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Re: Netscape support for XSL Stylesheets


Subject: Re: Netscape support for XSL Stylesheets
From: James Robertson <jamesr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 17 Aug 1999 09:33:04 +1000

At 02:07 17/08/1999 , Chuck White wrote:
I'm with John to some extent on this one. By implementing an XSL processor,
it gave us a chance to see XSL working in a browser environment. We can howl
about standards, but Netscape has a long tradition of jumping ahead of
standards (remember the FRAME element, or the LAYER {gasp} element).
That said, I think it's a misconception if folks are thinking that Netscape
(I'm thinking more in terms of Mozilla here) won't support XML. The whole
Mozilla skin is done with XML/CSS. You can easily modify the skin in almost
any way you want. The Mozilla folks are even planning to add an XUL dtd (so
I've been told). They've also been pretty clear about why they can't support
an XSL standard. It's because one doesn't exist. If you check out the
Mozilla discussion boards, it's pretty clear they're anxiously awaiting
developments, and that many in that community see XSL as an elegant solution
to many of the issues that have cropped up during the development of the
newest browser. Before anyone discounts the Mozilla effort, I'd go look at
the most recent builds and look under the hood. It's pretty obvious they'll
be ready when and if XSL becomes a standard. I am not, however, in any way
speaking for the Mozilla community.

Personally, I think all of this could have been avoided if XSL was developed following (my understanding) of the IETF process, as opposed to the W3C process.

That is, as far as I understand, a specification cannot
be ratified until there are two independent implementations
of the entire spec.

This has the very tangible benefit of ensuring that
the specification is implementable, and useable.

In this case, it would have helped to avoid the partial
implementation in IE5, and encouraged other developers
to jump on the bandwagon.

It would have also probably killed FOs before they
were even born (show me even _one_ complete implementation).

Just my $0.02,

J

-------------------------
James Robertson
Step Two Designs Pty Ltd
SGML, XML & HTML Consultancy
http://www.steptwo.com.au/
jamesr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Beyond the Idea"
 ACN 081 019 623


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