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Subject: Re: Call for XML.org sponsors' meeting April 9
| The original "XML.ORG FUTURE" is still available at
| http://xml.org/about_xmlorg/index.shtml. I believe this was
| written by you, Jon, and I think it's still relevant.
This appears to have been put together from the press release
announcing xml.org two years ago. The original for that release
was written by Harold Anderson of IBM and then largely rewritten
by me.
I think it would be instructive to review what we said when we
announced xml.org. Here's the relevant section of the
announcement, dated Tuesday, 25 May 1999:
An XML Industry Portal
The industry portal at XML.ORG will provide a center for XML
interoperability in five key areas.
- First, XML.ORG will provide a registry and repository for
the access and management of XML schemas and other public
resources (DTDs, namespaces, stylesheets, public key
certificates, etc.). Through XML.ORG, industry groups
will be able to register their XML data exchange
specifications, individuals will be able to look for
specifications in their areas of interest, and
applications will be able to access XML resources needed
when acting on an XML document. For example, a software
vendor or trade group might register a DTD for purchase
orders, a developer might search the site registry for a
purchase order DTD before writing supply-chain software,
and a procurement application that receives a purchase
order referencing that DTD but not finding it on its
local system could automatically obtain the DTD from the
repository to resolve the reference and continue
processing. Through XML.ORG, OASIS will complement the
work of other standards bodies by providing a central
clearinghouse for access to XML-related specifications.
- Second, the XML.ORG site will implement an architecture
employing existing and emerging standards for XML
registry/repositories, work that is currently under
development as an OASIS technical initiative. This
architecture will allow vendors to create interoperable
versions of the registry for use within industry
organizations, communities, and corporations. A
registry/repository based on the common architecture
might be used for a corporate intranet for ERP
applications or by an industry organization for sharing
information among its members. XML.ORG will maintain a
"root" registry that will point to compatible registries
and repositories maintained by participating
organizations as well as to resources in its own
repository.
- Third, XML.ORG will serve as an information portal for
the work of OASIS-hosted industry groups defining and
extending domain-oriented XML specifications for
industries that lack XML expertise or the ability to
support and refine these specifications on an ongoing
basis. OASIS has recently modified its membership
structure to facilitate the participation of industry
groups in the definition of XML specifications and other
OASIS technical activities. Any OASIS participant may
propose the formation of a working group to define or
extend an OASIS-hosted industry standardization effort.
- Fourth, XML.ORG will provide a public source for
interoperability guidelines to ensure that XML can
fulfill the vision of providing for the open exchange of
structured data. This work extends an ongoing OASIS
technical initiative to ensure XML conformance in
cooperation with the U. S. National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST).
- Fifth, XML.ORG will provide a public source for XML
educational and training materials developed by
OASIS. Initially, http://xml.org (http://209.41.125.73)
will provide basic resources to the XML community such as
Robin Cover's popular SGML/XML pages, details of various
industry schema efforts, free XML software, a link to
IBM's xCentral XML search engine, news and education
relevant to the XML community.
As it evolves, XML.ORG will become the reference portal for
XML developers, pointing them to available schemas and other
XML industry specifications. Through the site, XML
developers will be able to search for existing
specifications used in their industry and to monitor the
work of groups designing specifications for their particular
market niche. When the registry/repository becomes fully
functional later this year, the portal will serve as a
mechanism for the automatic resolution of DTD, schema, and
stylesheet references, providing an invaluable resource for
XML-based e-commerce and serving as a model for the
distribution of such services.
I think that any careful reading of what we said when we announced
xml.org will show the following:
1. The primary purpose of xml.org was to provide an essential
piece of an XML ecommerce infrastructure. This point is
nicely summarized in a passage from the FAQ that we sent
out with the release:
Q: What services will XML.ORG offer?
A: The most important function of XML.ORG is to serve as
a trusted, secure, persistent repository and registry
for DTDs, namespaces, schemas, and other
specifications that must be globally accessible in
order to make possible the use of XML for data
exchange within particular industries. This base
functionality will evolve through releases offering
increased capabilities to OASIS members and the
general public.
2. As clearly stated in the press release, the role of xml.org
beyond its primary function as a reg/rep was to provide
three particular kinds of information: information about
"the work of OASIS-hosted industry groups"; information
about "interoperability guidelines" developed by OASIS; and
"XML educational and training materials developed by OASIS."
In short, it was never the primary goal of xml.org, as envisioned
by those of us who proposed it and funded it, to serve as a
commercial XML portal. That role had already been assumed, and
continues to be well supported, by xml.com. The primary goal for
xml.org was to implement a reg/rep for XML specifications. Beyond
that, we also wanted a domain name for projects like SAX, and I,
at least, wanted to kick-start public identifiers for the web by
implementing a URN resolver. If I had wanted xml.org to be a
commercial enterprise, I never would have taken the domain to a
non-profit corporation!
