Re: Web Payments CG Charter Proposal

On 01/13/2014 03:34 AM, Joel Dietz wrote:
> Thanks Manu. Fundamentally I'm still confused as to the difference 
> between protocol layer stuff and "working systems that enable 
> interoperable payment technologies," and what standard W3C practices 
> is (if any) when it comes to development of "working systems."

In general, there is no one size fits all model. Each group within these
standardization bodies operates differently, and the way they operate is
typically decided upon by the group.

> This is probably because in my mind there is a clear conceptual 
> difference between the two regardless of the commonality of licensing
> terms and legality.

You're right, there is a clear difference between the two.

> For instance, the HTML spec(s) has a very clear distinction between 
> implementation (web browsers). To a certain degree this also 
> facilitates competition in the implementation (including for and 
> non-profit variants), while facilitating broad consensus in the 
> former category.

That's true. We're trying to lay the groundwork for the former (protocol
specifications), but that typically requires the latter
(implementations) to make sure you've actually done a good job. This is
an iterative process... you spec, implement, find bugs, respec,
re-implement and so on until you get something that the community can
agree to push into a standardization process.

> In any case, I hate to clutter up the group with discussion of these
>  things, which is obviously due to my very limited understanding of 
> W3C best practice with respect to community groups and working 
> groups, both protocols and the technologies they enable.

You're not in the minority... it takes years to wrap your head around
how this entire process works. That said, once you've been through it a
couple of times, you start to understand why it's structured in the way
that it is. The process doesn't always operate as smoothly as we'd like,
but it does get work done and is one of the things that brought the Web
to where it is today.

-- manu

-- 
Manu Sporny (skype: msporny, twitter: manusporny, G+: +Manu Sporny)
Founder/CEO - Digital Bazaar, Inc.
blog: The Worlds First Web Payments Workshop
http://www.w3.org/2013/10/payments/

Received on Tuesday, 14 January 2014 21:34:38 UTC