Re: color: NCSA Mosaic, Netscape, and HTML3

   From: Mike Batchelor <mikebat@clark.net>
|
|   Netscape's table markups do not conform to the HTML v3 DTD.  Nowhere in
|   the DTD does it indicate that the border attribute may take a value for
|   thickness, or anything else, for example.  There are numerous other
|   attributes that are nowhere to be found in the HTML 3.0 DTD, not to
|   mention the "notorious" <center> and <font> tags.
---

Until it is approved, there is no HTML 3.0 DTD, there are only
proposals.  Since the common model for software standards is to
standardize existing practice, there can be no new standards unless
people develop new practice for standards groups to later adopt.
Especially in a rapidly developing area like HTML, any vendor who is
well-tuned to her customers is going to need to extend the standard to
meet specific market needs.  I assume the Netscape people are
participating in the specification of the next version of the standard.
I have no doubt that when the standard is adapted, Netscape will render
conforming tables correctly and that they will still have extensions
providing additional features that their customers like.

Since a great fraction of the net has voted with their dollars and their
downloads to say that Netscape meets their needs better than other
browsers, it would be pretty foolish for Netscape to modify their browser in
a way that made it support fewer of their customers' needs.

In the meantime, "supporting HTML3" tables is an untestable assertion
useful only as a statement of intent.  I have seen a draft of HTML3 that
seems to fall within the set of tables that Netscape can render
correctly.  The latest draft has added some wrinkles (header/body
distinction) that they don't support.  That's the way it is in the world
of developing standards.

scott

--
scott preece
motorola/mcg urbana design center	1101 e. university, urbana, il   61801
phone:	217-384-8589			  fax:	217-384-8550
internet mail:	preece@urbana.mcd.mot.com

Received on Wednesday, 19 July 1995 09:59:36 UTC