Re: The next HTML+RDFa Heartbeat

On 03/30/2010 04:17 PM, Maciej Stachowiak wrote:
> Is everyone ok with HTML+RDFa progressing on a separate schedule from
> HTML5, and a separate schedule from Microdata? I believe there is some
> interest in bringing Microdata to Last Call at the same time as HTML5.
> While I do not think it is essential that any of our specs go out at the
> same time, I wanted to check if anyone has a problem with the
> possibility that Microdata may go out before HTML+RDFa, if HTML+RDFa is
> blocked on the RDFa Core schedule.

I just want to be very clear about the schedules as what you mention
above could be construed as "the RDFa Core schedule is going to hold up
HTML+RDFa". This /only/ holds true for HTML+RDFa *Last Call* and that's
assuming that HTML WG can do a Last Call for HTML5 before October 2010.

The RDFa WG expects HTML+RDFa to be ready for CR, PR and REC far before
the HTML5 specification is ready for those stages of the W3C process. If
one takes a look at the RDFa WG schedule,

http://www.w3.org/2010/02/rdfa/#milestones

you'll see that all RDFa WG documents reach REC around April 2011.

The only reason we are decoupling HTML+RDFa LC from HTML5 LC is in the
case that there is some significant last-minute change to HTML5 that
requires the RDFa WG to go back and rework HTML+RDFa. We don't expect it
to happen, but stranger things have happened in this WG over the past
two years.

The ideal case is that we publish HTML+RDFa LC along-side HTML5 LC.
We're striving to meet that ideal case, but one never knows what the
future may bring and we don't want to couple the specs together in a way
that would hinder HTML5 from moving forward to LC.

So, to recap - the only point in this process where HTML+RDFa may be
behind HTML5 is in the switch to HTML5 LC. At all other points in the
process, the expectation is that HTML+RDFa will be waiting for HTML5 to
proceed to the next stage in the W3C Process. We are notifying the HTML
WG of our intent to decouple the publishing schedules for HTML5 and
HTML+RDFa in order to give each Working Group more flexibility to make
progress faster than they would if the two specification's publishing
schedules were tightly coupled.

-- manu

-- 
Manu Sporny (skype: msporny, twitter: manusporny)
President/CEO - Digital Bazaar, Inc.
blog: PaySwarming Goes Open Source
http://blog.digitalbazaar.com/2010/02/01/bitmunk-payswarming/

Received on Wednesday, 31 March 2010 02:12:15 UTC