Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2003 19:58:20 +0200 (CEST)
From: Peter Eisentraut <peter_e@gmx.net>
To: Rod Taylor <rbt@rbt.ca>
Cc: PostgreSQL Docs <pgsql-docs@postgresql.org>
Subject: Re: Need help with SGML again
In-Reply-To: <1066239617.47010.45.camel@jester>
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.44.0310151946410.21950-100000@peter.localdomain>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

Rod Taylor writes:

> You don't need to switch toolkits to use XML input files as the source.
> Openjade and friends all support XML with the exception of xincludes
> (frankly, they're the best part).

But the xincludes part kind of invalidates your point, no?  If we just
switch to XML and keep using OpenJade, then we're not really gaining much,
I think.  I'm not attached to OpenJade or DSSSL.  We're not going to get
around using XSLT eventually.  Just don't equate "it's there" with "it
works well on a 1000 page book".

> What would you like as proof of concept for buy in prior to converting
> the entire toolchain?

A complete proposal that contains a motivation (such as, "we should
convert to DocBook XML because it enables us to use xincludes, which is
better than entity-based inclusion because it facilitates editing"), plus
precise answers to the questions I posed (except maybe the "does it look
good" part, which can always be fixed).  AFAIR, the past proposals you had
about architecture advancements always fell short in one point or two or
were lacking the, er, vision or time to push it through completely.
Another thing that has more than once held up any kind of conversion is
that people, including myself, always get these ideas in the middle of
beta.  If you want to start hacking around as soon as 7.5 opens, be my
guest.  But I would like to see a complete plan that gives me a good
feeling that by the start of the next beta, we'll be at least as good as
the previous state.

-- 
Peter Eisentraut   peter_e@gmx.net