employer;
hence, I stay apprised of new standards in the works at organizations like
W3C.

Put simply, I will not recommend any W3C standard covered by a RAND patent
policy.  Why?  I rely on Open Source software based on open standards (like
those of the W3C) to provide inexpensive solutions that don’t tie my work to
a particular vendor.  Patent-encumbered standards not only tie me to a
vendor, they make it difficult (and in some cases impossible) for Open
Source projects to provide implementations.

If I want to pay for a proprietary, patent-encumbered solution, I do so.  If
I don’t, I turn to the W3C.  You’re about to change that.

For all the W3C’s faults, at least its reputed openness is real.  Adopting
RAND policy changes that.


Shawn C. Dodd
sdodd@jedi.net <mailto:sdodd@jedi.net>