At 2:11 AM -0400 5/21/05, Bob Wyman wrote:
Tim Bray directs the editors to insert the following words: "If multiple atom:entry elements with the same atom:id value appear in an Atom Feed document, they describe the same entry and Atom Processors MUST treat them as such."It is a long standing and valued tradition in the IETF that Standards Track RFC's MUST NOT impose constraints on applications unless such constraints relate to issues of interoperability. Thus, while it is entirely appropriate for the specification to state that "multiple atom:entry elements with the same atom:id ... describe the same entry" it is NOT appropriate to state how Atom Processors must treat such elements. The text should read simply: "If multiple atom:entry elements with the same atom:id value appear in an Atom Feed document, they describe the same entry."
+1. I can live with Tim's original wording because the phrase that Bob removes is impossible to measure or enforce, but Bob's wording is cleaner for the same result.
--Paul Hoffman, Director --Internet Mail Consortium
