Re: Reliable pointer to HTML spec?

Daniel W. Connolly (connolly@hal.com)
Wed, 8 Feb 95 02:30:30 EST

In message <9502021327.aa25769@dali.scocan.sco.COM>, Murray Maloney writes:
>
>I am writing a document that will probably be around
>for a while and I want to put in a URL as a pointer
>to more information about the HTML 2.0 spec.
>
>I need to know:
>
>Is this is the best document to point at?
>
> HTML Specification Review Materials
> http://www.hal.com/%7Econnolly/html-spec/
>
>Is this a dependable pointer for the next 2 years?

No. I won't promise that. I expect the permanent place for this stuff
will either be via the IETF, the W3C, or both. I'll try to make a
smooth transition (forwarding pointers and such), but I can't make
any guarantees.

>Is there a more suitable document?

The HTML 2.0 RFC _will_ be more suitable, whenever that happens.

Your best bet to make a reliable reference that will last two
years is to include a bunch of redundant information that a body
can use, for example, to give to a search engine or robot.

You can reliably cite the current internet draft:

"HyperText Markup Language Specification -- 2.0",
T. Berners-Lee and D. Connolly, 28 Nov 1994.
ftp://ds.internic.net/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-html-spec-00.txt

but it will expire six months from publication. Persumably,
the IETF will give a forwarding pointer to the RFC, but I don't know.

Dan