UserPreferences

WhatIsAtomFor


  1. Reason
  2. Possible Uses
  3. Vote!
  4. Discussion

see also: WhatIsRssFor


Reason

There seems to be a lot of opinions about what Atom's purpose is. In order for the syntax to be effectively defined, this purpose needs to be clearly established and stated on the main page.


Possible Uses

[SeairthJacobs] Realizing that there are actually more uses mentioned than just the two, I figured it would be good to get a thorough list of those mentioned so far. I suspect the voting format will need to change slightly as well.


Vote!

[DeveloperDude] This vote closes on TBD.

Atom should only be a feed format

Atom should only be an editing format

Atom should primarily be a feed format, secondarily be an editing format

Atom should primarily be an editing format, secondarily a feed format

Atom should be equally a feed and editing format

Discussion

[JamesAylett] Certainly, the RoadMap is clear on wanting to be a feed format, and then to build other services (eg: archiving, editing) using that format. I'm more interested that the RoadMap says that this is a weblog format. A vote on whether people agree with that would be useful IMHO ...

[DavePawson] +1 to a feed format. KISS principle. Expansion once its stable? Easier to specify a well known item, as *nix proved.

[JeremyAshcraft] I believe that both are equally important to accomplish, but in the interest of getting things done, I see the feed as the greater priority. We need to be sure we do this right so it becomes the standard that everyone else in blogspace and feedspace adheres to.

[BjornBlomqvist] Atom should only be a feed format.

[StephanieBooth] Is there some explanation for the neophyte of what exactly and API is? From what I gathered, Atom looked to me as a "weblog format" (ie, something describing how a weblog should be structured, so that different blogging tools can have a common format), which can therefore be used as a feed. But what exactly is an API? And have I got it all wrong?

[JamesAylett] The Feed use above is presumably just intended for simple producer->aggregator-like behaviour (as it says, like RSS now). What about more sophisticated program to program communication (what has been termed Real Syndication by JeremyGray)? See AggregatorApi, and particularly the ideas there to try to support SuperAggregator profiles efficiently.

[DeveloperDude] Let's add a timeframe to move past this question/vote.