Re: Recent ERB votes

At 08:19 AM 11/11/96 -0600, Len Bullard wrote:
> 
>> On the other hand, if NS and MS embrace XML, then we have transformed the
>> world's largest information system into a generic markup based system.
>
>No we haven't.  They have.  I doubt they will unless economics compels 
>it.   NS shows absolutely no interest, and MS won't even do us the 
>courtesy of participation other than voting their interests.

I don't think Len's last statement is entirely fair.  In Microsoft's
defense, Jean Paoli, who's SGML credentials are as good as anybody's on the
ERB, has not simply "voted MS's interests" (to the degree that they could
even be meaningfully quantified).  Jean certainly argued for design aspects
that would make creating Web XML browsers easier and that fit well with the
general architecture most Web browsers use, but I don't recall him ever
arguing for anything that was wildly in conflict with SGML conformance.  Of
course, as we all know, the opinions of one employee and corporate policy
may be very different.  On the other hand, unless Chairman Bill is looking
over his shoulder (which I doubt), in this venue, Jean *does* define MS
policy and I am satisfied that it is consistent with and supportive of the
general XML goals of simplicity and SGML conformance (perhaps biased a bit
toward implementation ease, but a bias that is both needed in the group and
that is understandable given Jean's background and current assignment).

Cheers,

E.
--
W. Eliot Kimber (eliot@isogen.com) 
Senior SGML Consulting Engineer, Highland Consulting
2200 North Lamar Street, Suite 230, Dallas, Texas 75202
+1-214-953-0004 +1-214-953-3152 fax
http://www.isogen.com (work) http://www.drmacro.com (home)
"Rats in the morning, rats in the afternoon...if they don't go away, I'll be
re-educated soon..."                 --Austin Lounge Lizards, "1984 Blues"

Received on Monday, 11 November 1996 10:41:04 UTC