- From: Jirka Kosek <jirka@kosek.cz>
- Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:16:16 +0100
- To: Leif Halvard Silli <lhs@malform.no>
- CC: HTMLWG <public-html@w3.org>
- Message-ID: <491A1240.2020708@kosek.cz>
Leif Halvard Silli wrote:
> What does it lack? What does it hamper?
As I have already written: "it doesn't follow neither rules for proper
public identifier nor it shows that its in HTML5 only to accommodate
legacy content producers"
> But on that day, what then? Do you think "xslt-compat" will have them
> ask *more* questions or ask them earlier? Why not have them ask the
> *right* question instead? "Why that longer variant, when it appears to
> repeat what is allready said and which the much more common short
> variant says too?"
I don't think that "xslt-compat" (or its variants) is particularly good,
it is just compromise. Personally I would of course prefer proper public
identifier like -//W3C//DTD HTML 5.0//EN. But I can see reasons
(although I don't agree with them) why some people are against such
identifier. It is pointless to repeat arguments again and again, it is
waste of time. There have to be some sort of compromise and consensus. I
don't see how putting new identifiers on table helps in forming such
consensus.
> Recursive means: The answer is in the name.
>
> With "xslt-compat", the answer is not in the name, but outside it, in
> specs and Web history. Without that background even a smart ass will
> feel uncertain about whether <!DOCTYPE HTML public "xslt-compat"> can be
> swapped with <!DOCTYPE HTML>.
>
> With a recursive identifier, the history is still there, but then there
> is also a satisfactying explanation inside it: Yes, it is unecessary,
> chose the short variant, to which the identifier in fact points. I think
> this is trusting that authors are not dumb.
Which is probably false premise given how many pages broke rules of
previous versions of HTML ;-)
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Received on Tuesday, 11 November 2008 23:24:08 UTC