RE: [xtm-wg] Inappropriate Changes to XTM DTD/DTD modifications

["Eric Freese" <efreese@sprynet.com>]

As chair (pro tem) of the AG, one of my responsibilities is to act as
arbiter in times of conflict.  This appears to be one of those times.

First of all, thank you Steve N. and Jean for your words of wisdom.  AMEN,
brothers!!!

The February 3rd deliverable has been completed - ON TIME.  Thank you
everyone who made it possible.  We are wrestling with the W3C process now.

At the Paris meeting, when we set the February 3rd deadline, one of the
things I made VERY clear was that the editors were expressly being given the
authority to make changes if necessary in order to meet the deadline.  I
distinctly remember saying that AND getting affirmative head nodding from
the vast majority of the people in the room.  That being said, I do not
believe that the editors have stepped beyond the authority given them in
Paris.

Concerning consensus on the most contentious issue in the DTD changes.  In
reviewing the traffic on the issue of loosening the content model for the
member element, the consensus (by majority+ opinion) is that loosening the
model was acceptable.  Based on the instructions given in Paris (as reviewed
in the paragraph above) the editors were not required to bring this before
the group.  The change could have been made because it did not "break"
backward compatibility.  I applaud the fact that they did seek guidance from
the group.

Any pride of authorship belongs to the group as a whole, not to any smaller
set of individuals.  We've ALL been working long and hard on this spec (some
longer and harder, but all to the degree they were able to).  However, the
editors are the ones with the final responsibility for the end product.  The
February 3rd deliverable IS considered the product of this group and will be
the one commented on for the February 10th deliverable.

Our sights should be on reviewing this version and getting comments in to
the editors by February 8th in order to meet the February 10th deliverable.
Please consider the requests Steve and Graham made in that note and help us
all to make the next deliverable.  We're very close.  Let's keep the forward
momentum going.

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> -----Original Message-----
> From: Murray.Altheim@eng.sun.com [mailto:Murray.Altheim@eng.sun.com]On
> Behalf Of Murray Altheim
> Sent: Sunday, February 04, 2001 12:19 AM
> To: XTM Authoring Group
> Subject: [xtm-wg] Inappropriate Changes to XTM DTD
>
>
> In looking over the recent submission to the group from our chairs*, I
> note that they have unilaterally altered the XTM DTD as
> according to their
> own wishes, lacking any consensus from the AG, particularly
> on the last
> change, which has anything but consensus. As noted in their DTD:
>
> >      Version:    v1.0.1
> >      Revision:   $Id: xtm1.dtd,v 1.17 2001/01/25 17:17:25
> altheim Exp $
> >      PublicId:   "-//TopicMaps.Org//DTD XML Topic Map (XTM) 1.0//EN"
> >
> >      Revisions:
> > #2001-01-21: removed baseName from occurrence
> > #2001-02-02: made variantName optional in variant
> > #2001-02-02: changed ID to #IMPLIED on association
> > #2001-02-02: changed ID to #IMPLIED on resourceData
> > #2001-02-02: changed PLUS to REP on member
>
> None of these changes were approved by the AG. Since few in
> the AG realize
> this, I may as well as note here that yesterday I privately
> resigned my post
> as associate editor, webmaster, graphics designer, and
> everything else I've
> been doing for this group (remaining as Participating
> Member), in protest
> of what I feel are violations of both letter and spirit. The
> criticisms
> that were leveled against the previous editors could easily
> be made here.
> I am very unhappy with the current modus operandi, which
> continues to use
> expediency as an excuse for misconduct.
>
> Up until this time I have edited and maintained the XTM DTD.
> The current
> DTD in the submitted "Final Draft" specification (erroneously labeled
> "1.17", which is the CVS id number of the post-Paris DTD that
> I edited)
> does not represent my work, and I object most strenuously to allowing
> the posting of this new draft, given that the DTD included does not
> represent the decisions made in Paris, which is represented by the
> *actual* v1.17, as currently posted on doctypes.org at:
>
>    http://www.doctypes.org/xtm/1.0/xtm1.dtd
>
> Making these changes absent the consensus of the AG is not in
> the remit
> of our current chairs. The DTD provided in today's submission is
> illegitimate. I'm dismayed to see such blatant abuse of power
> given what
> I thought would be a heightened sensitivity to these issues following
> Paris, and especially after the chairs have been the
> recipient of many
> days of communication from me on issues of proper attribution and
> conduct. My resignation letter was 12K in length, to give you an idea
> of how exhaustively I have tried to express myself on these
> issues. Not
> only have the issues I've raised been ignored, we now see alterations
> to the XTM DTD that represent nothing more than the willful ability to
> make those changes, the difference between power and authority.
>
> I have (perhaps erroneously) handed over the password to the
> topicmaps.org web site to Steve Pepper and Graham Moore, as I have
> doubts now that the consensus of the group will be respected.
>
> The current submission from the chairs should not be considered the
> product of this group (for either the submission to the W3C or as
> a proper posting as a "Final Draft") until it is altered to reflect
> the consensus of the group as established in Paris.
>
> Murray
>
> * "February 3rd deliverables", Steve Pepper, Sat, 03 Feb 2001
> 21:09:49 +0100
> ..............................................................
> .............
> Murray Altheim
> <mailto:altheim&#x40;eng.sun.com>
> XML Technology Center
> Sun Microsystems, Inc., MS MPK17-102, 1601 Willow Rd., Menlo
> Park, CA 94025
>
>       In the evening
>       The rice leaves in the garden
>       Rustle in the autumn wind
>       That blows through my reed hut.  -- Minamoto no Tsunenobu
>
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