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XML Dev-ers:
A couple of points relating to this recent thread:
1. Why don't people notify OASIS when there is a problem? It's hard to
fix problems promptly when the first we hear about them is second or
third hand. I've got other things to do with my day (like watching over
my 50+ TCs) without having to monitor the xml-dev list to make sure that
it's running. We do keep an eye on things, but it would be much more
efficient if you would just come to us if there is a problem. We do
follow up on these.
2. OASIS has been hosting this list for the past three years as a
benefit to the industry, but has derived no revenue to compensate for
the expense of running the list. This is quite an expensive list to
maintain, given the number of subscribers and the amount of traffic on a
daily basis, to say nothing of maintaining several years' worth of
archives.
OASIS is funded by membership dues, which requires that our technical
activies are restricted to our members. We also gain some additional
funds from membership sponsorship of our Cover Pages and XML.org
information portals, which goes to funding those portals. So our members
are paying for this list which is open to the public. Yes, we could put
additional resources into running the list, but that would take
resources away from providing our members the services that they are
paying for.
So while we all recognize that the xml-dev list is a valuable industry
resource I think that you're expecting a bit much when you demand that
we monitor the list closely (since you won't tell us about problems) and
drop everything else we're doing to fix things. Yes, xml-dev is a low
priority for us -- but what else could you reasonably expect?
One possible solution is for us to start selling sponsorships for the
list. I expect that this would require that we put banner ads etc. in
each message; would that be acceptable to you? Or, perhaps one or more
of your companies could give money to OASIS to support the list without
the requirement for such ads. But I expect that each of your companies
is going to want something in return for their sponsorship. (And please
note that OASIS is also a business, and we've been sponsoring the list
for three years without any return. Would any of your companies be
willing to do this?)
I recall having sent almost identical messages to this list a couple of
times a year over the past three years, obviously to no effect. If
someone would like to start up a new list elsewhere I can't stop you,
and at this point I won't try to disuade you either.
-Karl
=================================================================
Karl F. Best
Vice President, OASIS
office +1 978.667.5115 x206 mobile +1 978.761.1648
karl.best@oasis-open.org http://www.oasis-open.org
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