* Tim Bray wrote:
I read [3] and while I agree with much of it, it's obviously far too
late to change the XML encoding declaration. For the moment, I think
that the architecturally-sound position is, for Web data formats, either
(a) use XML, or (b) use the charset parameter.
The charset parameter does not work as web servers or web server
configurations often do not allow content providers to setup this
parameter. In general, technical solutions should either work
automagically behind the scene or be visible to those who need to
be aware; HTTP headers are invisible to most content providers so
I doubt that this is an architecturally-sound position.
I agree, but for XML formats, I still think the charset parameter is
actively harmful and should be deprecated or even forbidden.
Deprecating something useful just because it could cause trouble when
used improperly does not make sense to me.