Re: HTML should not be a file format, but an output format

>From:	fepotts@fepco.com (F. E. Potts)
>HTML is not a good storage medium, because HTML is a dying markup
>language (only it doesn't know it yet :-).

>SGML is a good storage medium, because it is a stable standard that has
>the capability to be converted into "the markup language of the
>moment".  One markup language of the moment is HTML 3.2, but HTML is a
>moving target and must be treated as such.

>That's a totally bogus argument--we are talking long-term storage here,
>and only documents written to a standard will be able to survive.  And
>that's the problem with HTML as written by most non-pros: it is tested
>against a "browser" rather than against a DTD.

There are a lot of people who think HTML is a page design language, not a 
markup language, not a storage medium. That's why I said the browser test 
was a "pragmatic" one. It reflects how HTML is actually used. To 
paraphrase what you wrote:
    One problem with HTML as written by most people: it is 
    tested against at most one browser.
Maybe HTML isn't "supposed" to be a PDL. So what?

    --- Bruce Leban
    Akimbo Systems
    http://www.akimbo.com/globetrotter
    Publish on the web without learning HTML! (Really.)

Received on Saturday, 22 March 1997 22:58:30 UTC