IS ODF 1.1 FOREVER? Maybe in Internet terms.

[robert_weir at us.ibm.com]

Simple question:  Would it be good if the W3C withdrew earlier versions of 
XML and HTML and CSS just because there were newer revisions of these 
standards?

Answer:  Of course not.  Same situation as ODF.  Even where a new browser 
comes along, like Google Chrome, as a practical matter it must support the 
current version of the standard, as well as earlier revisions, since 
content exists "in the wild" in those formats.  In some cases we've seen 
the W3C's newer revisions have far less adoption than their earlier work, 
e.g., XML 1.1.  In such cases withdrawing the earlier standard would have 
been disastrous.

So, this might be a place where ISO should emulate the best practices of 
the real world.  If there is no important policy principle at play here 
against maintaining multiple versions of the the same standard (and I 
can't see what that could be) then we should work with ITTF (and SWG 
Directives, if necessary) to do the sensible thing.  It is rumored that 
this is possible.

-Rob