Mashable has a list of "fathers" of the web.

Okay -- I would agree with some of the people on the list, and disagree with others.

Of course TBL is at the root of the tree. He's so central to the development of the web that you don't even have to say his name. But everyone has their inspiration, and before Tim Berners-Lee came Doug Engelbart and Ted Nelson. The ideas embodied in TBL's hypertext are brilliant, but they did come from somewhere. So let's say that behind every founder are honorable people who deserve a mention. ">

Some people on Twitter feel I should be on the list, but that's nonsense. These lists aren't definitive, they just represent one person's point of view. The person who authored the Mashable list obviously felt that the technical side of the web was what mattered. The deeper and more esoteric stuff that formed foundations. They're also interested in fame. But things that may have been foundational that are not so famous might be on other people's lists. But it's Mashable's list and who belongs there is up to them.

I thought of people I would put on a list of founders of the web (I wouldn't say fathers, that's sexist). And they had less to do with the technology and more to do with the practice. It's consistent with my belief that people who make the software and hardware are just making tools for the real revolutionaries, the users.

Also, I think of the web more as a publishing environment, so I tend to gravitate toward people who have enabled that use of the web.

So here are some ideas.

You wouldn't think of Craig Newmark as a technical genius, his genius is in understanding what people wanted to do with the Internet, and what they could do, and never mind if it was part of the conventional wisdom (at the time) of what the web is for (making money) -- Craig went ahead and did what he wanted. I've compared him to Aunt Jemima, and I've scolded him publicly for being such a wuss, but it's been a long time since I underestimated the deliberately understated Newmark.

Who else? Well Jimmy Wales. Wikipedia is another one of those things that wasn't on the tech industry's radar when it started, but look at where it is now. It has its flaws, but it is a monster, like Craig's creation.

How could you make a list of founders of the web without Evan Williams? For crying out loud. The guy proved it wasn't anything remotely like an accident the first time around. He never gives up. He's got two juggernauts under his belt now, Blogger and Twitter. There's obviously a model in his mind, he's paying attention, and letting his intuition guide him. And he has good intuition and is driven. And has been doing it for many years, through some very tough times. He's on my list for sure.

If you're going to make a list of Web founders, it's got to include the Netscape thread. So definitely Marc Andreessen. Another guy who did it more than once, proving it wasn't an accident the first time around. Honorable mention to Brendan Eich, Joe Hewitt and Blake Ross.

So obviously one thing I value are people who make long-term contributions, who didn't have one great idea. I'm not into one hit wonders. I know from experience that innovation isn't in the Aha moment, it's a lot of hard work and persistence and not-giving-up-easily that makes a true founder.

If you're going to honor Netscape, you have to honor Microsoft too. I know this might not be popular, but they saved the web's ass when Netscape was crumbling. Folklore says that Microsoft deprived them of their air supply by giving their browser away for free. But come on -- Netscape was giving theirs away too. They did more than Microsoft to undermine themselves. And without MSIE/Mac, it's hard to imagine how the web would have gotten through that rough period. True, they should lose a lot of credit for letting malware get out of control. And the people who think "web standards" are what make the web work (I'm not one of them) curse Microsoft for IE6.

Not sure who from Microsoft to name as a founder of the web, but there would be someone from Microsoft on my list.

More coming soon. I'll be thinking about this for a while...

 7/4/2010; 3:35:24 PM.   .

I happened to hear this song on the radio a few weeks ago. It's an old song by The Band. It was so good, it led me to start listening to them again. It had been a long time.

Then I realized that the title of the song that got me into them again was prophetically titled. It's as the author of the song (who I will look up shortly) knew that at some point it would be a hook for someone. Luckily that person, who is across the great divide, is still hummin his toon. ">

It's such a great line because of the next line.

When you awake, you will remember everything. You will be hanging on a string. Etc etc.

Oh man. ">

 7/4/2010; 2:51:35 PM.   .

The really big remaining question in Scripting2 is how to use hierarchy.

Sub-text just scratches the surface. I can include as much hierarchy as I want in these posts. The question is how does that get represented at read-time?

Also, since every post includes a link to the OPML source code, it's easy for other people to experiment. Just read the HTML, find the link to the OPML and render it any way you think it makes sense.

I'm going to be thinking about that a lot in the coming days.

 7/4/2010; 9:18:27 AM.   .

Michael Hastings, the reporter who wrote The Runaway General in Rolling Stone was interviewed on Thursday on Democracy Now.

The podcast is definitely worth a listen if you're interested in the relationship between the press and the people they cover.

Democracy Now is they offers a way to get video via BitTorrent. We need more non-infringing uses of BitTorrent. Good work!

 7/4/2010; 7:23:38 AM.   .