Shelley's notes on current HTML5 draft

Individuals have a choice of where they post comments.
Comments to private mailing lists of course can be
tracked by whatever.

But comments received on "public-html-comments@w3.org"
should be managed and tracked as feedback to the
HTML working group.

http://www.w3.org/2005/10/Process-20051014/tr.html#doc-reviews
calls for the Working Group (not the Editor) to respond
to comments. Directing those who submit comments on
"public-html-comments@w3.org" to the WhatWG issue list
is a misdirection.

Since you are being careful in this email thread to
separate your role as HTML-WG editor from your role
as WhatWG editor, you should be as clear about this
in your replies to emails.

Your reply:

> Thank you for your feedback. So that you don't think I'm ignoring you, I 
> just wanted to let you know that it has been noted and will receive a 
> reply in due course; I generally deal with feedback chronologically, and 
> the current list of feedback is quite long, as you can see here:

did not indicate, as it should and as your clarification
below states clearly, that you were replying solely in your
role as the WhatWG editor, and that the issue had not,
in fact, "been noted" by the working group or that there
would be any working group feedback on the issue, as the
process requires.


> Generally speaking it is my 
> understanding that issues from non-working-group members, such as the 
> issues that started this discussion, are to be taken by the working group 
> and will be added to the list above if the chairs decide that the working 
> group believes that the issue should be addressed.

The responsibility for addressing issues lies with the working group,
and while the chairs have some responsibility in insuring comments
are addressed, the chairs don't have the authority to dismiss a
serious and substantive issue based on their own evaluation criteria:

http://www.w3.org/2005/10/Process-20051014/tr.html#doc-reviews
" a Working Group should formally address _any_ substantive review 
  comment about a technical report and should do so in a timely manner."

where "formally address" is defined:
http://www.w3.org/2005/10/Process-20051014/policies.html#formal-address

Your reply sidetracked the W3C review process by falsely implying that
the inclusion of the public review comments in the WhatWG private 
issue list was somehow part of the working group response to comments, 
when it was not.

Larry
--
http://larry.masinter.net


-----Original Message-----
From: Ian Hickson [mailto:ian@hixie.ch] 
Sent: Monday, May 04, 2009 12:31 PM
To: Larry Masinter
Cc: www-archive@w3.org
Subject: RE: [whatwg] notes on current HTML5 draft

On Mon, 4 May 2009, Larry Masinter wrote:
> 
> The HTML working group should manage priorities of the HTML document 
> without requiring registration on the proprietary "WhatWG.org" site. W3C 
> has extensive tools for managing priorities and issues, designed to 
> insure an open process. This isn't.

The issues list on the WHATWG site is not the W3C's issues list, it's the 
WHATWG's. The W3C HTML WG has two issue tracking systems:

   http://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/query.cgi
   http://www.w3.org/html/wg/tracker/

According to the advice I have gotten from the chairs, my duties as an 
editor of a specification publication by the HTML WG extend as far as 
responding to issues listed on the Bugzilla database, specifically, those 
listed in response to this query:

   http://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&product=HTML+WG&component=Spec+bugs&component=Spec+proposals&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&bug_status=UNCONFIRMED&bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&emailassigned_to1=1&emailtype1=notregexp&email1=%5Emike%40w3%5C.org%24&emailtype2=substring&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=noop&type0-0-0=noop&value0-0-0=

While I do respond to other feedback as well, I do so as part of my role 
as editor for the WHATWG, and that is why those issues are tracked on the 
WHATWG issues list.

If HTMLWG members would like me to address an issue, then the formal way 
to do so is to add it to the list above. Generally speaking it is my 
understanding that issues from non-working-group members, such as the 
issues that started this discussion, are to be taken by the working group 
and will be added to the list above if the chairs decide that the working 
group believes that the issue should be addressed.

-- 
Ian Hickson               U+1047E                )\._.,--....,'``.    fL
http://ln.hixie.ch/       U+263A                /,   _.. \   _\  ;`._ ,.
Things that are impossible just take longer.   `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.'

Received on Monday, 4 May 2009 20:34:17 UTC