In a comment on Andrew Grumet’s blog, Dave Winer announces that he’s going to build a new RSS validator that will be open source and outside the control of Mark Pilgrim. That’s a pretty significant thing to announce in a comment on someone else’s blog.
Oh, and Dave also decided that I’m a real person. Apparently, someone must have thought that I was an elaborate alter ego of Mark’s—elaborate because he went to the trouble of creating a huge backstory, nearly a year of bblog archives, and almost a decade of writings. Seriously, I’m not making this up.
[UPDATE: This will be my final blog entry about the Mark Pilgrim v. Dave Winer fracas. I’m sure this subject is of interest to maybe one regular reader. It’s helped my traffic see a small spike, but it was nothing compared to the time I got that story posted on Slashdot.]
[UPDATE 2: It’s funny. Just a few days prior to this whole brouhaha I decided to start following the blogosphere more closely through NetNewsWire—expanding my subscriptions from 96 to 127—and I get embroiled in this whole thing. Quite the coincidence.]
[UPDATE 3 (7/15/03): After completely melting down, Dave prevailed. Mark has shuttered his Winer Watcher app and taken away a very useful utility—as was his right, of course. The controversy is not forgotten, though, and I think Dave’s credibility is pretty much shot through.]
[UPDATE 4 (7/18/03): Mark has unveiled a revision system on his own blog. Very cool and proves that he’s willing to stand up to scrutiny. Also, Dave’s formed an “independent” advisory board consisting of him, a former UserLand employee who makes NetNewsWire, and a columnist who highlights Dave’s achievements at every opportunity. Uh huh.]