[css21] root being out-of-flow

I was just looking over the definition of "out-of-flow" in CSS2.1:
http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS2/visuren.html#positioning-scheme

  # An element is called out of flow if it is floated, absolutely
  # positioned, or is the root element.

The root element is, for the most part (aside from its automatic
block formatting context rootness), laid out just like an in-flow
element. It seems to me that it would be more confusing than not
to define it as being out-of-flow.

Is there a useful reason that we define the root element as out-of-flow?
It seems more reasonable to me to define it as in the flow established
by the initial containing block.

~fantasai

Received on Sunday, 30 August 2015 16:21:33 UTC