xml-dev - Re: standards body parallel

[Ronald Bourret <rpbourret@rpbourret.com>]

"Simon St.Laurent" wrote:
> If people are really that afraid to be embarrassed, I'd suggest there's
> something deeply wrong with the climate in which these standards are built.
>  I'm aware that it doesn't work across all cultures, but I think the main
> barrier we're discussing here is Western corporate and academic culture.

Actually, being afraid of being embarrassed (especially in public) is
extremely common in Western and corporate culture. Three easy examples:

1) In the US, we tend to view any politician who changes his/her mind
after considering an issue as being wishy-washy and promptly vote them
out of office.

2) In the corporate world, being afraid of being embarrassed is behind,
oh, say, 90% of "office politics".

3) When Microsoft comes out with a mistake-filled version 1.0, they
receive a huge amount of flak. (Interestingly, when Open Source software
does the same thing, people call it an open process. The only difference
I see is business model.)

Fact is, in spite of the fact that mistakes are the fastest way to learn
(as long as you don't kill yourself or take down the company), most
people are extremely reluctant to make them and even more reluctant to
air them.

I have mixed feelings about 100% closed WGs. On the one hand, I'd love
to have more access to WG members and be able to ask, why was this done
this way? Did you consider this? That would allow me to give better
feedback. (Mailing lists are sometimes responsive, sometimes not.)

On the other hand, I certainly understand the reasons behind them.

-- 
Ronald Bourret
Programming, Writing, and Training
XML, Databases, and Schemas
http://www.rpbourret.com