Re: Introducing NetscapeML

Geoffrey Baker wrote:

++ Do I care about standards? Sure I do. But the Internet basically drives
++ this engine too fast for standards to stand still. The market - and the
++ popularity of proposed tags - is already driving HTML development; and
++ standards organizations are having to leapfrog to catch up. Hence HTML
++ 3.2, and the end of HTML 3.0.
++ This may mean we have some very improper tags - and some truly awful ones.
++ But if it means that a developer can offer columns, leading control, exact
++ placement for graphics, and so forth... developers will use them.

That is rubbish. The Internet *works* because there are standards
everyone follows. Netscape wouldn't be be a success if they came
up with their own version of HTTP - because they don't control
the server market. Netscape can't come with a new way of dealing
with email - because they don't control that market. Netscape can't
come up with extentions to Usenet - because they don't control
that market. Netscape has to follow the existing standards regarding
to HTTP, email, news, ftp, graphics, etc because they aren't the
biggest player in those markets. 

But of course, Netscape isn't the only one to blame. The authors using
the NHTML are more to blame. It's the document authors who should stick
to the standards as well - and they don't.



Abigail

Received on Tuesday, 2 July 1996 05:22:37 UTC