Moving on (was Re: URIs quack like a duck)

At 08:57 PM 5/29/00 -0400, Clark C. Evans wrote:
>On Mon, 29 May 100, John Cowan wrote: 
>> By issuing a Recommendation, the W3C as an organization pledged its word.
>
>Admitting a mistake should not bring dishonor.

No, but changing the spec so that something more that comparing names on
the basis of string equality is specified probably should involve a full
revision, not merely a reinterpretation.

I'd suggest that:
1) For now, we leave Namespaces in XML alone - effectively, accepting the
comparison as string literals already there.  This allows relative URIs
while not specifying how they should be processed.

2) If changes to that status quo are needed, the W3C should start a new
working group devoted to namespace issues, which uses this mailing list as
a public forum for reviewing comments.  That working group can issue
'Namespaces in XML 2.0' in whatever form it finds appropriate, with
concessions (or not) to backward compatibility.

Does this sound like a plausible solution to our current quandary?


Simon St.Laurent
XML Elements of Style / XML: A Primer, 2nd Ed.
Building XML Applications
Inside XML DTDs: Scientific and Technical
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http://www.simonstl.com

Received on Monday, 29 May 2000 21:25:26 UTC