I'm not talking about guaranteeing against bad software implementations. I'm talking about a standard that always works when properly implemented.
I think that is an important point. I have some thoughts along related lines.
I have thought it a good thing that The Sword Project has tried to preserve works as they were published by their authors. People have sent in suggestions for "corrections" to works, and have been denied because the "corrections" would be changes from the original works. I don't think that intent has been let go of, but it seems to be getting slippery. As a user I would want to be able to see your work as you intended, with no text changes, not even to quote marks. Quote marks may not be in the original Bible texts, but if I want to see your translation as you intended I need to see the marks where you put them.
As a user, I also like options, and I even like options that give me enhancements to texts that the authors may never have thought of. A toggle here and a toggle there and you may not know your own text, but the code for it should still remain able to deliver a true copy.
I think it is important that a text module, whatever the markup, should only be distributed in a way that a user with software that properly implements the standards can see the text true to the original work. (That includes original translations). I don't think it is reasonable to fault the markup standard for features that may or may not be implemented in various software programs. Markup for quotes may allow a search for text that is only found in a quote by a speaker in one program or it may provide an optional display of the text in another.
In short, let the user see a text as the author intended when the user wants it that way, and as a default, and let the user also have features that let him use the text the way he wants, so long as the user is not encouraged to distribute copies that violate IP.
Jerry
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