Good question. I used <textarea> since I have the unusual circumstance of having to write down "</xmp>" in my Markdown, which would close the opening <xmp> if I

Good question. I used <textarea> since I have the unusual circumstance of having to write down "</xmp>" in my Markdown, which would close the opening <xmp> if I had one :) Most users won't have to do this. Google does index <xmp>, see e.g. the search result for "devo site:www.the-pope.com". The word "devo" is inside <xmp>.