Re: [docbook] Ruminations on the future of DocBook

[steven.cogorno@sun.com (Steven Cogorno)]

Jeff Biss said:
> Michael,
> 
> I understand what you're saying but I am talking about the hierarchy of 
> the docBook. There could be just one element that would have a default 
> attribute unless it is provided with an override. The complexity would 
> be shifted from the elements to the attributes. This may not be an 
> answer for every element but at the moment there is such a reduction. 

And what advantage does this give?

Chaging warning and note to a single element with an attribute does nothing
to simply the processing.  What it does do is prevent orgaizations from
customizing the DTD to restrict where one or the other might appear.

Just as Norm was not speaking for his employer, I am not officially
representing Sun Microsystems in this message.

I think it's important to recognize the extensive investments many companies
have made to implement DocBook and DocBook-based DTDs. I estimate that my
department (not Sun as a whole) has spent ten million dollars developing and
supporting our documentation tools in the eight years we've been using
DocBook.  We produce over 100,000 pages of content a year. We have gigabytes
of structured documentation.

I suspect management would be extremely reluctant to adopt such fundamental
changes that would significantly de-leverage the existing investmest.  

Steve Cogorno
Sun Microsystems