[thelist] [SOLVED] mac/ie background image problem

[Bertilo Wennergren]

.jeff:

>> From: Bertilo Wennergren
>>
>> [...] There is very real possibility that quirks mode
>> will go away one day (along with doctypes switching)
>> and then some pages made for quirks mode might stop
>> working. [...]

> quirks mode isn't likely to go away in our lifetimes.
>  there are just too many pages with useful content whose
> html isn't being updated that would disappear if quirks
> mode were to go the way of the dodo.  quirks mode is here
> to stay, for a long time, if not essentially forever.

Maybe you're right. But we would want it to go away, wouldn't we?
We want things to work according to standards, not according to bugs.

And, if we want _doctype switching_ to go away, like Peter-Paul wants,
we'd better not add to the mountain of pages that depend on quirks mode
rendering.

The only reason we have this doctype switching, and these two (or even
three) rendering modes, is the huge amount of old (and not so old) pages
that would break if browsers would do everything according to standards.
Browser makers did not dare to just start supporting standards. They
instead invented doctype switching.

I think we all hope that one day browser makers will find that they can
do everything the standard way, and thus drop quirks mode. Maybe it
won't happen, and if we keep on creating pages that only work in quirks
mode, with doctypes (or a lack of a doctype) that make browsers switch
into quirks mode, then that day may never come, or will come a lot later.

Thus, actively choosing to use no doctype does not contribute to
removing doctype switching. It helps conserve the state of affairs. It
helps keep doctype switching alive.

That's why I find Peter-Pauls idea so paradoxial. He doesn't like
doctype switching, but recommends helping keep it alive.

--
Bertilo Wennergren <bertilow at gmx.net> <http://www.bertilow.com>