[NTLUG:Discuss] Penguin's Progress

[Kendall Clark]

>>>>> "Cameron" == Cameron  <hrothgar at endor.hsutx.edu> writes:

    Cameron> Kendall, I just finished reading your essay "On the Road
    Cameron> to XML: Remaking the LDP as a Digital Library"
    Cameron> (http://clark.dallas.tx.us/kendall/roadmap/) and wanted
    Cameron> to know what progress has been made toward XML since
    Cameron> 1998.  You made "predictions" of the LDP moving to XML
    Cameron> about now with XML specific tools being developed.
    Cameron> Freshmeat.net shows a few XML tools available; I'm also
    Cameron> curious which XML tools, if any, you prefer to use for
    Cameron> constructing XML docs.  Thanks

Cameron,

Further discussion about this probably should be off-list, but I will
say two quick things.

1. The LDP's present "leadership" is to SGML/XML as chimpanzees are to 
rocketships; that is, they vaguely grasp what it is, but as for using
it effectively, or letting people who understand it begin to use it
effectively, they are out-to-lunch.

2. The XML tools I had in mind are what we might call 2nd generation
XML tools. What there are more and more of today are 1st generation
XML tools, i.e., tools for programmers who want to use XML. For
example, I've used XML on all of my latest Web projects, using Python
fairly simply. What will need to be widespread for the LDP to be
XML-based and that to make sense is end-user tools, browsers that can
parse XML and XSL "natively".

As for my "predictions" they were *terribly optimistic*. I assumed
that others involved with the LDP would see the advantages of moving
in the direction I tried to lay out. That hasn't happened yet. Maybe
that's just because I did a poor job of persuasion.

Best,

Kendall
--
"Charging a price for my time will separate the expensive conferences that
attract powerful people from the marginal events where the hacker
community would get less leverage from my presence." -- Eric Raymond

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