xml-dev - Re: Microsoft's responce to XML.com article

[Daniel Veillard <Daniel.Veillard@w3.org>]

On Sun, Jan 16, 2000 at 05:18:37PM -0800, Robert La Quey wrote:
> At 01:42 PM 1/15/00 -0800, you wrote:
> >At 01:58 PM 1/15/00 -0500, Simon St.Laurent wrote:
> > >As much as I appreciate that the W3C is busy, getting this out a lot
> > >earlier would have been useful, to say the least.  A lot of the dates on
> > >these are _very_ old.
> >
> >Mea culpa, more than anyone else.  But it's a symptom of the W3C's 
> >#1 problem, lack of resources.  I've been busy helping get XLink done.
> >CMSMCQ's been busy helping get schema done.  JeanPa's been busy getting
> >MS Office to do something sensible with XML, a little bird tells me.  It
> >was tough to lay any of these tasks aside to put in the errata work.
> 
> Well, open up the game and you will get a lot more resources.  Not 
> money, but the scarce resource, brains and imagination. 
> 
> I don't see Linus complaining about a lack of resource for Linux. 

  Well, that's not completely true, sometimes submissions and upgrades
just don't arrive in time and the whole release/process got slowed down
(example  ISDN, update to exotic filesystem/hardware when internal changes
occurs).

> Some people might have to give up some control though. But again I don't see
> Linus asking for permission to axe stuff he does not like. 

  Yep the linux kernel example shows the double edged  sword point.
Even a completely open process can end-up in a arbitrary decision. 
For examples people have been coding USB support for more than two years
Linus didn't like it, and rewrote a new USB layer from scratch.
I think one of the key points in the W3C process is to avoid arbitrary
design decision, changes to specs are reached by WG consensus, and
then once the spec is finished it has to get approval from the director
and members.
  Arbitrary design decision can lead to a speedy specification, they
also can generate serious problems, we try to avoid that.

Daniel

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