RE: @xml:href, @xml:tref,@xml:src, @xml;rel, @xml:type, @xml:hreflang, @xml:method

Hi,

I would like to apologize for my last post - strays way to far into tl;dr territory and I am way too excited, obviously.

What I would like to discuss is this:

Given the fact that XML is *not* a hypermedia format, and also given the fact that being a hypermedia format akin to HTML is its number one goal,

a) Why is it not a hypermedia format?
b) What would the benefits be if XML *was* a hypermedia format and?
c) What ways could that be achieved?

There must be a couple of ways.  XLink seems to have been the first attempt. Atom took another approach (why?), which works well, and seems to have even some traction outside of Atom.  HAL seems to take another approach.

Staying above the fold from here on in :-)
Cheers,
Peter