Re: [topicmaps-comment] RE: OASIS vs W3C

[Murray Altheim <murray.altheim@sun.com>]

"Tsao, Scott" wrote:
> 
> > From: Murray Altheim
> 
> > Please give an example of how the proposed TCs in the topic map space are
> somehow overlapping with work going on in other standards bodies. I don't
> see it. RDF, DAML+OIL, XTM, CG, all are *different* technologies, are aimed
> at performing *different* tasks, and have *different* fundamental assumptions.
> What all the hubbub has been about (like "RDF vs. XTM") is seeing how these
> technologies can produce synergies when used together. There's no good reason
> to eliminate or combine them, and lots of good reasons to see how they can
> work together [...]
> 
> I think you are speaking from a "technologist's" perspective, not necessarily from
> an "end-user's or implementor's" perspective.  I see a need to align those (seemingly)
> competing technologies in terms of a coherent architectural framework for (semantic)
> web applications, with details of "usage patterns" or "best practices" to elaborate
> those "good reasons to see how they can work together."

I don't see these technologies as competing. I also don't consider them all
necessary for a specific project, so I don't see a need *in general* for
there to be a coherent architecture between them. They aren't like the set
of necessary components for an automobile engine (where if a part is missing
the engine doesn't run), they're more like a set of Lego building blocks
that can be combined in different ways to match the specific requirements 
of a project. What I'm personally interested in is how several of these
technologies can work together (eg., XTM & CG, XTM & RDF, DAML & CG, etc.).

> > There's nothing random about it. TCs are started where there is a perceived
> need. And I have no idea where you'd get the impression that the OASIS board
> is composed of standards-clueless people. Everyone on that board is to my
> knowledge very well-acquainted with the ongoing activities in ISO, W3C and
> OASIS [...]
> 
> That will be good, and I was just sharing my perception which may prove to be my
> (personal) ignorance.  I wonder how many large corporations (in the standards user,
> not vendor community) are as efficient as Sun in terms of coordinating their
> participations in various standards bodies.

Being a large company but still 1/3-1/4th the size of IBM or Microsoft,
we've had to be much more efficient. There's a LOT of territory to cover,
as you say.

> > Perhaps Boeing will start to re-evaluate the "true value" it gets out of
> participating in standards activities. I don't see where you can speak
> for other companies and how they allocate their standards participation
> resources. We're all trimming back, and we *are* the majority participants
> in the standards bodies, so nobody should pretend that there is some other
> "they" out there.
> 
> As I disclaimed (as "personal knothole") I did not intend (or pretend) to speak
> for The Boeing Company, let alone any other companies.  Please do not misunderstand
> (or misrepresent) what I said.

I understood your disclaimer but still don't understand why you're so
down on what we're trying to accomplish. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding
your point. The standards world is a complex one, and standards bodies
exist for different purposes. The W3C isn't even a standards body, but
rather a consortium (I'm not sure exactly if OASIS is technically a
standards body or another consortium). 

I do believe I see things from both a technical and implementor's
perspective, and I certainly have sympathy for anyone in the latter
category. But by the same token, I don't equate the various technologies
as really overlapping much at all, rather as having interesting and
valuable synergies, so I see the communication between representatives
of these technologies not as competing warriors but as collaborators.
 
Murray

...........................................................................
Murray Altheim, SGML/XML Grease Monkey  <mailto:murray.altheim&#64;sun.com>
XML Technology Center
Sun Microsystems, 1601 Willow Rd., MS UMPK17-102, Menlo Park, CA 94025

     i am going to see if i cannot reform insects in general
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     idealism to the little struggling brothers -- archy (1927)