[whatwg] Missing alt attribute name bikeshedding (was Re: alt="" and the <meta name=generator> exception)

[Odin Hørthe Omdal]

On Mon, 06 Aug 2012 02:31:00 +0200, Maciej Stachowiak <mjs at apple.com>  
wrote:
> I don't have a strong opinion, but I think  
> generator-unable-to-provide-required-alt might be long to the point of  
> silliness.

IMHO generator-unable-to-provide-required-alt in all its ugliness is a  
really nice feature, because how would anyone in their sane mind write  
that. It's really made for a corner case, and if you really really want  
that, you should be prepared to deal with the ugliness, because what you  
are doing is ugly in the first place...


It clearly describes what's going on, in clear text that even those whose  
mother language is not English can easily understand. It discourages usage  
by being ugly and long. The negative reaction you had here is more or less  
what I believe the name is designed to provoke.

You don't use it unless you have to.


It feels humiliating to bikeshed a name, but this is also about what  
effect you want to put onto the ones using it.

-- 
Odin Hørthe Omdal (Velmont/odinho) · Core, Opera Software, http://opera.com