RE: Someone bashing XSL

Subject: RE: Someone bashing XSL
From: "Didier PH Martin" <martind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1999 18:10:07 -0400
Hi Sebastian,

Sebastian said:
good lord, we have had 15 years of "competition to XSL", in the shape
of all the SGML processing systems over the years, and the entire
development of DSSSL. what more do you want? XSL is a pretty modest
effort at standardizing the best of the last decade into an 80/20
solution. It isn't a big new product trying to bulldoze competitors
aside, with hordes of screaming brain-washed acolytes. why do you (and
Leventhal, I suppose) portray XSL as the product of a sinister inner
circle bent on influencing world history, like something from the plot
of a james bond film?

hey, I've got an idea? why dont we backtrack 6 months and restart the
frenzied argument about the politics of W3C and XSL? Lets have another
round of "whats wrong with CSS and DOM" - what joy!

Didier says:
I have to agree with Simon that competition is good. For my part, this is
the quality of the critic toward XSL that xmlscript is lacking. They should
at least do their homework. This said, I have to agree that xmlscript has
some virtues like XSl hasn't (and vise versa).

To answer more particularly to your comment, XSL does not represent
necessarily the best of the last decade but more a good compromise of
diverse needs. There is obviously room for improvement and some competition
will prevent xsl to stay on his laurels. Its only if we have a ghetto
attitude that evolution won't happen.

Also, about your 15 years of competition in the SGML world and DSSSL is not
necessarily competition but precedence to XSL. Always in the same vein, you
can say that DSSSL, by competing in the same arena that XSL is pushed to
evolve as I whish XSL will be when it will be pushed by a competitor
language. Andy Grove said that only the paranoid survive, we can also say
that indulgently conduct to death. And please Sebastian, don't count DSSSL
as dead, there is room for improvement there too and why not, learn from XSL
good features. Do not forget that a DSSSL-2 is possible. As I whish there
will be a XSL-2 able to absord the best of its time.

So, welcome competition and arguments as long as the quality of them is good
and leads to evolution. Isn't it how science evolved? Now what XSL needs is
a good competitor and good arguments so that these arguments help it evolve.
But not kind of arguments like "it is ugly", or "it is passed" which talks
more to my hypothalamus than my gray matter. So, the best thing I can whish
to XSL is a strong competitor and good arguments and also a good design team
able to absorb the best of its time (on this side I am secured).

regards
Didier PH Martin
mailto:martind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.netfolder.com


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