xml-dev - RE: sunshine and standards development

[Matthew Gertner <matthew@praxisxml.com>]

Let me add one more voice of support to Simon's and the others who have
expressed dissatisfaction with the inner workings of the W3C. I actually
wrote a rant about this in February
(http://www.praxisxml.com/praxis_xml_0200.html), in case anyone missed it
back then.

While I think that we all recognize the extremely valuable work done by the
W3C, what really irks me is that there doesn't seem to be any indication
from the organization itself that it considers these criticisms to have any
validity whatsoever, or that it would ever be prepared to change in any way.
Come on guys, even a little smoke and mirrors along these lines would have
great PR value. There's *a lot* of space between the current W3C model and,
say, IETF, so a bit more open-mindedness would surely lead to improvements
in the way the W3C is run.

My personal biggest beef, as with many others I gather, is the
confidentiality policy. It should be recognized that there are alternatives
to complete openness and complete closedness. The current policy is just
stupid. Sorry, but I've never heard anything approaching a rational
explanation for why a W3C member can't discuss a technical detail with a
knowledgeable non-member. This is to the detriment not only of the W3C, but
of Internet users in general. And this is quite a large group to let down.

Smart organizations recognize the need to change themselves proactively or
resign themselves to eventual irrelevance. The W3C should have a more
productive attitude towards change, not because some loudmouths are
demanding it (and here I refer only to myself, naturally :-), but because it
is actually in its own interest.

Matthew