Re: TAG feedback on Web Audio

A suggestion:

One of the things that I think the TAG can usefully do sometimes is to 
frame for members of the community the history and context for an issue 
like this. Implicit in your comment, Anne, is that there has been at least 
some agreement in the past to avoid data races, and that this lack is an 
architectural feature on which people rely. I have no personal expertise in 
the details, so I presume you are correct.

Would it make sense for you or someone on the TAG to briefly set down what 
is explicitly architected and/or widely assumed regarding the current state 
of play with data races, preferably with pointers to pertinent specs if 
they exist?  With that in hand, it might be easier to obtain consensus that 
the proposals regarding the audio APIs:

* Do or don't violate explicit provisions of normative specs regarding data 
races

* Do or don't undermine less well specified platform characteristics on 
which people have come to depend

* And maybe...that there are or are not shortcomings to be addressed in 
those normative specifications regarding data races

Again, I have no informed opinions on the specific merits, just suggesting 
a useful role the TAG might play to clarify for the many members of the 
community who are less expert on this than you are. Thank you.

Noah

On 7/26/2013 8:09 PM, Anne van Kesteren wrote:
> On Fri, Jul 26, 2013 at 12:46 AM, Olivier Thereaux
> <Olivier.Thereaux@bbc.co.uk> wrote:
>> Language such as “it is impermissible for Web Audio to unilaterally add
>> visible data races” without any consideration of the probability and
>> impact of said data races is, IMHO, rather peremptory and thus ultimately
>> unhelpful in helping our group decide the best course of action.
>
> Unilaterally introducing data races into the platform without wider
> discussion and involvement of the various stewards of the platform
> (TC39, WebApps, WHATWG) is bad. You are changing the invariants of the
> game and that should not be up to any single group.
>
>

Received on Saturday, 27 July 2013 16:22:50 UTC