Hi all,
OK, I understand if a project starts off as 'one thing' and morphs to something else.
I understand if a project is brain storming or 'unofficial', and later might become 'official'.
My concerns would be two fold:
1. Aspects of intellectual property. I'm no expert, and I understand that the output from a TC and an Adoption TC are different. But, there are still aspects of IP to consider.
2. What happens if anything 'dramatic' happens to an individual? Or they're tempted by an 'absolutely incredible' job offer that takes them away from the DITA world? (We all wish! ;-) )
OK, I suppose you can argue that GitHub is there to foster open source projects, so does it really matter where the content is?!
But then, there's an 'uncomfortable' aspect about using an individual's repository, when the primary collaboration is through OASIS.
There's also the possibility that one person starts something, but it is very rough and unfinished. Later on, someone else picks it up and runs with to a conclusion. It would be easier to find this if it is all in one place.
Please note, I don't have a 'huge axe to grind' over this. I'm simply suggesting that it is something for folk to consider and review.
If GH is preferable to SVN, then just ask!
Errr, ask OASIS, not me! ;-)
Many thanks, David I'll echo all of Stan's points.
The projects that Stan and I have in our own GuitHub repositories will move to something more official should they be officially sanctioned as publications for DITA Adoption.
In my own instance, the B-25 Mitchell DITA aviation set of example files started off initially as a personal DITAWriter.com project, which mushroomed as interest and contributions to the project came from other members associated with DITA Adoption. It is still very much a work in progress, but the intention now is to move the content to something more official when it gets closer to completion (and in fact this was discussed briefly at the last meeting). I will be asking Chet Ensign to carve a slice of OASIS' official GitHub repository for our own.
Am undecided as to whether we need to store the whitepaper source files in SVN as Kris suggested. If permissions are set so that only DITA Adoption members can contribute to it, I believe GitHub could serve equally well in this regard. Something to discuss at the next meeting!
Cheers!
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Keith Schengili-Roberts Market Researcher and DITA Evangelist IXIASOFT 825 Querbes, Suite 200, Montréal, Québec, Canada, H2V 3X1
Hi David --
Your point is well taken. The Adoption TC has not been making general use of the OASIS-hosted GitHub repos. I can't speak for others, but I can share some personal thoughts.
1. Language TCs produce typically large, language specs that are updated incrementally over extended periods of time. Having a stable, long-term home for these work items on an OASIS GitHub site is a no-brainer. All contributors are OASIS members and they write for one, well-defined target audience.
2. An Adoption TC deals with many smaller documents. These tend to be written by one person for different target audiences. Adoption TC members provide feedback to the authors, but do not often touch sources on a shared repo. Once the whitepaper content is accepted for publication and the DITA sources are branded for OASIS, it become OASIS intellectual property. These whitepapers are not updated after initial publication. They are not "live" documents as it were.
3. An Adoption TC may recruit whitepapers from authors who are not Adoption TC members or even OASIS active OASIS members. Ideally, everyone developing whitepapers should be Adoption TC members, but there are many potential contributors out there for whom OASIS annual dues are an obstacle to participation. This differentiates OASIS participation from typical open-source community participation. Non-OASIS GitHub repos can provide an on-ramp for the content developed by non-members. Ideally, these contributors see the benefits of participation and find some way to become official members.
4. Not all content proposed to the Adoption TC as whitepapers ultimately sees publication as an official OASIS whitepaper (making it OASIS intellectual property). Some just never get written. Others start in one direction, but then need to move in another direction based on feedback from the TC. That new direction may not be suitable for the original author. It's the job of an Adoption TC to clarify what it considers to be acceptable. I draft whitepapers in my own GitHub repos in part because I do not know whether the content will be acceptable to the Adoption TC as a whitepaper. If the content is acceptable both to me (the contributor) and to the Adoption TC (the publisher), I would gladly contribute the sources and IP to OASIS to host wherever they want. If the content is not mutually acceptable, I would not contribute it. The process of reaching a shared understanding of what is mutually acceptable takes time, so retaining IP with the author while the initial reviews and discussions happen is only fair.
My personal thoughts . . .
Stan
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Hi,
I understand that the DITA TC has access to an OASIS sponsored GitHub repository. Does the DITA Adoption TC also have a similar repository?
I note that Keith and Stan are using their own GitHub repositories.
Please note, this is merely a comment, not a criticism.
HTH,
David
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