9/23/2002 5:42:41 PM, "Bullard, Claude L (Len)" <clbullar@[...].com>  wrote:

>  I am glad to 
> see guys like Elliotte sit down to see just how 
> far one can get with an underwhelming proposal. 

Absolutely!  A "Recommendation" in the context of
1997 should not be concrete around the feet of
developers in 2002 or 2007.  Shave away what 
doesnt't work, tweak what's confusing, add what's
missing.

>  It is up to us 
> to become smart enough to know when to keep our 
> wallets in our pockets and out of reach.  But even 
> minimal profiles are pretty much for us geeks. 
> What about the people who actually buy things?

I want the "standards" upon which interoperability
depends to be minimalist, thus creating a market for
tools that make the standards useable by "people
who actually buy things."  I do NOT like the situation
where extremely complicated "standards" are justified
by the fact that "people who buy things" can buy
a tool to make them tolerable: They will not
have any idea what is standardized, and what is
extended, until they realize that they're locked into
a vendor's tool.




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