Re: Errata process

[Mary McRae <mary.mcrae@oasis-open.org>]

Hi again,

  I appreciate you taking the time to read through the Process. While it may be a bit tedious, it's definitely a worthwhile exercise for all Chairs!

  You can create as many draft errata as you like; they should be cumulative. Once approved, the errata is noted on the standards page along with the specification itself. You may also produce a merged specification containing the errata so a user doesn't need to flip between multiple documents.

Mary 





On Dec 13, 2010, at 11:07 AM, Norman Walsh wrote:

> Hi Mary,
> 
> I have to admit I had failed to look closely at some parts of the
> process document until very recently. Apologies, in advance.
> 
> I'm looking now at 3.5 Approved Errata. It says, in part:
> 
>  A TC may not adopt Approved Errata to an OASIS Standard more than
>  once in any consecutive six-month period.
> 
> With respect, I find that constraint outrageous. The apparent
> consequence of this rule is that if I publish an erratum in January,
> fixing a typo, then in February discover a technical error in the
> spec, I'm forbidden from officially resolving it until July!?
> 
> How on earth does that benefit the users of OASIS specifications?
> 
> It also begs the question of what constitutes an Approved Errata.
> Suppose I have three errors, two typos and a minor technical error.
> Do I have to put them in a single document for 15 day review, or can
> I publish each of them separately for independent 15 day reviews?
> 
> If the former, then don't I run the risk of not being able to publish
> a technical erratum indefinitely because some malicious pedant wants
> to argue about whether commas go inside or outside of quotataions and
> continues to comment time and again on each 15 day review?
> 
> I'd prefer to be able to advance the comments separately, so that
> contentious issues like punctuation don't interefere with the progress
> of actual technical concerns.
> 
>                                        Be seeing you,
>                                          norm
> 
> -- 
> Norman Walsh <ndw@nwalsh.com> | As a general rule, the most successful
> http://nwalsh.com/            | man in life is the man who has the best
>                              | information.--Benjamin Disraeli