Andrew,
If XML-DEV is a child, its an orphan for
its parents are gone and there is no one to give TLC and worry about its
future. OASIS is, in this analogy, an orphanage that provides just food
and a place to sleep. What we heard from Karl Best is what an orphan is
expected to hear after complaining loudly about the quality of food and missing
meals.
XML-DEV have no website to call its own
where XML-DEV members can contribute to. We have no polling facility.
Member extensible FAQ using Wiki could have helped turn permathreads into
something more valuable than time-waster, but OASIS is not in a position to think
about our unasked for yet necessary needs. All they provide is food and
bed, not what we want, need, and think about. That is what parents are
for and we lost our parents when Peter and Henry left. Now no one can
make decisions, not even respected peers like Tim Bray, because there is no authority.
What I want is a small group of member
nominated and informally elected directors, 7 should suffice, to take care of
XML-DEV presently and plan for its future. Beyond monthly online meetings
to discuss and plan, directors should moderate when a thread gets too heated, shifts
topic. or turns into a permathread. If a director burns out, he or she
can resign and another director can be elected. Elections can take place
annually to avoid that situation in the first place. Even if we stay at
OASIS, we still need to have something like the directors.
Without hands to hold and guide us
together, we are just grains of sands at the mercy of winds.
Best,
-----Original Message-----
From: AndrewWatt2000@aol.com
[mailto:AndrewWatt2000@aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, March 15, 2003
4:43 AM
To: donpark@docuverse.com;
xml-dev@lists.xml.org
Subject: Re: [xml-dev] XML-DEV
Directors
In a message dated 15/03/2003 11:17:52 GMT Standard Time,
donpark@docuverse.com writes:
I believe in democracy, but direct democracy is difficult
even with today's
technology. I fear we'll never reach a consensus that entire XML-DEV will
be happy with nor accept. When Peter and Henry were running XML-DEV, they
made these types of decisions for us with our best interests in mind and we
accepted their decisions. We lost our guardians when OASIS took over from
Peter and Henry. Without such guardians, we will continue to drift and
stagnate.
Don,
Can you expand on this sense you seem to have that XML-Dev is drifting and
stagnating?
You seem to be suggesting that there is a more fundamental problem with this
list than occasional difficulties with subscriptions.
Andrew Watt
