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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday May 29 2019, @10:26AM   Printer-friendly
from the two-many-standards dept.

W3C and the WHATWG Sign an Agreement to Collaborate on a Single Version of HTML and DOM:

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has decided to join forces with the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG) so there is now hope we may eventually have a single, comprehensive agreement for what is valid HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and how the DOM (Document Object Model) should be defined.

Today W3C and the WHATWG signed an agreement to collaborate on the development of a single version of the HTML and DOM specifications. The Memorandum of Understanding jointly published as the WHATWG/W3C Joint Working Mode gives the specifics of this collaboration. This is the culmination of a careful exploration effective partnership mechanisms since December 2017 after the WHATWG adopted many shared features as their work-mode and an IPR policy.

[...] Motivated by the belief that having two distinct HTML and DOM specifications claiming to be normative is generally harmful for the community, and the mutual desire to bring the work back together, W3C and WHATWG agree to the following terms:

  • W3C and WHATWG work together on HTML and DOM, in the WHATWG repositories, to produce a Living Standard and Recommendation/Review Draft-snapshots
  • WHATWG maintains the HTML and DOM Living Standards
  • W3C facilitates community work directly in the WHATWG repositories (bridging communities, developing use cases, filing issues, writing tests, mediating issue resolution)
  • W3C stops independent publishing of a designated list of specifications related to HTML and DOM and instead will work to take WHATWG Review Drafts to W3C Recommendations

So how does this fit in with the obligatory xkcd?


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  • (Score: 1) by Chocolate on Wednesday May 29 2019, @10:52AM (6 children)

    by Chocolate (8044) on Wednesday May 29 2019, @10:52AM (#848836) Journal

    The fantastic thing about standards is that we have so many of them to choose from so they are proposing a standard that changes over time?

    --
    Bit-choco-coin anyone?
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 29 2019, @11:33AM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 29 2019, @11:33AM (#848845)

    Well, HTML changed from 4 to 4.1 to 5 ... so I would imagine that continued development will produce new snapshots of the "living standard".

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 29 2019, @11:40AM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 29 2019, @11:40AM (#848848)

      How can you make sure you get the freedom to design something properly and beat your competitor to the market? By "living standards" of course and being part of the team to create it.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 29 2019, @01:18PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 29 2019, @01:18PM (#848884)

        Write the code then write the documentation. That way the code always matches the documents. *

        * From a wise old tech writer

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 29 2019, @02:26PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 29 2019, @02:26PM (#848904)

        How can you make sure you get the freedom to design something properly and beat your competitor to the market? By "living standards" of course and being part of the team to create it.

        I'm not concerned about these two organizations competing with anyone but each other.

        If you think "living standards" are bad, does that mean you think a standard should be written once and never evolve? No new versions ever? Do we delay things for years (or decades) to ensure our one shot is perfect, or do we just put it out and hope technology doesn't change?

        BTW, you (and everybody else) have zero "freedom" to design something properly if you are adhering to standards (living, concrete or abandoned). You give up "freedom" in order to gain compatibility.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 29 2019, @08:02PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 29 2019, @08:02PM (#849058)

          Spoken like someone who never had to work in a private company as an employee.

          If you think "living standards" are bad, does that mean you think a standard should be written once and never evolve? No new versions ever? Do we delay things for years (or decades) to ensure our one shot is perfect, or do we just put it out and hope technology doesn't change?

          Is it False Dichtonomy or Strawman? Hm...

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 29 2019, @06:39PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 29 2019, @06:39PM (#849019)

      Well, HTML changed from 4 to 4.1 to 5 ... so I would imagine that continued development will produce new snapshots of the "living standard".

      Not exactly. "Living standard" is douche-speak for "tied up in litigation".