Re: Public Understanding of the Timeframe of HTMl 5 Development

On Fri, 7 Dec 2007, Justin Thorp wrote:
> 
> Now while this may be technically accurate, the general web developer 
> community doesn't understand the finer points of the W3C standards 
> development process and how long it takes.  I fear that because the 
> finish line seems so far off (10-15 years) they're going to disengage 
> because they feel they'll never see the fruits of their contribution.

Yeah, I agree. I've updated the FAQ on this:

   http://wiki.whatwg.org/wiki/FAQ#When_will_HTML_5_be_finished.3F

I've also been working on an annotation system to help mark up different 
parts of the spec as having different stability levels. It's now deployed; 
catch me on IRC if you want to help out annotating different parts of the 
spec.


> I propose we start a doc that explains the process of developing HTML 5 
> a bit more in detail.  It'd help to let people know what to expect at 
> the different parts of the process and where they can chip in or event 
> start adapting their current sites.
>
> I've started a shell doc based on the milestones listed on the HTML WG 
> home page and would love any contributions from someone who wants to 
> help, especially from folks who understand HTML 5 or the process more 
> then I.
>
> http://esw.w3.org/topic/HTML/Guide/HTML5Process

That's great!

Note that the HTML5 process started back in 2004. Also, I'm not sure the 
dates on that timetable are really realistic (last call 6 months from now, 
when it's taken us more than 9 months to publish a FPWD, and we haven't 
even managed that yet?). Different people have different expectations of 
what dates certain things are expected by, so it may be helpful to use a 
less passive voice when giving expected dates.

Also, I think it would help to emphasise how different parts of the spec 
have different levels of maturity (e.g. how <canvas> is widely implemented 
and shipping, whereas <datagrid> is just a draft). What people really care 
about is when they can use the features, not when the spec will be "done".

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

Received on Saturday, 8 December 2007 01:43:32 UTC