[Wylug-discuss] Webtraffiker

[Mark Ruddell]

Dave Fisher wrote:
> Hi Mark,
>
> It does look like you've got the wrong end of the stick on two counts:
>
>   1. Lots of OSS supporters are greedy capitalist swine who like OSS
>   precisely because it frees markets from some of their social
>   contraints (like the cultural interia which underlies Microsoft's
>   monopoly power).
>
>   2. It doesn't make much sense to bother writing a website that no one
>   sees.  One of the side-effects of elegant standards compliant web
>   design is a higher search engine rank.  Does that mean that search
>   engine optimisation is OK, if you don't do it on purpose?
>
> Dave

Thanks Dave, and Felix,

I am beginning to understand. This is more complicated than I thought.
The bit I struggle with is why marketing should be necessary at all, if
the playing field were levelled so that unbiased information could speak
for itself. Isn't that one of the benefits of standards-compliant web
design?

Best wishes,
Mark