Via Tim Bray, Jon Udell's Replace and Defend analysis of new technologies pouring out of Microsoft HQ prior to the release of their next operating system, Longhorn.
As Jon says: "if the suite of standards now targeted for elimination from Microsoft's actively-developed portfolio were a technological dead end, ripe for disruption, then we should all thank Microsoft for pulling the trigger. If, on the other hand, these standards are fundamentally sound, then it's a time for [...] sustaining rather than disruptive advances. I believe the ecosystem needs sustaining more than disruption."
This is what is known in some circles as "evolution, not revolution" ... the idea that Darwinian evolution very rarely throws out a line of development in favour of starting from scratch, prefering instead to continually improve things. CSS, XML, Relax-NG, SVG and so on are far from end-of-life standards. We're only just beginning to really take advantage of them and just starting to discover what we can do with them. Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater and start over.
It would be nice if Microsoft would work with us for a change, instead of continually looking for ways to lock us in or lock us out.
Posted by savs at November 2, 2003 12:06 PM