DITA TC and open source GitHub projects

OASIS has given us the go-ahead to start open source GitHub
    projects. In fact, Chet said "DITA is the poster child TC for
    implementing an Open Repository. You all want it, you have a broad,
    supportive, enthusiastic community that will be positive about this,
    and just operationally speaking, you are a group that really runs
    smoothly and dots the i's and crosses the t's. (And I mentioned the
    way you all approached the OS vote as an example.)"

    

    So what does this mean?

    

    We can start open source projects that are affiliated with the DITA
    TC but not fully controlled by it. We could use this for the
    following sorts of projects:

    
      
Open source development that might later be brought back into
        the OASIS standard process, for example, the semiconductor
        specializations

      

      
Open source development for projects that we think are
        valuable but not appropriate for OASIS, for example, Eliot's
        tool for generating DTDs and XSD from RNG or a DITA test suite

      
Enabling collaboration with companies or individuals who
        cannot afford to join OASIS

    
    
We'll need to think carefully about what open source projects we
      want to start, much as we need to think carefully before
      chartering any new subcommittees.

    

    
In order to initiate a DITA TC-affiliated open source project,
      we'll need the following:

    

    
      
One or more TC members who will be the initial maintainer(s)
        for the project

      
A description of the project and its goals and purpose

      

      
A short description for use in the intro text for the project

      
The license under which the project will operate (BSD-3-Clause
        License, Apache License v 2.0, CC-BY 2.0, or Eclipse Public
        License v 1.0)

      
A GitHub name for the project

    
    
I had a phone call with Chet yesterday, in which I asked him
      about why OASIS was moving in this direction and more. Some TCs
      were already informally working on open source projects, and it
      has proven helpful -- for example, 

      the LegalXML Electronic Court Filing TC developed a test platform
      that uncovered flaws in their standard that would enable
      implementations to conform to standard but not be interoperable.

    

    
I think it is clear that had this option been available when the
      DITA TC was formed, this is how what later became the DITA Open
      Toolkit would have been handled.

    

    

      
Best,

        Kris

        

        Kristen James Eberlein

        Chair, OASIS DITA Technical Committee

        Principal consultant, Eberlein Consulting

        www.eberleinconsulting.com

        +1 919 682-2290; kriseberlein (skype)

        

      

      

      

      -------- Forwarded Message --------
      
        
          

            Subject:
            
            Ok - next steps
          

          

            Date: 
            Fri, 4 Dec 2015 15:38:00 -0500
          

          

            From: 
            Chet Ensign <>
          

          

            To: 
            Kristen Eberlein <>
          

        
      
      

      

      
Hi Kris, 
        

        

        
Good! I got it. I told them that, lacking a non-assertion
          TC that wants to do this now (that was the hold up), DITA is
          the poster child TC for implementing an Open Repository. You
          all want it, you have a broad, supportive, enthusiastic
          community that will be positive about this, and just
          operationally speaking, you are a group that really runs
          smoothly and dots the i's and crosses the t's. (And I
          mentioned the way you all approached the OS vote as an
          example.) 

        

        

        
To dot those i's, pass a motion to set up each open repo
          with the github name (e.g. dita-toolkit), a short purpose
          statement that we can use in the intro text for the project, a
          short description, and one or more TC members who will be the
          initial maintainer(s) for the project. You'll also want to
          pick the license - BSD-3-Clause License, Apache License v 2.0,
          CC-BY 2.0, or Eclipse Public License v 1.0. 

        

        

        
Then send me the request using https://www.oasis-open.org/resources/tc-admin-requests/open-repository-request 

        

        

        
We'll start that rolling as soon as the ticket hits my
          JIRA. 

        

        

        
Sound good? 

        

          

          

          -- 

          

            

              

                

                  /chet 

                  ----------------

                  Chet Ensign

                  Director of Standards Development and TC
                  Administration 

                  OASIS: Advancing open standards for the information
                  society

                  http://www.oasis-open.org

                  

                  Primary: +1 973-996-2298

                  Mobile: +1 201-341-1393