Re: EPUB using CSS vendor prefixing incorrectly?

On Monday 2013-08-19 16:04 -0700, Sylvain Galineau wrote:
> On 8/19/13 12:45 PM, "James Craig" <jcraig@apple.com> wrote:
> 
> >IDPF appears to be specifying a EPUB-specific technology subset prefix
> >using the syntax for the CSS vendor prefix. This strikes me as both
> >problematic (precludes vendor prefixing with this) as well as unnecessary
> >(why not just use the unprefixed properties), but perhaps I'm
> >misunderstanding something.
> > 
> > • -epub-speak
> > • -epub-speak-as
> >…
> > • -epub-text-align-last
> > • -epub-text-emphasis
> > • -epub-text-emphasis-color
> > • -epub-text-emphasis-style
> > • -epub-word-break
> >
> >http://www.idpf.org/epub/30/spec/epub30-contentdocs.html#sec-css-voice-cha
> >racteristics
> >http://www.idpf.org/epub/30/spec/epub30-contentdocs.html#sec-css-text
> >
> >Could someone please explain whether this is a valid use of the vendor
> >prefix pattern? If it's not, the CSS WG chair should probably reach out
> >to the IDPF and EPUB groups. If this *is* a valid use CSS vendor
> >prefixes, are there any known implementations?
> 
> My understanding is that this is in fact necessary because EPUB releases
> may depend on specific CSS *drafts*; thus until EPUB version N depends on
> a REC for a given feature it uses -epub-.

I'm inclined think it's still a bad idea (although I'm really not
sure); it leads to accumulation of content that uses those vendor
prefixes.  I think no matter whether future implementors consider
that content important enough to support, or whether handling the
content requires behavior different from what would end up in the
Recommendation, the Web would still be better off with epub using
these properties without prefixes.  (The Web might end up better off
because the pressure from existing use prevented unnecessary changes
in the properties, or because there ended up being less complexity
in the platform from having fewer variants supported in Web layout
engines, or because engine developers just didn't worry about the
epub content.)

-David

-- 
𝄞   L. David Baron                         http://dbaron.org/   𝄂
𝄢   Mozilla                          https://www.mozilla.org/   𝄂
             Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
             What I was walling in or walling out,
             And to whom I was like to give offense.
               - Robert Frost, Mending Wall (1914)