RE: Web Philosophy

[Gavin Thomas Nicol <gtn@ebt.com>]

> > Ok, but if you don't have (b) and (c) available, how do you expect to be
> > able to participate? At what level?
> 
> Participating on public mailing lists, reading specs and giving
> feedback, etc. are all reasonable levels of participation.

You don't have to be in the WG to do this. People *do* listen to the
outside world (usually anyway)...

> The argument frequently repeated on xml-dev is that people who
> participate at this level aren't getting their input taken seriously and
> don't know enough about what's going on due to the semi-closed nature of
> WG's. My experiences (noted elsewhere) is that it depends a lot on the
> group you're dealing with. 

My experience is that in general, people *are* listened to, and if
there is really something significant they can offer, they will be
asked to clarify or to participate.

That's not always the case, but I think it's *usually* the case.