Hi all,

If anything I think the namespaces et al should be optional by using export switches. That would allow every user to create his own specified exports. Currently the is the Inkscape SVG file and plain SVG and optimised SVG, but I think it would be way more useful if there were just two kinds of SVG files. Inkscape native and export, the latter of which could be optimised with switches. If you'd then have a list of templates for optimisation (with a description on what it is used for)that would set these switches for the users, it would facilitate the user to find the right flavor of SVG. Currently you'll have to handcode a lot to create the right flavor and using such export facilities would simplify the process.

In any case removing the XML namespaces doesn't feel like a good option as long as many people are using legacy software to get their SVG to parse right. Blink of all parsers imho is NOT the default to go with when it comes to parsing SVG and there are more things done with SVG than just produce content for the Android platform.

SVG 2 seems still very much in flux and I would suggest not doing anything drastic until the recommendation level is reached, regardless of what a juggernaut like Google is doing. I guess they're flexible enough when it comes to exploiting standards for their own benefit as do all the others to try and push things their way, but that is basically what standards are for. To force the monopolists to adhere to standards. Not the other way around. Google in that respect can have a look at what happened to MS the past decade. And it may very well be the opening that MS would like to see if Google would divert. There are several products Google tried and dropped as well, without a blink.

Please stick to the standard with tenacity. Any decent developer can handle the bloat.

Oh,.. and... Happy Chinese New Year!

Jelle Mulder