Re: Conformance and Implementations

On Tue, 9 Oct 2001, Lofton Henderson wrote:

> So ... I'm sure that we could make a mess of things if we
> implemented a 13-step program with bad choices all the way down
> the path.

The simple 13-step path is pessimistic, but is certainly not the
worst-case scenario. I cannot predict future, I can only warn about
dangerous tendencies and suggest alternatives.

> What would you suggest that we do to avoid this?  What *should* a
> W3C QA activity focus on?

I suggest to focus on practical side of things such as improvement of
specs language and test suites. Stay away from any actions that may
lead to legal or monetary (rather than technological) barriers such as
enforcing "compliant with W3C specs" trademark rules. Leave
certification to market-driven forces, if any.

Provide good specs. Provide cool tools to test compliance. Let the
market and government deal with those who abuse "W3C technology".

Thanks,

Alex.

Received on Tuesday, 9 October 2001 17:04:22 UTC