As I read it, Leo's plan for xml.org is to put OASIS in
competition with xml.com. I cannot see a business reason for
doing this. XML does not need evangelization, and the world
already has an XML portal. What the world needs now is not
another XML portal but a more functional reg/rep. I would much
rather see us work on how to accomplish this original vision for
xml.org (by implementing an ebXML reg/rep, for example) than to
spend our time and money trying to compete with O'Reilly in
providing a service that already exists.
| It is primarily through new content that we will
| be able to captivate the market as it stands today
The market for what? Eyeballs? This kind of New Economy pitch
might have been convincing last year, but today it rings hollow in
a lot of empty dot-com offices.
A reg/rep is important to Sun because a functioning ecommerce
infrastructure contributes to our bottom line, and therefore I can
make a case for continuing to fund an effort to establish such an
infrastructure. Where's the ROI for Sun in sponsoring an
initiative to compete with xml.com?
Jon
From: "Laura Walker: OASIS" <laura.walker@oasis-open.org>
Cc: <una.kearns@documentum.com>, <mweiner@us.ibm.com>,
<acxo@lists.oasis-open.org>, <franz-josef.fritz@sap.com>,
"Leo Kraunelis" <leo.kraunelis@oasis-open.org>
Date: Fri, 6 Apr 2001 01:30:09 -0400
-----Original Message-----
From: Jon Bosak [mailto:bosak@ort.Eng.Sun.COM]
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2001 11:44 PM
To: laura.walker@oasis-open.org
Cc: una.kearns@documentum.com; mweiner@us.ibm.com;
acxo@lists.oasis-open.org; franz-josef.fritz@sap.com
Subject: Re: Call for XML.org sponsors' meeting April 9
| I'll be in San Jose on the 17th, and will investigate the
| possibility of extending my stay through the 18th to participate
| in the meeting. (I must be back on the east coast that night,
| though, so I'll have to take the last flight back at 12:40.)
I figured that the meeting would have to be in the morning so that
Franz-Josef could dial in. If so, making a flight out in the
afternoon shouldn't be a problem.
I'll be available as early as you want until about 11:30.
| In my role as Chair, I'm happy to call the meeting, but need
| assistance with the agenda. Or at least just a sense of the
| goal(s) of the meeting.
I think the agenda should be "What do we think of Leo's plan for
XML.org."
Sun's goals for XML.org are the same as when we proposed the idea
two years ago, namely:
1. XML reg/rep
2. Domain name for projects like SAX
3. Possible URN resolver
I'm not seeing a reason to head in the direction that Leo has in
mind, but I want to hear what the other sponsors think.
The original "XML.ORG FUTURE" is still available at
http://xml.org/about_xmlorg/index.shtml. I believe this was written by you,
Jon, and I think it's still relevant. I believe we're still headed in the
same direction as articulated in that statement, and that there are now even
more opportunities to increase the value of the site (such as with an ebXML
registry/repository). As we all realize, the registry launched last fall
was not a resounding success. It appears that there's no real need for such
a service at this point. That's going to change in the future, and we're
going to be there when it does. But in the interim we need to attract
visitors to the site, we need to provide valuable content to the community,
and we need to make progress on delivering the on the promise of a
"credible, independent resource for news, education, and information about
the application of XML in industrial and commercial settings."
The current plan does not exclude doing things like an ebXML reg/rep, or a
new version of the XML.ORG reg/rep. At this point, we've got to develop a
viable business model. And the previous sponsorship model is not working: I
haven't been able to attract any new sponsors (and have had limited success
in renewals) because there's no new content on the site. Leo's plan is
going to fix that problem. And the ACXO can focus on providing strategic
direction on other valuable services ... like those you've identified, Jon.
A sidebar: Although the Registry has proven to be the success you thought it
would, the Catalog is frequently referenced (and accessed). The existing
Catalog, combined with access to the ZapThink report that Leo's negotiated,
is going to be the most complete listing of XML initiatives, bar none. This
is a major step in the right direction, and I credit Leo's business
development accumen for making this progress happen.
I really hope that the ACXO will see the wisdom of increasing the value of
the content of the site. It is primarily through new content that we will
be able to captivate the market as it stands today and attract new partners
with whom to develop these more interesting industry services.
I'm looking forward to spending most of the time during this next meeting
talking about strategic future projects, as opposed to honing in on the
detail of what is almost purely a tactical plan to get more traffic -- and
more sponsorship dollars so that we can do the things that we *really* want
to do.
Laura
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