- From: Elliotte Harold <elharo@metalab.unc.edu>
- Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:55:48 -0700
Ian Hickson wrote: > Server-based offline Web apps are applications that are served by a remote > server and then cached locally; this is very different from non-Web cases > such as documentation on a local filesystem or on CD-ROMs. In the case of > non-Web content, the use of HTML is an academic point, since any format > would work as well. Really? Why? and how? That's certainly not self-evident. Aside from embedded links, which can point into the file system and are usually relative anyway, there's very little web-specific about HTML. It's just one format that can be served over HTTP or read from a disk, just like PDF or text/plain or OpenDocument. HTML has some nice characteristics like resolution independence, direct editability as text, and automatic reflow; but these are in no way limited to network transfers. For many use cases, especially cross-platform ones, HTML is the formatted text format of choice. A properly designed HTML spec should not require, prohibit, or preference a document being read from the network or from a local file system or via any other protocol. HTML 1 through 4 and XHTML 1 and 2 had this important characteristic. I hope HTML 5 does as well. -- Elliotte Rusty Harold elharo at metalab.unc.edu Refactoring HTML Just Published! http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0321503635/ref=nosim/cafeaulaitA
Received on Tuesday, 19 August 2008 05:55:48 UTC