Re: gEDA-user: PCB suggestion

[Evan Lavelle <anti.spam1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Charles Lepple wrote:

> On Fri, 7 Jan 2005 08:38:55 -0800, Daniel J Wisehart <dw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > Why not use a neutral standard like XML?
>
>
> Not to stifle the discussion, but to prevent knee-jerk reactions to
> the use of the "X word":
>
> http://www.geda.seul.org/mailinglist/geda-dev27/threads.html#00018
> http://www.geda.seul.org/mailinglist/geda-dev23/threads.html#00073
> http://www.geda.seul.org/mailinglist/geda-dev63/threads.html#00001

Maybe I'm being thick here, but what exactly would the advantages of an 
XML file format be? They seem to be:

+ Easy to get parsers
+ You can pretty print XML in a browser
- It's verbose and vastly complex

But what's the advantage of a ready-made parser anyway? Constructing 
parsers is trivial; the complexity is at a higher level. You could end 
up with a standardised grammar, but completely different semantics from 
anybody else who's using XML; this isn't standardisation. Hundreds (?) 
of human languages use the Latin alphabet, but understanding one 
language doesn't mean that you can understand any other ones.

And what's the point of using a browser to view a netlist or a design 
database?

Or have I missed the point?

Evan