Re: Device upload for all platforms -- the official HTML WG position

From: "James P. Salsman" <bovik@best.com>
> Where are they published?  They are in the private W3C members-only
> archives, in the w3c-html-wg archives around October-November 1999,
> with nearly the same discussion in the private w3c-forms list earlier.

That is the process for dealing with a W3C submission. I hope it is obvious
that I am not empowered to republish postings from a private forum to a
public one.

But no worry, because people on this list (www-html) are making the same
sort of comments that people on the original lists made then, so we can just
read them from other people's hand.

> The fact remains that non-wintel web users are excluded from a range
> of very useful services involving device input and upload.

Complete nonsense. There is nothing in HTML 4 that excludes any platform.
Just look at Opera, which is being implemented on BeOs, Epoc, Linux, Mac Os,
OS/2 and Windows. The HTML WG represents a wide range of companies,
platforms and interests.

> If the
> HTML Working Group had incorporated device upload into specifications
> when they were first submitted as an internet-draft in 1997, after
> the implementation on the WebTV Plus, then all this would be a
> non-issue.

If you had listened to the comments to your proposal when you submitted it,
you could have corrected it, and it would be a non-issue. You shouldn't
think that the HTML WG accepts every suggestion from allcomers. We evaluate
technical proposals before accepting them. In your case we pointed out there
are fundamental flaws in your approach, and indicated how you could fix
them.

As members of this list are pointing out, there is nothing in HTML 4 that
prevents an implementor from doing what you want. Talk to the implementors,
would be my advice.

> But as things stand, the W3C is contributing to wintel
> dominance, and disenfranchising Unix and Mac users.

Nonsense. Pure nonsense.

Steven Pemberton
Chair, W3C HTML Working Group

Received on Wednesday, 1 March 2000 07:54:49 UTC