Let's broaden the picture a bit here and look at the internet as a whole.
There are no standards - there are suggestions (RFCs), lots of open stuff (open source, free, whatever), and some closed stuff, and then there's what really happens.
It turns out that IPv4 and DNS worked pretty well, though of course the internet at-large only uses a portion of those "standards". We didn't need an organization to tell us every last little detail and how it would work and "approve" it before we use it. People found out what worked, documented it, and it became the de-facto standard. We've never waited on the various internet "governing" bodies while keeping our own progress at bay. THere's absolutely no reason to.
Know why everyone (more or less) obeys the allocations issued by ARIN? Because we recognize someone has to manage that limited resource pool, and they do an okay job of it. We're all free, more or less, to set up networks in whatever way we want, with whatever IP space we want - we just can't expect cooperation from our neighbours without some discussion and agreement so we don't stomp on each other's space - so we look to ARIN and their brethren to manage this. If they ceased to do so efficiently, they'd be replaced.
The W3C has no power to force a developer or vendor to implement a given feature or not, and nobody really cares whether or not something is "officially" compliant.
Most web pages are not fully compliant... yet the web, built by kids and adults and everything in between grew up and here we are, talking on HN.
It'd be great if people could agree when we end up with overlapping features from different vendors...... it makes it hard for the developers right? That should be obvious to all.
But we've switched browsers over the years, and will again, and whichever ones actually do what people need them to do, as well as keep developers happy, will prosper - w3c has little to do with it as far as I can see.
Same for DNS (gripes aside - let's be realistic).
We implemented IPv4 and it works great, but does the internet at large obey the type of service bits which are part of that standard? heck no. It's a big, evolving, organic thing.
The web - same deal. Know what makes a standard? Something people adopt and continue using. Usage defines the standards - nobody is compelled to do anything just because it's a "standard" according to some group.
It turns out that IPv4 and DNS worked pretty well, though of course the internet at-large only uses a portion of those "standards". We didn't need an organization to tell us every last little detail and how it would work and "approve" it before we use it. People found out what worked, documented it, and it became the de-facto standard. We've never waited on the various internet "governing" bodies while keeping our own progress at bay. THere's absolutely no reason to.
Know why everyone (more or less) obeys the allocations issued by ARIN? Because we recognize someone has to manage that limited resource pool, and they do an okay job of it. We're all free, more or less, to set up networks in whatever way we want, with whatever IP space we want - we just can't expect cooperation from our neighbours without some discussion and agreement so we don't stomp on each other's space - so we look to ARIN and their brethren to manage this. If they ceased to do so efficiently, they'd be replaced.
The W3C has no power to force a developer or vendor to implement a given feature or not, and nobody really cares whether or not something is "officially" compliant. Most web pages are not fully compliant... yet the web, built by kids and adults and everything in between grew up and here we are, talking on HN.
It'd be great if people could agree when we end up with overlapping features from different vendors...... it makes it hard for the developers right? That should be obvious to all. But we've switched browsers over the years, and will again, and whichever ones actually do what people need them to do, as well as keep developers happy, will prosper - w3c has little to do with it as far as I can see.
Same for DNS (gripes aside - let's be realistic).
We implemented IPv4 and it works great, but does the internet at large obey the type of service bits which are part of that standard? heck no. It's a big, evolving, organic thing.
The web - same deal. Know what makes a standard? Something people adopt and continue using. Usage defines the standards - nobody is compelled to do anything just because it's a "standard" according to some group.