Every XML/HTML editor I am familiar with has the ability to set attributes on elements. An editor without that capability is pretty much worthless. It takes a little bit of effort, but I can even make Microsoft Word do it. If volunteers choose to use tools that make their job harder, I can do nothing about it. But selecting an inadequate markup scheme just because it's hard to use your preferred tools otherwise, is as big a mistake as deciding to support only markup-free text because some volunteer, somewhere, might not understand markup.
Its not a question of what I would be willing or not to use, it's a question of what the volunteers, especially at DP are willing to use. Go check out the DP forums. My understanding is that a lot of people use things like notepad, notepad++, msword, sigil, etc. Dedicated XML/HTML editors are either not cheap or not good, last time I checked some months ago.
There are lots of volunteers out there in the world, and if someone decides not to participate because it's too hard for him/her I'm sure they can find some other worthy cause--perhaps Distributed Proofreaders, where things have been made even simpler than is possible.
In the system I envision the WW priesthood would be defrocked. I don't
Whatever it needs/wants to. Project Gutenberg Next Generation creates an archive, creates a catalog, and creates a standard for how documents need to be structured. If DP wants to participate, it can just meet the standards
DP would tell you they are already hurting for people who are capable and willing to format code. They have lots of people happy to play in P1. The problem is getting books finished and pushed out the back end. think the answer is to reform the current PG system, I think the answer is to replace it. Well, I won't ask what caused them to become defrocked. What would you replace them with? PG does have reasonable legal requirements to vet submissions before posting them. like everyone else. Maybe it can develop some processes that can make this happen better than an individual volunteer, maybe it can't, maybe it's just not interested. Their problem, not mine. Your problem, actually, because PG isn't going anywhere without DP support. Could happen the other way around though -- DP could go somewhere without PG.