DSSSList, Year Two

[DSSSList Owner <dssslist-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The DSSSList reached its second anniversary yesterday.  The second
anniversary for a mailing list isn't as remarkable as its first
anniversary (which is my excuse for getting the date wrong), but I'll
say a few things anyway.

The DSSSList currently has 568 subscribers.  We high-scored in
December with 578 subscribers, then dipped until February, but
subscriptions are rising again.

The DSSSList has had over 3,700 messages in two years.  This year
didn't have as many messages as last year, and the list has been quiet
of late, but I don't expect this quietness to last.

The question of DSSSL's future occupies me from time to time, as it
occupied the list recently, but I always conclude that there are
people doing real work and solving real problems using DSSSL, and that
they will continue to use DSSSL while it is the best tool for the job.
And, until XSL implementations do "provide the formatting
functionality of at least DSSSL", DSSSL will be the best tool for many
jobs.

That's not to say that DSSSL implementations provide the full
formatting functionality of DSSSL.  It is heartening that there are
more DSSSL implementations than previously, but, for the most part, we
are using simple-page-sequence, with its rudimentary headers and
footers, only because that's what our tools provide, and we would like
the ability to produce more complex pages.  The DSSSL's future is not
assured while the DSSSL tools don't fully implement DSSSL.

The DSSSL's future is also not assured while DSSSL is seen as an
arcane and impenetrable language.  To get on my favourite DSSSL
soapbox, we need more and better DSSSL documentation so that people
have something to help them get started with DSSSL.  We also need
DSSSL editing software that will hide the gory details, and all those
parentheses, from casual users so they don't need to begin to
penetrate the language.  XSL may not have DSSSL's parentheses, but it,
too, will need a friendly front-end before everybody can use it.

I keep mentioning XSL because I'm interested in both, and because
comparisons between the two are obvious.  The question for many people
is undoubtedly whether they should adopt DSSSL or XSL.  I doubt that
the answers are always clear cut, since for the moment DSSSL has the
edge in print applications and, with Jade's SGML backend, is capable
of producing HTML, which is the current favourite output of XSL
engines.  XSL already has more implementations, but as yet they don't
do as much.  I develop applications with both, and I expect that I
will do so for some time to come.  Long live DSSSL!

Regards,


Tony Graham
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Tony Graham                            mailto:tgraham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mulberry Technologies, Inc.                http://www.mulberrytech.com
17 West Jefferson Street                    Direct Phone: 301/315-9632
Suite 207                                          Phone: 301/315-9631
Rockville, MD  20850                                 Fax: 301/315-8285
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  Mulberry Technologies: A Consultancy Specializing in SGML and XML
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