- From: Leif Halvard Silli <xn--mlform-iua@xn--mlform-iua.no>
- Date: Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:59:04 +0100
- To: Julian Reschke <julian.reschke@gmx.de>
- Cc: "Tab Atkins Jr." <jackalmage@gmail.com>, James Graham <jgraham@opera.com>, Sam Ruby <rubys@intertwingly.net>, Maciej Stachowiak <mjs@apple.com>, public-html <public-html@w3.org>
Julian Reschke, Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:09:08 +0100: > Tab Atkins Jr. wrote: >> I have updated the counter-proposal located on the ESW Wiki at >> http://esw.w3.org/topic/HTML/ChangeProposals/KeepMicrodata . >> >> ~TJ > > "If Microdata were to be split from the HTML spec, it is possible > that control of it would move to a separate working group, which > would move part of HTML's development out of the hands of the working > group chartered to develop HTML." > > How so, without the HTML WG agreeing to that? It seems like the above warning is only a variant of the second point of that list: "A spec that is designed within HTML5 and one designed outside of it are qualitatively different (see Conway's Law)" Which seems like a misapplication of Conway's Law. Conway's Law is meant as: [1] ]] a valid sociological observation. It follows from the reasoning that two software modules A and B cannot interface correctly with each other unless the designer and implementer of A communicates with the designer and implementer of B. Thus the interface structure of a software system as a consequence will show a congruence with the social structure of the organization that produced it. [[ But Microdata is *already* being designed by only a half or a third of the group, despite that it is placed inside the same spec. This split will be/is already reflected in the design. In that sense, Conway's law already applies. Secondly, only if two *different* groups designs their own - intended to be - compatible systems would there be incompatibilities. Thus, as long as Microdata, even after a split from the HTML 5 spec, _still_ is designed by the same (subgroup of the) HTML working group, it doesn't matter w.r.t. Conway's law whether the text is placed in another text or not, as long as it is the same group that develop it. Thus, Conway's doesn't apply. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway's_Law -- leif halvard sillli
Received on Thursday, 10 December 2009 13:59:39 UTC