Re: gEDA-user: Flame about XML (was: Some footprints I tried to create)

[Tomaz Solc <tomaz.solc@xxxxxxxxxx>]

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Hi Michael

Great post and I respect your view. It's quite an achievement if you
still manage today with only an ASCII terminal.

I do share some of your points. Almost everything I write for example is
made in vi and Latex, with tabular data entered in Oleo. I do however
run a X session - it's hard to deny that graphical user interfaces don't
have large benefits for some applications. Design is one example - from
electronics to graphics and so on. However a lot of people today when
they have a problem first go to a computer and don't even think about
using a piece of paper. "When in doubt, use less technology".

I would like to add that I see the same trend in electronics. Students
are taught that you don't need to know much about details for example
about amplifier design. You just pick the right chip from the shelf.
Analog electronics itself appears to be dying. Adding microcontrollers
is advocated as the right answer to all problems. A local magazine for
example publishes simple DIY electronics projects - for a couple of
years now they all include PIC processors, even for tasks like blinking
lights where two transistors would accomplish the same task.

However I fail to see why XML format itself is problematic. It is often
abused, but it has its proper uses - "The art of Unix programming" has a
nice comparison between file formats and when the use of XML is
warranted. On the other hand I think that switching from the current PCB
format to an XML-based one would create much more problems than it would
solve.

Oh, and I don't see why you couldn't store an XML file on punched tape
in the same way as any other ASCII file.

Best regards
Tomaz
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