Re: [syndication] A message to the lurkers on the list

[Rael Dornfest <rael@oreilly.com>]

Howdy,

On Tue, 17 Oct 2000, Dave Winer wrote:

...

> 3. Re complexity, adding more elements does not increase complexity in any
> appreciable way as long as it's clear that all the elements are optional.
> What does increase complexity is swapping in whole other cultures, which may
> or may not be well-explained. If they are not well-explained, or add an
> abstraction layer, you lose huge groups of potential supporters. If you try
> to explain them you alienate the communities that support them. You can see
> some of that in the confusion over RDF in the RSS-DEV archives. Even Dublin
> Core is not as simple as it appears. That's the slippery slope issue,
> tomorrow the RDF working group could change their mind and invalidate RSS.

Again, incorporating some useful Dublin Core elements into an RSS core:

  * Is well documented and clearlly explained. Eg[1]:

    Element: Creator

      Name:        Creator
      Identifier:  Creator
      Definition:  An entity primarily responsible for making the 
                   content of the resource.
      Comment:     Examples of a Creator include a person, an 
                   organisation, or a service.  Typically, the name 
                   of a Creator should be used to indicate the entity.

  * Does not require an "abstraction layer"; what could be flatter?

    ...
     <item>
       <title>An Item</title>
       <link>http://www.somewhereorother.com/item.html</link>
       <description>This is a description of An Item...</description>
       <creator>Anne Author</creator>
       <subject>Woodwork, Metalsmithing</subject>
       <type>news</type>
       <language>en-us</language>
       <date>2000-10-13</date>
       <format>text/html</format>
       <rights>Copyright 2000, Something or Other</rights>
       <publisher>Somewhere or Other, Inc.</publisher>
     </item>
    ...

  * Does not require RDF, or even namespaces (as the sample above 
    shows).

....

> 4. I've always felt that your ticker element was the canonical example of
> why RSS should upgrade incrementally. Having the docs for such an element in
> the baseline spec would give people ideas of the practicality of RSS. Like
> the Dial Phone command in MORE 1.0, few if any used it, but when they saw it
> there, it gave them an appreciation for the utility of the product. Further
> such examples might make the format even richer.

I included a simple example in the RSS 1.0 spec, provided here with 
namespace (but not RDF) usage:

  ...
  <item>
    ...
    <company:name>Apple Computer, Inc.</co:name>
    <company:market>NasdaqNM</co:market>
    <company:symbol>AAPL</co:symbol>
    ...
  </item>
  ...

Rael

[1] http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/

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