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Comment by skwaddar | Hacker News Reader

When you don't know the difference between a protocol and a markup language I don't you should be in charge of writing tech PR.

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While HTML is not a network protocol, it is still a data format that is standardized and to which many implementations need to conform -- a "protocol" in layman's terms.

Is XMPP a protocol? Yeah, it specifies a machine-machine communication system but it also specifies the structure and formatting of the messages it sends.

Where do you draw the line? If it were a technical discussion, you'd be right that HTML isn't a "protocol". From TFA, I got the sense that they didn't mean a network protocol but something more like a "standard" (without the nasty connotations of that term).

To a layperson, "protocol" is what you brush up on before you meet a distinguished personage.

So you're admitting that HTML is simply an output format?

Not just in layman's term. That is what a protocol is: a specification for communication. With reference to the OSI model, HTTP is an application layer protocol. TCP is a network layer protocol.

Edit: oh, screw me, the article actually says 'HTML'. I didn't register that and saw 'HTTP'. I'm guessing the author meant that: didn't you ever write HTML when you meant HTTP and didn't catch it until the third reading?

Edit2: interestingly enough, the above said 'ISO' instead of 'OSI'...

When you're "Urs Hoelzle, SVP, Operations and Bill Coughran, SVP, Engineering VP" I expect you to notice in a joint statement of intent.

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