[uf-discuss] Very basic question that is not in the FAQ

[Ryan King]

On Jun 22, 2006, at 2:08 PM, Scott Reynen wrote:
> On Jun 22, 2006, at 1:20 PM, Kevin Marks wrote:
>
>> The point of microformats is to give up control. Technorati  
>> genuinely believes that distributed open formats are more valuable  
>> than centralised closed ones, and that is a big reason why Tantek  
>> and I work here.
>
> I know all this.  My point is that someone reading microformats.org  
> for the first time does not, and they should.
>
>> The problem may be that 'clarifying ownership' involves a  
>> digression into Open Source theory rather than a simple  
>> disclaimer. If you have a good way of explaining this do please  
>> share it.
>
> On http://microformats.org/about I'd suggest something like:
>
> "
> microformats are:
>
>  ... open data format standards that a diverse community of  
> individual and organizations are actively developing ...
>
> microformats are not:
>
> .... Controlled by any individual or organization....

This seems reasonable.

> Work on microformats began at Technorati,

Well, that's not quite true. Work on microformats began with Tantek,  
Eric and Matt working on XFN. At the time, Tantek was still at  
Microsoft (and Eric and Matt have never worked at Technorati).

-ryan