Re: Appeal of the OASIS decision on SCA-J package names

[Eduardo Gutentag <eduardo.gutentag@oasis-open.org>]

As regards the appeal filed on May 5, 2008, subsequently suspended
and then resumed on December 12, 2008 by the appellants listed in
the To: line of this message (to whom I've added Mike Edwards, the
only one who confirmed that he wanted to be added to the original
list of appellants):

The appellants write (http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/sca-j/200812/msg00066.html)

"Using a package prefix without owning the corresponding domain does
not follow Java conventions and industry best practice.  Section 7.7
of the Java Language Specification says: "You form a unique package
name by first having (or belonging to an organization that has) an
Internet domain name, such as sun.com. You then reverse this name,
component by component, to obtain, in this example, com.sun, and use
this as a prefix for your package names, using a convention developed
within your organization to further administer package names."

TC Administration, on the other hand, quotes another sentence
*in the same* Java Language Specification, second edition, section 7.7
(http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/third_edition/html/packages.html#7.7):
"If the domain name contains a hyphen, or any other special character
not allowed in an identifier (§3.8), convert it into an underscore."

Since both quotes come from the same source, and both parties agree
as to the correctness of at least one of them, we should assume
that both are correct and as normative as any given specification
can be in this case.

So, taking the first quote, we note that we do not own org.osoa,
so it should not be considered as a solution at all. We do have,
however, an Internet domain name, oasis-open.org, which reversed
(as specified in the first quote) renders "org.oasis-open".
This, according to the first quote, should be the prefix used in
the package.

However, since section 3.8 excludes the use of hyphen in package
names, the second quote provides the correct way of representing it,
that is, "org.oasis_open"

Thus, after both quotes are applied, org.osoa is inappropriate,
and the prefix to be used is therefore org.oasis_open

*However* -- we do note the strong dislike expressed by the
appellants to the use of underbars in package names (either because
they may be hard to type or because some software may be buggy)
even though it's part of the same recommendation they otherwise
quote with approval.

We therefore direct OASIS Staff to investigate the possibility of
acquiring the domain name oasisopen.org, and to report to us by
January 31, 2009, as to the possibility and cost. We are aware that
such an investigation has already started, and we hope this comes to
fruition. But if it becomes apparent that acquiring such domain name
(or an appropriate alternative that can be used for purposes other
than those of the SCA-J TC) is either impossible or too expensive,
the TC will be directed at that time to use the package name prefix
org.oasis_open.

The appellants should remember that the above determination can be
appealed too, as specified in http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/process.php#appeals