Re: [odata] Agenda for OData TC meeting 2012.12.06

[kenb <kenb@ccs.neu.edu>]

See my comments below.

On Wed, 5 Dec 2012, Stefan Drees wrote:

> Dear Ken,
>
> all subsequent comments are made as a member (not as a secretary):
>
> On 05.12.12 03:48, Ken Baclawski wrote:
> > I met with Ivan Herman and Eric Prud'hommeaux at the W3C exploring
> > possible connections between OData and RDF.  Ivan is the Semantic Web
> > Activity Lead at the W3C.  They suggested that I start a W3C Community.
> > See http://www.w3.org/community/about/#cg for what this means.  You
> > might also look at http://www.w3.org/community/about/agreements/cla/ for
> > the IPR issues that this involves.
> >
> > I would like to know how the TC feels about this, and what the scope of
> > such a group should be if you think it is a good idea.  Could we devote
> > a few minutes to discuss this issue?
> >
> > ...
>
> This topic (relating OData to RDF) has initially been brought on the table by 
> Giovanni Bartolomeo (seconded by John Willson) all in August 2012 as 
> documented in the mailing list and minutes of our meetings in that period.
>
> The consensus reached was: "that we let the issue ripen further before we 
> discuss it again upon request by a member", so I think your request is IMO of 
> course valid and in line with the planned continuation.
>
>
> With regard to suggested "channels", may I suggest that regardless of time 
> and place of discussing the topic we please all ensure that:
>
>
> 1. All discussions leading to decisions in the OData TC are permanently 
> accessible to the public and recorded on OASIS systems as mandated by the 
> OASIS (and specifically the TC) guidelines.

Of course, this is required.  The proposed W3C community would not have 
any power to make any decisions for either the OData TC or the W3C.  The 
proposed W3C community cannot be directly involved in any discussions 
leading to decisions in the OData TC. The OData TC can, at its discretion, 
use or not use any information that the liaison conveys to the OData TC, 
all of which is public and recorded according to the guidelines.

> 2. Any liaison is compatible with the OASIS [Liaison 
> Policy](https://www.oasis-open.org/policies-guidelines/liaison) esp. in our 
> case at the end of the document inside section "Liaisons to a Technical 
> Committee or Member Section".

As I read the liaison policy, any member of the OData TC who is also a 
member of the proposed W3C community would qualify as the liaison. I am 
willing to serve as the liaison, but that is up to the OData TC to decide.

> I do not think that this is "rocket science", but I remember that w.r.t. 
> these W3C Commuities, individual members need an "umbrella" company to join 
> and collaborate within these W3C networks.

Anyone can join a W3C Community.  There is no membership requirement or 
fee. Here is what the W3C says about its communities:

------------------------------
open to all: anyone may participate.

without fee: no Membership is required.

quick to start: no charter is required; just a short scope statement and a 
minimum number of supporters

public: communications are publicly visible.

self-determined: group decision-making processes are self-determined, but 
required to be fair (e.g., to avoid anti-trust issues).

without time limit: communities may continue to work as long as they are 
functioning well; there is no chartered end date.

IPR balanced: the IPR policies — intellectual property related to patents 
and copyrights — are designed to make it easy for IPR holders to join a 
group, to provide implementers with some IPR protection during development 
of a specification, to create a final specification that benefits from 
Royalty-Free licensing commitments, and to license contributions under a 
permissive copyright.
-----------------------------

The W3C IPR policies could be a problem for some people.

> Side note:
> In the two cases I tried to participate as an individual during the course of 
> this year, I had to stay out. My life did not deteriorate, :-) but it left a 
> not so good taste in my mouth, which I vividly remember now, as as this 
> "platform" is suggested again and in our open context.

Any suggestions you could make based on your experiences would be greatly 
appreciated.

Best regards,

-- Ken

> All the best,
> Stefan.
>
> > On Tue, 4 Dec 2012, Ram Jeyaraman (MS OPEN TECH) wrote:
> >
> > > Here [1] is a draft agenda for the OData TC (Technical Committee)
> > > meeting scheduled on Thursday December 6, 2012 during 8-9am PT. For
> > > additional information, such
> > > as dial-in details and chat room, refer to [2]. Feel free to suggest
> > > additions or modifications.
> > > ...