Remove the concept of removing tags

[johnspurlock]

Not sure when this started coming up, but the idea of removing standard tags seems short-sighted and damaging to the entire effort.

There should be consideration prior to inclusion in the main namespace document - but once there, people should be able to rely on them being around indefinitely.

Whether or not current players pick them up right away is not a good standard, the only standard should be: Is this a good idea in the long-term? Current players have their own short-term roadmaps, have nothing to do with the merit of a new tag. And some current players have a difficult time with the most basic tags.

The spectre of possible deprecation removes any remaining incentive to get things right prior to standardization, and disincentivizes possible implementors from implementing standardized tags, lest they be one of the unfortunately ones to be subsequently dropped.

[jamescridland]

I'm to blame here.

There's a tag that a) isn't flexible enough, b) isn't being used at all, c) is better served by an existing tag in Media RSS, which is being used.

Removing the tag - since it isn't used - would impact nobody.

Being confident and brave enough to realise when we fuck up is part of a mature plan. Apple has removed tags before. We shouldn't shy away from doing so.

[Dwev]

Agree! Removing the tag from the spec just moves it from being actively supported and promoted to being "depreciated" - the documentation and history is still there. If we keep everything in the active spec, it just creates a whole heap of noise making it harder to get adoption.