Re: HTML3.2

At 11:30 AM 5/9/96 -0500, Foteos Macrides wrote:
>	I'm sure a great many people, and I especially, would appreciate
>a clear exposition of the standardization process, and whether there is
>one at present which could lead effectively and reasonably soon to
>reversals or corrections of what we consider ill advised choices in
>HTML 3.2 -- which could have severely adverse consequences, no matter
>how well intended they might have been.

Standards bodies are only as authoritative as the communities they serve
decide that they are. IETF is authoritative because it is historical and
because it has a fairly rigorous process for arriving at standards. I'm not
sure what ISOs credentials are, (and http://www.iso.org/ is an
abomination!). But they are well accepted as "authoritative." W3C is a
vendor consortium. I do not see them as authoritiative at all. (though if
enough people _believed_ that they were authorititative they would _be_
authoritative).

Right now, they do not have much more standards-setting authority than any
other private body (and less than netscape.com and microsoft.com). Wilbur
weakens their authority in my mind.

 Paul Prescod

Received on Thursday, 9 May 1996 13:34:05 UTC