Chapter 13 - HTML

13.3 Owners - The Factions That Vie For Control Of HTML

There is no single group that controls HTML, although there are certain commercial entities that probably would like to. HTML originated from CERN and NCSA, educational and scientific facilities, but has been largely pre-empted by commercial interests. The two main groups currently involved in HTML standards are the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) and the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force).

The established channels to add to HTML standards are to write Internet Drafts which are published, tested, and commented on, and when finalized become Document Type Definitions, which are used as standards for WWW browsers and HTML authors. This process is circumvented by browsers authors, who add to HTML and support the additions in their particular browsers (Netscape is the major player in these kinds of proprietary additions to HTML). These kind of additions may eventually be codified as current practice or may be abandoned depending on how well the WWW community likes them and uses them. The final control of HTML lies with individual authors who choose to code HTML to spec or choose to use non-standard, exclusionary markup.

13.3.1 CERN and NCSA

Although HTML came from CERN and NCSA produced the first widely distributed free Web Browser, these two entities have been superceded, mostly by commercial concerns. They do not seem to be much involved in HTML now.

13.3.2 W3C - The World Wide Web Consortium

The W3C has been the single body with the most influence on HTML development. W3C is hosted by the Laboratory for Computer Science at MIT, by INRIA (INSTITUT NATIONAL DE RECHERCHE EN INFORMATIQUE ET EN AUTOMATIQUE - The French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control), and Keio University with support from DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) and the European Commission. Members include Netscape, Microsoft, Spyglass, Sun, Apple, and many others.

Any organization or company which can sign the membership agreement and pay the membership fees. Individuals cannot join the W3C, but may participate by subscribing to the World Wide Web Journal, the official journal of the W3C, published quarterly by O'Reilly and Associates.

Although the W3C is ostensibly a non-profit organization, the fee for becoming a Full Member (if a company has gross revenues over $50 million) is $150,000, the fee for an Affiliate Membership is $15,000. One-third of the total fee is due at the time an organization joins, and one-third is due in each of the two subsequent years.

Members get new in formation and specifications before they are released to the general public.

The Consortium claims its purposes are to support the advancement of information technology in the field of networking, graphics and user interfaces by evolving the World Wide Web toward a true information infrastructure, and to encourage cooperation in the industry through the promotion and development of standard interfaces in the information environment known as the "World Wide Web." MIT and INRIA's role is to provide the vendor-neutral architectural, engineering and administrative leadership required to make this work. The Consortium began operation October 1, 1994.

But membership in the W3C does not means the members have to, or will, abide by its constraints and charter.

13.3.3 IETF

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is the protocol engineering and development arm of the Internet. The IETF is a large open international community of network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers concerned with the evolution of the Internet architecture and the smooth operation of the Internet. It is open to any interested individual.

The IRTF (Internet Research Task Force) is tasked to consider the long-term research problems in the Internet. The Internet Society (ISOC), formed in January 1992, provides the official parent organization for the IETF. The ISOC Board of Trustees appoints the members of the IAB (Internet Architecture Board). The IETF and IRTF Chairs are also IAB members. The IAB provides the final technical review of Internet standards.

Browser Manufacturers

Although there are many Web browser makers, Netscape is the main player here - the one that took all the talent from NCSA and began extending HTML with little regard to specifications. Netscape's success has attracted the attention of Microsoft, which has also begun making its own additions. There are other popular, high-quality browsers available, such as Mosaic and Lynx, but they are not addressed here as they are not well known for adding tags to HTML without going through the standards process.

13.3.4 Netscape

Marc Andreessen is senior vice president of technology for Netscape Communications. Andreessen developed the idea for the NCSA Mosaic browser for the Internet in the fall of 1992 while he was an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois and a staff member at the university's National Center for Supercomputing Applications in Champaign, Illinois. He created the navigational tool for the Internet with a team of students and staff at NCSA in early 1993, basing their work on Tim Ber ners-Lee's efforts, which were given to the world for free. In his role at Netscape Communications, Marc sets and oversees the technical direction of the company. He received a bachelor of science degree in computer science from the University of Illinois in 1993.

In addition to Andreessen, Netscape Communications' core technical team includes five of the six other original NCSA Mosaic developers from NCSA: Eric Bina, Rob McCool, Jon Mittelhauser, Aleks Totic, and Chris Houck. The team also includes Lou Montulli, author of Lynx, the best known text-based browser for the Internet, other University of Illinois alumni, and several software engineers formerly with Silicon Graphics, Lucid, and General Magic Corporation.

Netscape has single-handedly changed the face of HTML by adding tags without going through the established channels. These tags include BLINK, TABLE, and FRAME.

13.3.5 Microsoft

Although late on the HTML scene, Microsoft has plunged into the Web, offering its own browser, Internet Explorer, and, of course, its own proprietary tags, such as MARQUEE and BGSOUND (background sound).

13.3.6 HTML Authors

The final control of HTML rests squarely on the shoulders of individual authors of HTML documents. If authors can be seduced by blinking, barking, and spinning proprietary tags, and do not care who is excluded by such practices, the Web will become more and more fragmented. If authors decide that the most important facet of HTML is its device independence, its ability to make information sharable to everyone in the world, regardless of software and hardware, then HTML specifications will be adhered to. Netscape cannot force anyone to use frames or blinking text, all they can do is make up the tags and see if the authoring community uses them. It is critical that authors understand the proprietary nature of such tags and make informed decisions on their use.

Next, we will examine what good HTML practices are, and then we will look at nuts and bolts of HTML, exactly what tags are "safe" (defined in a finalized spec), and which tags are potentially harmful non-spec additions.

Pris Sears <[email protected]>