Here's a question I'd be interested in comments on: how important is it for Atom to be backed by a standards organization? There's a discussion going on right now about whether it should be go with the W3C or the IETF. Setting that question aside for now, what impact would either have on the future of Atom? My comments and musings follow:

* RSS (and Atom, for that matter) is growing without the support of either organization, and that in spite of all the complaints about its imperfections.

* RSS may hit a brick wall at some point when the problems people complain about become more significant (eg. when adoption has grown enough that bandwidth issues become more significant). Running through a standards process and making necessary changes might save it from that.

* Atom is already being developed with a process that allows such issues to be discussed and (hopefully) solved. Does it need something more formal?

* How important is a recognized organization's stamp of approval? Some people won't adopt a format till it has an official stamp. Others don't give a flying chalupa whether the standard is official or de facto. How important is it to get buy in from those who are waiting for it to be official?

* What do you do if the format is taken up by a standards body, and then stalls? Do you fork it? Do you give your fork a new name? And what if it doesn't stall, but it goes off in a totally different direction than expected and/or desired?

I have no doubt that either organization would contribute value to Atom. But there are probably also risks involved with both. Are the risks worth the rewards? I'll be interested in your comments.