Re: We are where we are.... but how did we get here?

On 6/29/05, Paul Duncan <paul.duncan@marketpipe.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> I appreciate I've got to the discussion late... I believe CSS2.1 was started
> around 1998.
> 
> I've been searching the W3C website for explanations and reasons why we are
> where we are. Are the facts and explanations available or is it all lost in
> the mists of time and buried in archives?
> 
> For example I would love someone to write an explanation on the W3C website
> behind the box model the W3C choose to adopted?
> Why is a second pass unworkable? (computing power has increased
> significantly since 1998... I can play Doom on my phone :-)
> Why can't I style a div to align centre using align:center but instead have
> to use margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto?
>
> It very frustrating as someone who has to work with these standards every
> day. They are not intuitive and overly complex. I came here to try and
> understand.
> 
> I went to the @media2005 conference in London last month and a lot of people
> I spoke to were critical of the CSS WG. The W3C were the butt of more jokes
> than IE!?! As most of the delegates were standards and CSS converts the W3C
> should realise that as more people get involved in coding correctly, the
> more people are gonna start asking the same questions over and over again.
> And requesting the same "impossible" features that would make our lives
> easier over and over again.
> 
> Do you know of anywhere I can find the published answers to satisfy me?

Some of it is in the archives. You'll have to go digging to find it though.

I was around the last time they were discussing the single versus
multi-pass argument. Apparently multi-pass would complicate the
algorithm. It's far from impossible, unless someone would like to
correct me. It seems IE has a multi-pass system; what is it they've
lost?

Orion Adrian

Received on Wednesday, 29 June 2005 17:43:25 UTC