[tei-council] solving unnumbered divs (bis)

[David J Birnbaum]

Dear TEI Council,
> You asked for the case for the defense (of both a <div0> and <div1>
> as top-level division). I am presenting one: users requested it, and
> unless we find out that they've changed their minds, that's an
> argument to keep them both.
>   
The TEI Guidelines strive mightily to be flexible, allowing multiple 
ways to do the same thing because different user subcommunities have 
different preferences. The arguments for doing what users want are 
self-evident and certainly sensible, but we pay a price for this, which 
has been brought to our attention recently in the discussion of how  
<div>, <div0>, and <div1> do or do not play well together.

I'd like to suggest that TEI Council not be excessively shy about 
expressing a strong opinion (when we can more or less agree on one) 
about best practice, and about steering the Guidelines in that 
direction. Users who want to do something differently have the ability 
to customize, so nobody is suggesting that deviating from out-of-the-box 
TEI (to the extent that there is such a thing) means exile from the TEI 
community, but to the extent that we prioritize making it easier for 
people to do whatever they please, we move toward guidelines that don't 
guide as much as they might.

In arguing that we should not be excessively flexible I certainly don't 
mean to suggest that we should be capriciously dictatorial. Rather, I 
think "some people want to do it this way" is an argument that should be 
treated with respect, but it is not something that puts an end to all 
argument.

Best,

David