----- Original Message ----- From: "Lee Passey" <lee@novomail.net>
What you are suggesting here is a recipe for inaction. The OpenReader format can hardly be called a standard, as widespread recognition, adoption, and employment is still a way off, but _proposals_ must always precede adoption.
You are right in that the proposal comes first. But anyone can propose anything. (See: bowerbird) Granted, the openreader proposal is well documented and from what little I've seen, well-though out. BUT... It is still nothing more than a proposal because no one can really DO anything with it. Let me draw a parallel. The MPEG standards were first a proposal (draft) and then a crude implementation was created by the group. It was by no means a fully realized application, but it was enough that people could see what the heck the long dreary draft was talking about. THEN other groups created bazillion different implementations that we have today. Put together a crude OpenReader compliant application so that people can see what the heck it is. Josh PS And you could say that the lack of a reader IS a red-herring ... it is distracting from the fact that there is proposed standard because no one can ACCESS texts marked in the proposed standard.