Standards, use them.

Ok, so obviously there has been some crazy talk about standards and internet explorer and firefox, etc. I am a big advocate for using and promoting standards usage on the Internet, and therefore feel compelled to clear up some false information being printed in the threads here.

THIS IS NOT A MICROSOFT HATING THREAD!
Despite my obvious opinions toward them, this is about standards itself.

Tim Berners-Lee created the internet, and proclaimed that it will remain free for everyone and must maintain backwards compatiblity. Remember this statement. In 1994 Tim created the World Wide Web Consortium (W3), in order to, and I quote,

W3C primarily pursues its mission through the creation of Web standards and guidelines. In its first ten years, W3C published more than eighty such W3C Recommendations. W3C also engages in education and outreach, develops software, and serves as an open forum for discussion about the Web. In order for the Web to reach its full potential, the most fundamental Web technologies must be compatible with one another and allow any hardware and software used to access the Web to work together. W3C refers to this goal as “Web interoperability.” By publishing open (non-proprietary) standards for Web languages and protocols, W3C seeks to avoid market fragmentation and thus Web fragmentation.

W3 IS the leading standard for web technology. Standards are for the benefit of mankind and thus should be followed as closely as possible so that everyone can view what you may have to offer. Anything you publish on the web is knowledge that another could learn, or something they may have never experienced before. Denying any one group to view your website becuase it is made for a specific browser etc, is just a version of racism. Yes, I said it. Browser Racism.


Internet Explorer is a common browser that does not comply to standards. While they may not comply to standards It is still my duty to code for it so that I maintain a cross-browser compatibility that IE just blatently disregarded. Either way, this is a bad thing for everyone.

Obviously a discussion on standards can be so much more thatn waht I have just plotted here, but the simple fact remains that most people just do not understand the actual concept of standards, or more importantly, its purpose for the benefit of everyone.

We define where technology goes. Therefore it is our own responsibility to keep it together and usable by everyone, not only through a usability standpoint, but through a technical standpoint as well.

I suggest that everyone read a book, an article, or watch a video about standards compliance and why it is a much bigger deal than you may at this time realize.

Whether or not you like or dislike Open Source and its philosphies, or if you are in love with it and hate anything proprietary, you owe it to yourself to educate yourself on both sides of the fence. Ignorance is not an excuse for anything in life. So don't reply to this thread unless you research what you are about to type and have an honest opinion on it, without false facts being displayed.

My name is Eric Bobbitt. I use Linux & Windows. Standards dont care what I use.