In message <1F22946A-4F45-4679-8634-3C211214DD41@loria.fr> Laurent Romary
<laurent.romary@loria.fr> writes:
> Hi all,
> It has been an intense thread which managed to loose me several times.  
> If we go for a simplified solution like suggested, we should make  
> clear that we will:
> a) indicate that it is a temporary one in the guidelines

I don't think it's a good idea to introduce something which we know isn't going
to last. 

> b) work towards ensuring a transition mechanism when defining a more  
> ellaborate one
> As to the pattern mechanisms, it should clearly be part of a more  
> global plan on addressing mechanisms, but this said, it does not  
> prevent us to start thinking on this right away and polish a proposal.

I think we now have something pretty convincing and useful which addresses the
generic need for "meta-tagging" like <certainty>. I agree that generalising
beyond that is a matter for much more detailed work, but there's a clear and
convincing case for introducing the @pattern mechanism to address the meta
tagging need. We just need to clarify exactly what that mechanism is and how it
relates to the existing @target mechanism. As indicated elsewhere, I think we
should be able to do that in time for the next release