Re: [xsl] the future of xslt

[Tony Graham <Tony.Graham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sun, Jun 22 2008 23:53:37 +0100, mike@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>> IMO, it doesn't (quite) matter if the current discussion 
>> doesn't lead to running software, much as I would prefer it 
>> if it did.  The question of whether there would be a libxslt 
>> for XSLT 2.0 has been asked several times over recent years, 
>> and each time it comes closer to being answered with "yes".  
>
> To take the discussion in a slightly different direction, there's absolutely
> no doubt that there is a demand for XSLT 2.0 especially if it's free. What
> is also clear is that not many people are going to develop free XSLT 2.0
> processors for the fun or kudos of it. Amateurs are asking serious questions

I trust that you mean 'amateur' as in 'done as a pastime'.

> about whether they can commit the time, and corporations are asking serious
> questions about the business case for developing free software.
>
> To be honest, I can't think of many areas where there are multiple
> open-source products implementing the same specification. It's rather odd

???

How many open source HTML browsers are there?  Java runtimes?  XML
parsers?  The W3C XML Query page [1] lists about 20 open source
implementations of XQuery.

> that we should even imagine that this should be a normal state of affairs.
> If we need XSLT 2.0 processors that cover gaps in the market, then we may
> have to be prepared to pay for them.

And some companies are prepared to pay to turn some of that 'amateur'
time into 'professional' time to get an open source implementation that
fits their needs.  That was the case for XSLT 1.0 processors, is the
case for some of those XQuery processors, and is likely to be the case
for any libxslt 2.0 (and the more it is the case, the sooner it could be
done).

xsltproc has co-existed with multiple other XSLT 1.0 processors for
several years, and I don't see why it is infeasible that a xsltproc 2.0
could co-exist with other XSLT 2.0 processors.

Regards,


Tony Graham                         Tony.Graham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Director                                  W3C XSL FO SG Invited Expert
Menteith Consulting Ltd
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[1] http://www.w3.org/XML/Query/