I would like to provide advice for documenting RSS

The RSS community has suffered because a small number of people say what I write about RSS is “warfare.”

Even so, I would like to write about RSS.

You may not think I had anything to do with its creation or success, or that RSS is a bad, or not as good as something else, but I like it, as do a lot of other people, and even if I had nothing to do with creating it, I am entitled to my opinion, right?

I wrote about this the other day in my apology to Jason Calacanis, because a lot of his concerns were about what I said here on my blog, not in the session at Gnomedex. I tried to draw a very solid line. What I say here is my business, it’s fine if you disagree (please do) but not okay to question my right to an opinion. And further I’d like it to be clear that writing, in itself, is not an act of violence, even if you disagree with what the writing says. (Although of course there are exceptions.)

Evelyn Beatrice Hall: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

So I ask this question, before doing anything. If I were to write some guidelines, to help people writing docs for end-users about RSS, even if you don’t agree with my advice, will you support my right to write and publish it?

And if you say you will support it, will you stick by your committment? And if people call it warfare, will you disagree with them, not quietly, but actively?

In other words, unless there’s some support, I’m not going to stick my neck out, because I know it doesn’t work. For us to move forward, at least some of the good people who use RSS will have to play a role in supporting its evolution, not sit on the sidelines and wait for someone else to do it.

Of course, in the spirit of transparency, I’d like to do more than provide advice for documenting RSS, but let’s start with something relatively simple.

The bottom line is the author makes a pretty straightforward statement. He says…

“It contains a little bit more information, like links to the public profiles of the authors of Notes”

So my question is, does Dave dispute the factual statement made there? If so, wouldn’t any logical person conclude that Atom WAS the better way to go?

http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=23

Click on the “How do I choose whether to use Atom or RSS? What’s the difference?” link.

Not evangelizing, but answering a question that some users may have, and bother to investigate.

I recall when winer handed control of the RSS spec to a committee, and promised to keep a hands-off attitude once an “impartial body” took control. But now he’s determined to rewrite and control the spec. And make no mistake, if you write guidelines for RSS, as dave wants to do, then you are rewriting the spec.

If winer writes technical articles on RSS, he will ignite another war for control of the spec. And he knows it. I guess he already got beaten up, otherwise he wouldn’t have removed those comments.

Remember dave, the immortal words of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, “Your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins.” You have a right to free speech, but you have no right to start fights.