style standards (was Congrats Jon Bosak and Tim Bray)

[Daniel Austin]

Simon,

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Simon St.Laurent [mailto:simonstl at simonstl.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 1999 9:49 AM
> To: XML-Dev Mailing list
> Subject: style standards (was Congrats Jon Bosak and Tim Bray)

<SNIP/>

> CSS is:
> 
> a) a standard (in as much as anything W3C is a standard)
> b) still in continuing development, according to various sources on
> XSL-list and www-styles

	Everything about the web is continuously under development. The
'under construction' sign is always out, and probably always will be, at
least for the foreseeable future. Certainly one of the main problems with
W3C standards is that they are always 'under construction', leading to
instability in the area of standardization. CSS is a case in point. We've
developed a methodology for the internet where 'standards' are created
through the process of iterative development, with implicit assumptions
about backwards compatibility of the standards themselves and the products
based on them. This is probably a reasonable response to an unreasonably
rapid rate of technological change. But we cannot at the same time argue
that flaws in current versions are going to be fixed in future iterations
and expect users to accept this. This is the author's argument. Being 'under
construction' cannot be used as a defense.


Regards,

D-


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