Re: Update on namespaces

Dan Connolly wrote:
> If not for the value of exploiting the common understanding of
> HTML-ish markup, we'd just go on using lisp s-expressions for
> knowledge representation as was done in PICS-1.0 and most
> mature knowledge representation systems (e.g. [2]) to date.

Why doesn't CSS use HTML-ish markup? How about "JavaScript?" People seem
to have a capacity to learn new syntaxes if they are natural syntaxes
for whatever they are trying to express. Of course *document* meta-data
should be expressed in the format of the document. It will often be
awkward and sub-optimal, but the convenience is great. Thus <META ...>
for HTML and MCF or XML-Data for XML.

But if we try to turn either of these languages into the One True
Information Language then we will experience a nasty backlash in two
years just as HTML has been for years. Remember "[Shame and War]?" We
are at the point of choosing again. Let's be excellent at our chosen
mission and let others adapt our work for other markets or ignore it if
there are better starting places.

 Paul Prescod

[Shame and War]
http://www.press.umich.edu/jep/works/greenspun.shame.html

"HTML's impoverished formatting capabilities frustrates the would-be
designer of beautiful documents. HTML's lack of structural tags
frustrates the would-be provider of more advanced browsers."

Received on Tuesday, 24 June 1997 23:03:44 UTC