Re: Fonts WG Charter feedback

I would like to point out that Chris (and by extension Microsoft) has  
always taken the stance that MS will under no circumstances support TT/ 
OT linking in IE.  This has been the definitive case at least since  
2007 when I posed the question "Will you do it?" to him at the CSS WG  
face to face in Boston (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ishida/ 
2047808967/).

It is obvious that Microsoft will not budge on this vital issue, so we  
are at the same impasse we have been at for over 10 years.

It is also obvious that, at the very best, the Fonts work group was  
not created to find the best solution for the Web community, but to  
find a solution that will appease Microsoft. At that same meeting in  
Boston in 2007, Microsoft proposed this group (or one like it) when  
they realized that they were not getting anywhere with the CSS WG. At  
that meeting, many questioned whether the CSS WG  should be in the  
business of endorsing formats, especially EOT, which Microsoft had  
only just made public. Interesting coincidence: Webkit had just  
started supporting OT/TT at about the same time EOT became public.

However, it is likely that events will soon overtake this group,  
rendering it moot. If Jeffery Veens Typekit works anything like it is  
reported to, then I have little doubt that this solution will be  
embraced. I do not like having to rely on third party functionality  
for something that should be an easy to implement standard, but the  
Web design community is tired of waiting.

Delaying things with another Work Group isn't going to help, and, in  
my opinion, just muddies already opaque waters.

_________________________
Jason Cranford Teague
Internet Design & Strategy
_________________________
Twitter
@jasonspeaking






On 2 Jul 2009, at 7:44 AM, Håkon Wium Lie wrote:

> Chris Wilson wrote:
>
>>> The only thing I ask for from MS is that you also commit to support
>>> TT/OT linking in IE, like you do in other products. This will  
>>> require
>>> an hour or so of your time.
>>>
>>> Will you do it?
>>
>> No.
>
> To make sure we understand the implications of your dismissal: are you
> speaking on behalf of Microsoft in this matter?
>
> -h&kon
>              Håkon Wium Lie                          CTO °þe®ª
> howcome@opera.com                  http://people.opera.com/howcome
>