RE: [xtm-wg] Deadlines for Paris WAS RE: [xtm-wg] Proposal for Ch ris Angus to be Invited Guest to XTM Authoring Group

["Michel Biezunski" <mb@infoloom.com>]

> [Daniel]
> > Where does this deadline come from?
> >
> > The Status clause in the Review Specification states "On December
> > 4th, 2000,
> > this document enters an Authoring Group Review period. From that
> > date until
> > January 21st, 2001, TopicMaps.Org Authoring Group (AG) members are
> > encouraged to review this specification and return comments to the XTM
> > Authoring Group."
>

We need to read, review and integrate the changes proposed before the Paris
meeting. We have found out that 10 days is not too much for this. In Paris,
we need to come with a final text. We are not far from it now. We have no
reason to slow down this process.

The process of creating the XTM Spec is deliberately designed to be
both speedy and adequate.  It is not designed to result in a Spec that
will be completely optimal (which is, in any event, impossible), or
that will necessarily please everyone completely (which is extremely
unlikely no matter how much time is spent in attempting to please
everyone completely).  The process is deliberately designed in such a
way as to guarantee a rapid outcome.  Rapidity is not optional; it's a
requirement for success in this venture.  This is not an academic
exercise.

However, the process of creating the XTM 1.0 Spec is the creature and
tool of the Participating Members.  If any Participating Member feels
that the interests and intentions of the Participating Members are
being overlooked or damaged by the rapidity of the process that they
approved in Dallas, then that Participating Member is free to invoke a
voting process to make whatever changes are desired now.

Before you do that, though, please be informed that the editors
endured considerable hardship, and have made significant out-of-pocket
sacrifices, to meet the December 4 deadline imposed upon them by the
Participating Members.  As instructed, they have integrated every
editorial contribution to the maximum possible extent.  They have done
everything possible to leave every Participating Member in a position
to suggest and discuss whatever last-call changes may be needed.  If
we are to succeed in what we have invested so heavily to accomplish --
to jumpstart a whole industry while the window of opportunity still
remains open -- we must maintain our momentum and bend every effort to
crossing the finish line as soon as possible.  This means that
Participating Members must do quickly whatever work they feel they
should do.  Having recently borne a far heavier workload, I think the
editors can be forgiven for making a reasonable work assignment, with
a reasonable deadline, to the Participating Members.  Everyone has the
whole holiday season to make a careful review and to formulate and
circulate their concerns.  This work assignment is, of course,
entirely voluntary, and it is made only in the interests of achieving
exactly what the Participating Members themselves already voted
unanimously to accomplish, and of making the best possible Spec.  The
editors themselves are undertaking exactly the same work assignment,
as well as others.  (Having already sacrificed American Thanksgiving
to the cause, the editors are prepared to lay Christmas/Chanukah on
the XTM altar as well.)

At the Dallas meeting, the XTM AG has agreed on the nature of the text to be
included in the specification, and considering that we have now all the
pieces needed which are available for review, we have all we need to go
forward.
>
> >
> > I would also point out that Clause 5.1.2. (XTM Approval) of our Charter
> > states "Formal adoption and all revisions to XTM shall require a
> > two-thirds
> > majority vote of the Participating Members."
>
This is what we did in Dallas. We adopted the document outline there, with
all parts in place. Now we have a review process which is on, and anybody
has a chance to work on the documents. There is nothing which is happening
now which is contradicting the charter.

We adopted the plan unanimously.

> > I am not aware that any of the documents published at Washington have
been
> > through this approval process.

Not true.  At the Dallas meeting, the editors were granted full
authority to publish.  There was, in fact, no other way to meet the
deadline.  This was all very, very explicit.  I'm surprised that you
are taking this revisionist position, Daniel, because you voted for
the plan that was adopted.

It's also important to recognize that the editors published the
*minimum* that they were both authorized and *required* to publish as
final text.  They published most of the existing work as an "AG
Review" version.

> > What is the plan for when and how this will
> > be done? My reading is that notwithstanding any statement of Status in
any
> > of these documents, they have not yet been formally adopted by
> > the Authoring
> > Group. My presumption is that in Paris we will do our best to
> > reach a point
> > where we agree on an XTM 1.0 specification and formally approve
> > it, but that
> > failing that, our aim is to achieve that by the end of our face-to-face
in
> > Austin.

I don't see any reason why we should fail meeting this deadline, and there
is no way to delay this after the Paris meeting. After the Paris meeting,
we'll be starting working on the next version of XTM and/or extensions of
1.0, but version 1.0 (final) has to be out. This is not part of my project
as an editor to invent scenarios that have to do with "what if we miss the
deadline?". We have to do everything we can not to miss the deadline, that's
all. It's the credibility of the whole project which is at stake here. And
everybody involved in this process has to understand that since this is a
collective process, there is no way for one individual to have all his/her
ideas accepted. It's not by attempting to extend deadlines that chances are
better. On the contrary, because extending deadlines endangers the whole
project.

