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Add-on to the Semantically correct XHTML output project roadmap
PROPOSED ROADMAP TO IMPLEMENT R.H.' GUIDELINES FOR SIMPLER AND SEMANTICALLY CORRECT XHTML OUTPUT * Version 1.0 1.1 * 1. Produce a set of desired XHTML outputs corresponding to all possible DocBook structures, according to Rene Hache's guidelines. [COMMENT BY N.R.] This is probably the hardest part to achieve, since each DocBook user on Earth will have its own vision of the desired output. But I'm convinced we can get to a consensus. 2. Test whether these expected outputs are conforming to W3C Strict XHTML and Accessibility recommendations and guidelines. Correct them until they succeed. 3. Define XSLT processing options to suit most of the DocBook users needs for their wanted outputs. [COMMENT BY N.R.] These needs have to be defined in the project guidelines. 3. Completely rewrite the XHTML XSL from scratch, since the current one is based on the HTML one (even in the XSLT2 snapshot, this is still the case - correct me if I am wrong). Strict XHTML is definitively not Transitional HTML(the first is XML, the second is SGML, but this is not the only difference). [COMMENT BY N.R.] Yes, I know, "The people who developed and maintain the style sheets deserve both some slack and our appreciation", as Eric Johnson and a few others pointed it out. I totally agree with this and I am the first to give all my gratitude to them. But, I don't see why we should stick to obsolete and inadequate stuff, on the pretext that we should have Grand Respect to the Code and its Maintainers. Due to their license terms (X11-style), the DocBook XSLs are conforming to the free software philosophy. Thus, everybody is invited to constantly improve, add features, correct the code, and maybe rewrite it if necessary. This is what I want to bait with this post, hopping that I won't hurt anybody by doing so. [COMMENT BY N.R.] "Why wouldn't we write a simple customization layer?" There are many reasons for this. The first is to ease the code maintenance. Changes in the underlying code could break the upper layer, and it adds too much complexity. The second reason is processing time: a customization layer would certainly not improve it. On the other hand, stripping all unwanted and obsolete processing instructions would improve it, since semantically correct XHTML is much simpler than HTML. 4. Try to get these new XSLs integrated into the main DocBook project, instead of proposing them separately.
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