Re: Proposal to Adopt HTML5

Hi-

I think that starting with the work done by WHATWG is sensible.  Not 
only is it a considerable body of important work, but it has the backing 
of representatives from 3 of the major browser vendors.

I'm curious what would happen if this proposal is not accepted.  Is this 
an ultimatum on behalf of Mozilla, Apple, and Opera?  Do these 
representative speak with the voices of their respective companies, or 
are these individual opinions?

With the WHATWG specs as a starting point, though, I think that 
everything should be up for discussion.  There has been a very strongly 
stated attitude that previous work should be rubberstamped, which would 
exclude everyone who did not take part in the WHATWG work.  Just as 
there are apparently some who do not wish to work with the W3C, there 
are many who did not want to work with WHATWG (including, because of 
patent policy, the dominant browser in the market).

Similarly, Ian Hickson has made public statements that he believes the 
editor should have absolute control over the specification, rather than 
operating on consensus.  Would he still be willing to assume this role 
without this absolute power?

Regards-
-Doug

Maciej Stachowiak wrote:
> 
> Dear HTML Working Group,
> 
> HTML5, comprising the Web Apps 1.0 and Web Forms 2.0 specifications, is 
> the product of many years of collaborative effort. It specifies existing 
> HTML4 markup and APIs with much clearer conformance criteria for both 
> implementations and documents. It specifies many useful additions, in 
> many cases drawing on features that have existed in browser-based 
> implementations for a long time. And it actively draws on feedback from 
> implementors and content authors. Therefore, we the undersigned propose 
> the following:
> 
> - that the W3C HTML Working Group adops the WHAT Working Group's HTML5 
> as the starting point for further HTML development
> - that the W3C's next-generation HTML specification is officially named 
> "HTML 5"
> - that Ian Hickson is named as editor for the W3C's HTML 5 
> specification, to preserve continuity with the existing WHATWG effort
> 
> If HTML5 is adopted as a starting point, the contents of the document 
> would still be up for review and revision, but we would start with the 
> existing text. A suitable next step might be a high-level review of 
> functionality added and removed relative to HTML4.01, followed by 
> focused discussion and review of individual topic areas, including both 
> content already in the spec and proposed new features. Discussions 
> should be guided by common principles along the lines of 
> <http://esw.w3.org/topic/HTML/ProposedDesignPrinciples>
> 
> If the group is agreeable to these proposals, Apple, Mozilla and Opera 
> will agree to arrange a non-exclusive copyright assignment to the W3 
> Consortium for HTML5 specifications.
> 
> 
> L. David Baron, Mozilla Foundation
> Lars Erik Bolstad, Opera Software ASA
> Brendan Eich, Mozilla Foundation
> Dave Hyatt, Apple Inc.
> Håkon Wium Lie, Opera Software ASA
> Maciej Stachowiak, Apple Inc.
> 
> 
> 


-- 


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Received on Tuesday, 10 April 2007 15:12:38 UTC