We are not going to review every sentence one by one at the Paris meeting.
Text of standards are not written by committees. The ideas that go in the
text are (i.e., have been) discussed in the meetings, but it is not the
purpose of the meetings to review the details of each sentence. The work
about the text itself should be done before. Every one has now the
opportunity to send requests for changes. The editors will be reading them
(but not later than January 8) and decide whether the proposed changes are
compatible or not with the global harmonization that they are working now
on. Any change that will come after January 8 will be ignored.

In Paris we'll have a final discussion on the text, and only things that can
be resolved immediately will be taken into account (typos, clarification
points, editorial improvements, etc.). I hope that we'll devote most of the
time to discuss other issues than version 1.0.

> > I base this on Michel's email to this list and the
> > topicmapmail list
> > of 6 December, entitled "Announcement of XTM 1.0" where he says:
> > "- The Paris meeting (January 19-20-21) will be the end of the review
> > process. Final specification should be available for distribution at the
> > Knowledge Technologies Conference in Austin, Texas, early March."

Yes, this is still true, but this explains why the deadline is what it is.
Also, we have just learned that if we decide to go for publishing a W3C note
that would be ready for announcement at the KT2001 conference, last week of
January is our last chance to send it.

Obviously, one of the issues for the Paris meeting is whether to
submit the Spec as a W3C note.  The importance and significance of
making XTM visible in the context of the W3C can hardly be
overemphasized.  At the end of the Paris meeting, there must be a
complete and final list of editing instructions, so that the Spec can
be finalized and published immediately thereafter.

Michel and Steve

--
Steven R. Newcomb, Consultant
srn@coolheads.com

voice: +1 972 359 8160
fax:   +1 972 359 0270

405 Flagler Court
Allen, Texas 75013-2821 USA

==========================================
Michel Biezunski, InfoLoom
Tel +33 1 44 59 84 29 Cell +33 6 03 99 25 29
Email: mb@infoloom.com  Web: www.infoloom.com
==========================================

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Daniel Rivers-Moore [mailto:daniel.rivers-moore@rivcom.com]
> Sent: December 14, 2000 11:36 AM
> To: xtm-wg@egroups.com
> Subject: RE: [xtm-wg] Deadlines for Paris WAS RE: [xtm-wg] Proposal for
> Ch ris Angus to be Invited Guest to XTM Authoring Group
>
>
> Sam
>
> Where does this deadline come from?
>
> The Status clause in the Review Specification states "On December
> 4th, 2000,
> this document enters an Authoring Group Review period. From that
> date until
> January 21st, 2001, TopicMaps.Org Authoring Group (AG) members are
> encouraged to review this specification and return comments to the XTM
> Authoring Group."
>
> I would also point out that Clause 5.1.2. (XTM Approval) of our Charter
> states "Formal adoption and all revisions to XTM shall require a
> two-thirds
> majority vote of the Participating Members."
>
> I am not aware that any of the documents published at Washington have been
> through this approval process. What is the plan for when and how this will
> be done? My reading is that notwithstanding any statement of Status in any
> of these documents, they have not yet been formally adopted by
> the Authoring
> Group. My presumption is that in Paris we will do our best to
> reach a point
> where we agree on an XTM 1.0 specification and formally approve
> it, but that
> failing that, our aim is to achieve that by the end of our face-to-face in
> Austin. I base this on Michel's email to this list and the
> topicmapmail list
> of 6 December, entitled "Announcement of XTM 1.0" where he says:
> "- The Paris meeting (January 19-20-21) will be the end of the review
> process. Final specification should be available for distribution at the
> Knowledge Technologies Conference in Austin, Texas, early March."
>
> Daniel
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Sam Hunting [mailto:sam_hunting@yahoo.com]
> Sent: 13 December 2000 18:50
> To: xtm
> Subject: [xtm-wg] Deadlines for Paris WAS RE: [xtm-wg] Proposal for
> Chris Angus to be Invited Guest to XTM Authoring Group
>
>
> [michel]
> > We are now heading for publication of the full
> > spec after discussing it during the coming weeks, so that
> > everything gets finalized in Paris.
>
> To meet this deliverable, requests for editorial changes and/or
> additions must be submitted by Monday January 8 at 5:00 PST (more
> than 3 weeks away).
>
> This is to give the editorial and production teams time to integrate
> all the material, communicate with authors, etc., while avoiding any
> production difficulties that would cause lack of harmony or errors in
> the final deliverables.
>
> Murray will (I am sure) propose a process for submitting change
> requests when he returns from Hawaii; in the interim, I suggest that
> people prepend "[EDIT]" to the subject lines for change requests,
> and, in the body of the mail, reference the section number in which the
> requested change would take place. If anyone has a better interim
> process?
>
> S.
> For the Editors
>
>
> =====
> <!-- "To imagine a language is to imagine a form of life."
>      - Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations -->
>
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