[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] RE: sunshine and standards development
>My personal biggest beef, as with many others I gather, is the >confidentiality policy. It should be recognized that there are >alternatives >to complete openness and complete closedness. The current >policy is just >stupid. Sorry, but I've never heard anything approaching a rational >explanation for why a W3C member can't discuss a technical >detail with a >knowledgeable non-member. This is to the detriment not only of >the W3C, but >of Internet users in general. And this is quite a large group >to let down. If I may barge in on this, The W3C is funded by self-interested entities. If these entities are basing business strategy on the outcomes of the W3C's end-products (normative recommendations) and are arguing their case technically and strategically, and assuming (as I do) that are no technological motives for technology then it's a reasonable act of self-interest for them to ask for non-disclosure. Simply, the internet is not and never has been, free. There will always be problems between self-interested parties arguing over forms of property. It's not something you can make go away.The idea is to minimise the damage that can result. Even a highly open body, the Apache Software Foundation, has rubbed shoulders with this in the last 12 months. All consortia do. In this respect, the W3C is a roaring success. The primary problem of product generation in the W3C is not disclosure or corporate self-interest, or even bloat. It seems in my mind to be the lack of coordination among working groups, which can lead to mutually inconsistent recommendations on occasion. That is a special and insidious form of complexity that no-one realy wants. If anyone has good ideas about enhancing workflow within the W3C (a globally distributed organisation, or, a collective intranet), that would be a valuable thread of conversation from which we might all benefit. -Bill de hÓra
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