Re: W3C/WHATWG overlap going forward

On 12/12/2014 09:10 AM, Sam Ruby wrote:
> On 12/12/2014 07:38 AM, Henri Sivonen wrote:
>> On Wed, Dec 10, 2014 at 6:35 PM, Robin Berjon <robin@w3.org> wrote:
>>> I think we're all agreed that publishing a specification for Slightly
>>> Different Kitchens isn't ideal. The open question is: what is?
>>
>> I was thinking of Shiny Donkey Coalition referencing the toast
>> grilling algorithm in the Rainbow Unicorn Kitchen Specification and
>> noting that the Shiny Donkey Coalition, at this time, repudiates
>> remarks about buttering toast and about pizza-ordering fridges.
>>
>> It seems to me that the problem is that Steve doesn't want to risk
>> people seeing the competing toast buttering remarks at all.
>
> I would encourage you to refrain from making these types of conclusions
> as they don't further the discussion.  Steve has questioned this
> conclusion of yours[1].  The fact that the W3C HTML Recommendation[2]
> prominently links to the WHATWG HTML Living Standard would also indicate
> that your conclusion is incorrect.
>
>>> Do you think it would be possible to address the granularity issue
>>> from the
>>> WHATWG end?
>>
>> I haven't talked with Hixie about it lately, but, previously, the
>> attempt to spin off Window was a bad experience, so I don't really
>> expect WHATWG HTML to become modularized. Other than the WHATWG HTML
>> spec, it seems to me that specs over at the WHATWG are already
>> sufficiently granular.
>>
>>> I don't know if it would be under the specific form that you are
>>> suggesting,
>>> but at some point I would love it if we could publish a specification
>>> that
>>> basically says "The Web Platform is this, that, and the other thing over
>>> there." But we're a number of collective steps away from that.
>>
>> What do you think is the current main blocker for the W3C normatively
>> referencing a WHATWG spec over there?
>
> For starters, we would need a stable reference.  As a practical matter,
> it would be difficult for a stable recommendation to repudiate remarks
> about buttering toast and pizza-ordering fridges that at one time
> appeared in a moving target.

It occurred to me that while you asked for the "main blocker", it would 
be worthwhile to share what I think a complete picture would look like. 
  I'll preface this by saying that I only expect that what I'm about to 
describe to only work for non-kitchen-sink specifications.

Here is what I'm actively proposing be done with the URL standard:

https://github.com/webspecs/url/blob/develop/docs/workmode.md#preface

Public feedback welcome where-ever.  My preference is pull requests, but 
this github issues, this mailing list as well as public-webapps, whatwg, 
and www-archive are also OK with me.

- Sam Ruby

> [1] http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-html-admin/2014Dec/0018.html
> [2] http://www.w3.org/TR/html5/#status-of-this-document

Received on Friday, 12 December 2014 15:07:17 UTC