>> why not comp.infosystems? i realize consistency is the haven
>> of little minds, but i'm going on 30+ hours with no sleep and
>> a little consistency is just what i need right about now. :)
>
>Because "vrml" is not an "infosystem", even though it is (will be) a part of
>the "www". It is a 3-d description language for computer graphics, which has
>the nice benefit of being very network-friendly. Thus, comp.graphics.vrml
>seems the best place to start.
I disagree.
This is where we start to suffer for the mistakes of our past. When I
started this list with Brian, I was asked by Brian to avoid talking about
networking until VRML 1.0 was completed. It is, and you'll be hearing
plenty from me on this subject - which is integral to VRML 2.0 - over the
next months and years. But, just because we've avoided networking talk,
does not mean that VRML is a graphics language with networking extensions.
The expression of behaviors in a heterogeneous multiparticipant networked
environment is not esentially (or even in part) a computer graphics problem.
VRML begins (because of its similarity to the ASCII syntax of Open Inventor)
with its graphics problems *solved*, or mostly so. The networking problems
are as yet untackled. Cyberspace is not about visualization; it is about
communication. VRML was invented in order to provide a "front end" to a
networking methodology I had developed; it's genesis is in networking.
VRML is a networking technology, and is integral to the web, not to computer
graphics. It was created by the web commmunity for the web community. I
believe that the right place in the USENET hierarchy is
comp.infosystems.www.vrml - thus, as we add more web-based features, and
more non-graphics features (remember, this is not a graphics problem but a
networking problem) we won't be seen as "hijacking" a newsgroup. And, we're
much more likely to benefit from the sage advise of people who have strong
networking chops; something we'll need.
Mark
________________________________________
Mark D. Pesce
General Partner,
The Community Company * 415.621.1981 * [email protected]