>I think the answer from the RSS-DEV people (I'm sort of guessing, correct me
>if I'm wrong) is that the writers shouldn't have to understand the spec --
>they should be able to use tools that will generate the RSS for them.

Let me be a little more clear. I am a writer *and* I am a programmer.
Writing comes first; I program when I have a need, not because it's
k001 (though it is cool). I am a one-woman band at my website. I do
everything from writing to editing to markup to graphics to the books
to system administration to programming in perl, javascript and
Usertalk. I am a staff of one, and I am just one of dozens of
mid-sized websites that are run by one to three folks who have to
know how to do everything. I understand you're not saying this,
Aaron, I have nothing but respect for you, *believe* me, but this is
just a little too close to "don't worry your purty li'l head about
it, missy."

OK, fine, so I can find some tool somewhere to generate the RSS file
for me. But what if I want to parse one, which I will? I *still* have
to understand the spec, and I don't. And I'm neither stupid nor
technically illiterate, though obviously not at the level of this
august company.

It's not just the simple writers you'll need to worry about. It's the
simple webmasters who are doing things with RSS files now and who
will get tripped up by these changes. If you've ever done tech
support (and I have) you know that there are all kinds of people out
there doing this stuff--brilliant kids like Aaron and old duffers who
just wanna put up photos of the grandkids, and everyone in between.
I'm solidly in the middle; I know enough to get excited by this,
which is why I'm here. Those who are coming up to speed should have
a chance to get in on syndication and get excited too.

Anyway. Enough from me.

Lynn
--
Siprelle & Associates: Distinctive Web Design Since 1994
Lynn Siprelle, President: Newest Associate Josie born 9/9/97
Business: lynn@siprelle com | Personal: lynsa@...
Portfolio: http://www.siprelle.com/ | TNH: http://www.newhomemaker.com/