RE: [xml-dev] Avoding a repeat of W3C XSD - was Re: [xml-dev] Is

["Rick Jelliffe" <ricko@allette.com.au>]

>>
>> >>2) Maximum two-year membership of working groups (2 years
>> on, 2 years
>> >>off). This will encourage smaller specs and encourage fresh eyes on
>> >>problems.
>
> You would either finish within the two-year deadline, or you would never
> finish at all. To finish a spec, or anything else, you need the
> self-discipline to stop adding things. People coming into the process
> half-way through find it very hard to do that. Whether you're new to it or
> an old hand, it's always easier to add things than to take things out.

Rather, at the end of 2 years, if you hadn't finished it, you would hand
it on to someone else. The groups don't need a 2 year life, just the
members. (The practical result would perhaps be that really long projects
would make their deadline within two years, then recharter with the same
members under another name. But at least there would be a different
dynamic for implementable, finished layers, rather than 5-year monoliths.

If a standard-in-progress is so tricky that only a handful of people
really understand what it is about, that is not a reason to keep them
active longer in order to finish the masterpiece, it should be a red flag
that something is wrong IMHO. The world is full of cooperative, smart
people.

Cheers
Rick Jelliffe