A good point, but I think that most of the Inventor discussion has
been about an issue where we *do* have a clear requirement: the
standard must be public domain. This was stated pretty clearly in
Brian and Mark's original description of the project, and I think it's
a very good idea -- for something to really catch on on the Net, you
usually need to throw open the doors to anyone who wants to develop
tools. The real question is: *is* Inventor's file format public domain
(or at least freely usable) or not? So far, I haven't seen a clear
statement.
(I think we've also teased out a few other requirements over the
course of the discussion, which I meantioned the other day: we're
mainly looking for an object-description language; it should allow
good hierarchical structuring and inheritance; it should be easily
subsettable so we can kick off quickly; it should be straightforward
to extend. And there are some things that aren't requirements, but
plusses: a simple, easy-to-parse syntax, and existing tools...)
-- Justin
Random Quote du Jour:
>From Syr Murphy's laws of SCA combat:
"11. The enemy diversion you have been ignoring will be the main attack.
13. If your attack is going well, you have walked into an ambush.
18. If you are short of everything but the enemy, you have been flanked."