Interoperability and standards should be considered mutually exclusive

XML and "interoperability" are at the centre of a new conference. Interoperability is not standards, however, just as the use of XML isn't analogous to or synonymous with openness. Both are just tricky terms that have a positive connotation.

The use of words like "interoperability" ought to raise a brow because such terms are often abused. Their meaning has been degraded or corrupted by those who misuse them. It might have something to do with collaboration and sharing, but it also has a lot to do with binary-only software and software patents. The relationship is very exclusionary by design.

Oh. And look who is presenting.

Participants from the industry include Miguel de Icaza from Novell, Douglas Crockford from Yahoo!, Vijay Rajagopalan from Microsoft and other well known technology leaders from the PHP and Ruby community.

You may or may not know this already, but Yahoo, just like Novell, is a little too cozy with Microsoft. At times, Yahoo is even willing to fight Linux and Free software. Thus, the attendance that you see above is unsurprising. Friends collaborate with friends, but not with the industry as a whole.