[whatwg] What exactly is contentEditable for?

[Ian Hickson]

On Fri, 26 Aug 2005, Anne van Kesteren wrote:
> 
> Note that the WHATWG is not about inventing new things, 
> 'contentEditable' and 'execCommand' have been here for years.
>
> Desktop browsers are not likely to implement all kinds of fancy new 
> stuff. They rather support things when it increases support for 
> applications/sites out there.

More to the point, WHATWG's aims imply that where existing technologies 
(proprietary or otherwise) could be used neatly to solve a problem, then 
they should be reused rather than inventing new redundant technologies to 
do the same thing. In cases where there is no prior art, though, inventing 
new things is definitely going to happen, and browsers are going to 
implement them (well, hopefully anyway! If they won't, those bits will 
be removed or simplified).

-- 
Ian Hickson               U+1047E                )\._.,--....,'``.    fL
http://ln.hixie.ch/       U+263A                /,   _.. \   _\  ;`._ ,.
Things that are impossible just take longer.   `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.'