Re: [docbook] To Namespace or Not To Namespace

[Warren Young <warren@etr-usa.com>]

On 10/3/2014 10:21, Steve Cuzner wrote:
> I’m investigating porting our 4.x docbook to 5.x. For our custom
> elements, I’m considering adding them to our own namespace so that it is
> more obvious which elements are docbook and which are custom to our
> extension. While technically not necessary given that any customizations
> makes it not DocBook, what are the pros and cons of namespacing our own
> extension elements?

Namespacing means you avoid conflicts with any future DocBook versions.

As for the cons of not namespacing, I can't think of any other than the 
extra typing it requires.  Aren't all XML parsers worth talking about 
namespace aware now?

That rhetorical sweep includes old versions of modern parsers that are 
still available in "stable" OSes like RHEL and Debian.  MSXML -- made by 
the company that never met a standard they didn't want to wreck -- has 
supported namespaces going back to the XP days, a dozen years ago at least.