Re: [chairs] Membership for open source implementers

[Paul Fremantle <paul@wso2.com>]

Gabe

I completely agree. I think that any committer on any project actively 
implementing an OASIS specification under an OSI license should be able 
to apply for a Open Source Membership free-of-charge.

Personally I don't think this is going to cost OASIS any loss of income, 
but it certainly will encourage a wider view of OASIS standards.

Paul

Gabe Wachob wrote:
> Hi Chairs-
> 
>             This is a topic that’s come up for us I think at least 
> twice. We have a community member (not an OASIS member) who is actively 
> implementing our specification (XRI) and is interested in the spec 
> discussion. However, we can’t let them join our list and contribute 
> because they have to be an OASIS member. So the only answer we can give 
> them is “pay $300 to participate”.
> 
>  
> 
>             This seems absurd. Their implementation of our spec is one 
> of the most valuable contributions to the TC’s work at this point in the 
> lifecycle of the spec. Their feedback on implementation issues and 
> recommendations for how to adjust the spec are absolutely critical. And 
> yet, they are left out of the conversation. The thought of forcing them 
> to pay $300 to participate seems a bit ludicrous, since they are already 
> contributing (in this case, as an individual on their own time).
> 
>            
> 
>             OASIS has a concept of “invited expert”. Could there be a 
> new category of “invited open source implementer”? As I’ve said many 
> times before, I think OASIS should be trying to facilitate Open Source 
> implementations of the Open Standards it produces to the maximum extent 
> it can (and to the extent its TC’s wish that to allow Open Source – but 
> that’s a different discussion). You may think that $300 a year is a 
> trivial amount of money, but for someone doing good work that benefits 
> the OASIS community, it seems odd that we’d throw a barrier up for them 
> to contribute even more directly.
> 
>  
> 
>             I’m sure any potential abuse could be managed, just like I 
> assume it’s managed for the “invited expert” category…
> 
>  
> 
>             Alternatively, I suppose the membership of the TC could 
> “chip in” for membership of the open source implementer, but this seems 
> like a “hack” that raises some questions about independence of 
> participation and potential appearance of manipulation of the membership…
> 
>  
> 
>             -Gabe
> 

-- 
Paul Fremantle
VP/Technical Sales, WSO2
OASIS WS-RX TC Co-chair

http://bloglines.com/blog/paulfremantle
paul@wso2.com
(646) 290 8050

"Oxygenating the Web Service Platform", www.wso2.com