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RE: A modest proposal - allow the ID repository to hold xml

2003-09-03 15:57:24
From: John C Klensin <john-ietf(_at_)jck(_dot_)com>

...
(1) As an/the authoritative format, plain ASCII text, plus 
whatever additional format(s) the RFC Editor decides to permit 
to support drawings, etc., should almost certainly remain the 
target for the reasons you identify. ...

(2) If a group of people, such as a WG, are collaborating on the 
development of a document, having the working format (whatever 
it is) readily available would seem to be an advantage.  This 
should not make that format authoritative, or attach any special 
importance or validation to it relative to other formats.

That sounds fine or at least tolerable.

Now I think that all that Brian proposed originally was that the 
XML format of Internet Drafts be made available when it happened 
to exist.   Even though that might be letting the proverbial 
camel's nose into the tent, it strikes me as basically harmless 
and probably useful.

yes.

Did I misunderstand him?  Do we disagree about part of the above 
and, if so, which part?

My possibly mistaken impression of Brian's most recent position is
that he would support XML for the official documents.  Regardless of
his position, other people have clearly come out in favor XML for the
official format.  The frequently mentioned hyperlinks among documents
such as for authors would be rather boring if the links are only among
documents that expire after 6 months.  More powerful searching among
I-Ds would be useful, but the real power would be searching among
RFCs.  Several people have written about converting old RFCs to XML.


Vernon Schryver    vjs(_at_)rhyolite(_dot_)com



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