Ask HN: Can we upgrade vanilla Markdown?
So markdown is loosely defined somewhere on the web and it seems like the syntax is set. However, couldn't we start versioning it and incorporate the new features that these alternate flavors provide?
There used to be a joke that all program specifications expand until they include the ability to send and receive email, and I'd suggest that today all markup specifications expand until they include the ability to to display streaming video.
The spec is still not final. Github is going to base their flavor ontop of it https://githubengineering.com/a-formal-spec-for-github-markd...
there will never be a standard markdown.
and not just because of xkcd927...
if you have a muddy puddle, you can't make it clear by adding more dirt. you have to replace all the muddy water with clear water.
markdown needs to be abandoned, and replaced with a superior version of light-markup.
(unfortunately, neither restructured-text nor asciidoc is superior.)
sooner or later -- probably later -- the tech sphere will see the need to do that replacement. until then, it would be a major disservice to assert markdown upon the world-at-large.