Re: Toward Closure on HTML
Jim Davis <davis@DRI.cornell.edu>
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Date: Tue, 5 Apr 1994 20:50:20 --100
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From: Jim Davis <davis@DRI.cornell.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list <www-talk@www0.cern.ch>
Subject: Re: Toward Closure on HTML
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> From connolly@hal.com Tue Apr 5 14:14:13 1994
> Well, I gather that html-mode.el is the most popular way to compose
> HTML today. RTF2HTML, FM2HTML, LaTeX2HTML and that ilk are closing,
> though.
> My problem with all of these is that folks don't use an SGML parser to
> validate their documents.
Dan, I don't intend this as a flame, but you need to face reality, by
which I mean you need to look at what people ACTUALLY do, not what
you WISH they did. As you observe, people don't use an SGML parser
to validate their documents. There is no reason to think then that
they will ever start. That's reality.
> .. That people use text editors to generate it is an artifact.
Same thing. If this is what people do NOW, what is the evidence
they will ever change? Even if the SGMLs tools are easy to find,
and even if they were available pre-compiled binary for all major
platforms, I claim nobody will bother to get them unless they percieve
a benefit.
To summarize: People will continue to write in HTML without
the assistance of tools and validators.
If you want people to start using format HTML, I think you need
to show how this will provide real benefit TO THE AUTHOR, who
is the one who must do the work to install and use the checker.