[topicmapmail] Mapping files?

[Kal Ahmed]

On Mon, 2003-02-24 at 22:42, Guy Murphy wrote:
> There's no ambiguity in my argument at all... infact my stance that the
> topicmap standards are overly rarified has been consistent for a couple of
> years now.... the specs intimidate Web developers today, and did so
> yesterday... solution: simplify the specs.
> 

I don't see any evidence of what you suggest in the specs that W3C have
been producing lately. That said, I don't really judge W3C as the
yardstick to measure specifications by. Can you quote some "overly
rarified" passages from XTM ? Better still, can you redraft them into
Plain English so that the editors of the specification can see what
needs to be changed. I don't believe that we are some sort of clique
using pig-latin to keep outsiders away - I genuinely believe that if you
have some constructive critcism and positive suggestions, that those
will be heard and acted upon. Even if not by the specification editors,
I would gladly work with you to create some form of words that can
explain XTM to the web development community.

> Which is harder, and whether it is possible to learn from spec, but the
> simple fact is XTM is not catching on beyond a small circle and repeatedly
> people turn up saying "eh?"
> 

That is not my experience of the situation. A lot of people are getting
involved in topic mapping and in projects built around topic maps. Of
course people have questions when starting out, and it has to be
recognised that topic maps have not received the coverage that I think
they need to push them into the mainstream so that those well known
standards-educators start to write about them. 

I partially agree with you that this is a problem that the topic map
community faces - getting its message out. However, I completely
disagree that this has anything to do with the specifications.

> And you're right, I do see it as an us-and-them situation. I don't believe
> the topicmap specs hold any of my interests as a Web developer as a goal or
> requirement.
> 

So, are you completely disillusioned with topic maps, or are you willing
to work with me to create a guide to topic maps that will excite the
interest of web developers and help them to start creating topic map
based applications ?

This *is* a genuine offer.

Cheers,

Kal