- From: Dave J Woolley <DJW@bts.co.uk>
- Date: Fri, 3 Dec 1999 16:51:29 -0000
- To: www-html@w3.org
> From: Frank Boumphrey [SMTP:bckman@ix.netcom.com] > > The value of a standard is that if one writes to that standard there > should > be a guarentee that your work will be displayeed as intended. > I think you mean with the intended meaning. One of the causes of Tag Soup, and a clear aim of the original Netscape, is people wanting to control the form of what is displayed (e.g. one of the first things to be lost between Mosaic and Netscape was the former's crude style sheet - I've always assumed this was to shift the balance away from the consumer in terms of the exact display format, so that authors could use it something more like a page description language). People select tags for their effect because they want to produce that visual effect, not because of any desire to show deep structure. HTML which reflects deep structure can display in radically different ways without compromising that structure. When the vestige of the deep structure origins of HTML shows through in differences between the major GUI browsers, the authors stick "best viewed with" stickers on their work (quite why people would switch browsers rather than going to a different supplier, I have never understood).
Received on Friday, 3 December 1999 11:54:14 UTC