Re: CfC: Publish HTML5 Edition for Web Authors as First Public Working Draft

On 06/08/2011 12:36 PM, Arthur Barstow wrote:
> On Jun/7/2011 2:52 PM, ext Sam Ruby wrote:
>> Silence will be taken to mean there is no objection, but positive
>> responses are encouraged. If there are no objections by Wednesday,
>> June 15, this resolution will carry.
>
> Support and recommend adding clarification text like Noah suggested in:
>
> [[
> http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-html/2011Jun/0118.html
>
> These two specifications are generated from common base text and are
> intended to be entirely consistent. Both are normative and authoritative.
> With respect to any matters on which they (unexpectedly) disagree, there is
> a bug in at least one, and neither specification is authoritative with
> respect to the point(s) of disagreement. In such cases we expect to resolve
> the bug by publishing versions that are changed to be consistent.
> ]]
>
> -AB
>

I don't support this wording. The logical implication is that one must 
always read both the full spec and the author only view in order to find 
the real normative requirements because each document may (through 
disagreement) nullify requirements in the other.

Now you might argue that this is basically a theoretical problem 
because, for example, no one will actually bother to cross-check the two 
specs. However that seems unsound when the entire premise of this issue 
seems, to me, to be just as theoretical. In particular I don't think 
that there exists a large population of authors who:

a) Want the precise normative definition of HTML and will not settle for 
a document labelled as "informative but mechanically derived from the 
normative spec".

b) Are incapable, or substantially dissuaded by the prospect, of reading 
the full spec, possibly using one of the stylesheets to emphasise the 
content aimed at authors.

Received on Wednesday, 8 June 2011 11:04:01 UTC