If we must have something inside the document (which I don't think we should)
then it should be in the same format as the Date: and Last-Modified: headers
in HTTP/1.0 (these fields are defined per RFC850 but must be GMT).
I get the impression this suggestion is not for "the date of the document"
(which I agree should not be inside the document) but for "how to include
dates in documents in such a way that they're mechanically recognizable as
dates" (which I think would be a useful type of semantic markup).
I agree that date representation should be kept consistent (for the
"normalised" version, although we'd be better off coming up with a name for
that attribute that's spelled the same in English and American), and also like
the idea of allowing a suggested textual presentation.
I can't make up my mind whether or not usage like
I was thinking <date normalised="Sun, 01 Aug 1993 20:21:22 +0100">last
night</date> that it might be a good idea to be able to do this.
would be cool or should be discouraged. I have no coherent comments on this,
just wanted to bring it up.
--sanders
--Erik