Alternatives to the W3C

Tyler Baker tyler at infinet.com
Thu Jan 20 20:49:33 GMT 2000


Len Bullard wrote:

> Don Park wrote:
> >
> > I think we will all benefit tremendously if there was just
> > one browser to support.  If AOL/Netscape exit the browser
> > 'business', Microsoft could be 'asked' politely to place IE
> > into public domain.  A non-profit open source organization
> > could be setup to coordinate merging of Mozilla and IE into a
> > universal browser and beyond.
>
> In the short run, yes, but not in the long run.  I do not care to
> see a public service browser because, and call me old fashioned,
> it is too much like a state run car factory.   Competition is
> still the best incentive to innovation.  The key is to define services
> that enable both innovation and reliability.  As engineers, the
> job is to figure out just how to do that.

Even then, there is no practical incentive for Netscape/AOL or MS to improve their
browsers anyways as they will always be free and never generate another penny of revenue
directly. A lot of people complain about why it has taken so long for Netscape to include
XSL support, and all I can say to them is "you get what you pay for". One browser or two
browsers or three browsers or four, it really does not matter because the incentive to
innovate with web browsers is no more.

Tyler


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