From: Lyndon Nerenberg <lyndon(_at_)orthanc(_dot_)ab(_dot_)ca>
...
[*] The critical aspect is that the DTD *must* be kept simple. If the DTD
evolves into a Turing machine with Perl-like syntax we can just
acknowledge that it's time to shut down the IETF and go home. I cling to
the forlorn hope that people still know - and more importantly,
understand - what the 'E' in IETF stands for.
I don't know about shutting down the IETF, but I do know that in
this century you've stated the compelling reason to run screaming
from this set of proposals.
Have you looked at the 250 lines of XML cruft that Microsoft thinks
are required to accompany a 1 word mail message today?
Have you ever glanced at the incredibly bloated and broken HTML
that most HTML mark-up tools produce?
Now recall the galloping freeping creaturism of the last 3 I-Ds you've read.
A "Turing machine with Perl-like syntax" would be incomparably simpler
and cleaner than the result of the 5 years work of the new working
group in the new area. (What--you don't realize that a new working
group would be required?)
Vernon Schryver vjs(_at_)rhyolite(_dot_)com