Re: [apps-discuss] New I-D: text/markdown Media Type - draft-seantek-text-markdown-media-type-00

[James M Snell <[e-mail]>]

Since the variants are already incompatible with one another there are
really only three possibilities:

1. We define a single media type with a semantic that says, "while
documents identified by this media type are related, they may be
completely incompatible from one another, so therefore you have to go
look at this other bit of information to tell what you're really
looking at" (i.e. the variant or profile parameter)
   example: application/markdown;variant=github,
application/markdown;variant=stackoverflow

or

2. We acknowledge that while each of these variants are related, their
incompatibility with one another requires them to have their own
distinct media types... effectively treating them as entirely separate
formats.
   example: application/vnd.github-md, application/vnd.stackoverflow-markdown

or

3. We go with the +markdown suffix approach, which acknowledges the
related natures of the formats, but still allows each to be handled as
if they were separate formats. (it's essentially a shortcut version of
option #1)
   example: application/vnd.github+markdown,
application/vnd.stackoverflow+markdown

We would simply have to acknowledge that +markdown variants can be
incompatible with one another. That can be specified in the definition
of the +markdown suffix.

- James

On Wed, Jul 9, 2014 at 1:55 PM, Ned Freed <[e-mail]> wrote:
>> On 7/9/2014 10:06 AM, Ned Freed wrote:
>> > And even the variants themselves aren't all that precisely defined. Which IMO
>> > makes them a mismatch for the +suffix concept, even if we did something like
>> > +markdown-variant.
>
>
>> The way this thread has progressed suggests to me that the spec is
>> better as a single, specific media type, with no variant option.
>
> My understanding is that there are already multiple variants in play, so
> you'd need multiple media types right off as well as an effort to get
> them all registered.
>
>> When a next form of markdown gets traction, give it its own media type
>> entry.
>
> I'm really not a fan of this approach, but then again, my position as
> reviewer may bias me somewhat here.
>
>                                 Ned
>
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