Re: Should implementors copy vendor prefixes from each other?

On Friday 15 May 2009, Daniel Glazman wrote:
> Robert O'Callahan wrote:
> >     But browser vendors also say they use prefixes to allow
> > evolution of the prefixed property w/o long-term impact on the
> > non-prefixed property. I have the gut feeling this is a bad excuse.
> > If -webkit-transition-delay has to change a bit because of
> > standardization, browsers implementing the new version will still
> > choke on stylesheets conformant to the old one.
> >
> >
> > Not at all. Webkit can keep implementing the old behaviour of
> > -webkit-transition-delay and implement the standard behaviour for
> > the unprefixed property.
>
> Well. If the "standard behaviour" remains unpolished for months, or
> even years in case of very complex properties, a browser vendor will
> most certainly work on the prefixed property, not the unprefixed one,
> until the spec stabilizes.

I think that is the real problem: we're too slow.

There are two classes of prefixed properties: private and experimental.

The private ones are just an artifact of a particular implementation and 
not expected to be shared or even to be useful elsewhere. (E.g., some 
software may find it convenient to use CSS syntax for something like 
the cache size or the default printer.)

The experimental ones are the ones we're discussing here. The reason we 
have them is to find problems in proposed features, either for users or 
for implementers. But it makes no sense to experiment for more than a 
few months. We should be able to learn most of what there is to learn 
in that period. At which point it is time to rewrite the proposal or 
write the Candidate Recommendation.

I think verbose style sheets and ugly property names aren't an issue if 
people can expect them to be fixed within the year.

As for 'border-radius', it is in one of the Recommendations (Backgrounds 
and borders module) we're chartered to publish before the end of next 
year, which means it should be Candidate Recommendation and thus 
prefixless within a few months.



Bert
-- 
  Bert Bos                                ( W 3 C ) http://www.w3.org/
  http://www.w3.org/people/bos                               W3C/ERCIM
  bert@w3.org                             2004 Rt des Lucioles / BP 93
  +33 (0)4 92 38 76 92            06902 Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France

Received on Monday, 25 May 2009 15:28:34 UTC