RSS 2.0 currently has a serious inconsistency in that it diverges significantly in one key area from earlier versions. All previous versions of RSS in this lineage (0.9, 0.91, 0.92, 0.94) have claimed backward compatibility with the previous version. Version 0.91 explicitly disallows HTML mark-up in any content, with the exception of basic entity encoding.
Yet we're now confronted with a RSS 2.0 spec that explicitly overrides that critical design decision, instead specifying that the default format for text is HTML. I feel there is a major disconnect here and this has the potential to ruin RSS as a syndication format for use outside of desktop Web browsers. If a renderer wants to add mark-up to a RSS feed and show it, that's fine. But to impose stylistic mark-up on the content before it is delivered to a lightweight device like a pager, phone, or PDA is inappropriate and counter to the original intent of RSS. At least, that's my opinion.
I think this issue needs to be thoroughly examined before pronouncing RSS 2.0 "done."
12:27:15 PM 
|
|
