Re: Glossary definition of "interoperability"

On Wed, Nov 28, 2012 at 6:20 PM, Karl Dubost <karld@opera.com> wrote:
> paul,
>
>
> Le 29 nov. 2012 à 03:41, marbux a écrit :
>> On the wiki, I've added a definition of "interoperability."
>> <http://www.w3.org/community/markdown/wiki/Glossary#Terminology>.
>
> Not sure what is the purpose of it for the topic at stake but if you are interested by the topic then I encourage you to read the following. It should keep you busy for a week or two ;)
>
> http://www.w3.org/TR/qaframe-spec/
> http://www.w3.org/TR/spec-variability/
> http://www.w3.org/wiki/QA
> http://www.w3.org/QA/glossary

Thanks, Karl, but I'm already familiar with all of those. Very useful
documents.

A bit about my background: My first career was in typography, where
electronic word processing technology was first successfully
commercialized. The last word processor I used in my life that was
interoperable with word processors from other companies punched 6-bit
paper tape in the Teletypesetter ("TTS") 6-bit format, a telegraphy
code first introduced in 1928 for the Associated Press wire news
service. The newspaper industry had already fully deployed this
inherently digital format, which made the industry an attractive
market for electronic automation.

My typography career spanned the period from before the use of
computers --- when the "markup language" was still a handwritten
language that had evolved over some 500 years since Gutenburg's
invention of movable type --  through the introduction of area
composition using computer-driven phototypesetters.

I did a career switch after 20+ years of that and  practiced law until
I retired. After I retired, I returned to the mystery of why there are
no interoperable word processors and began studying international law,
U.S. law, and E.U. law governing IT standards and government technical
specifications with a heavy emphasis on interoperability aspects.

None of which, of  course, can be applied without some understanding
of the technical aspects and methods. So I've had a fair bit of
involvement with development of software technical specifications.

My understanding of the technical side does not run nearly as deep as
my familiarity with the relevant law, but I'm still able to make the
occasional technical contribution along my way toward more
interoperable software.

I think having a solid definition of interoperability to build from is
quite important, particularly when working within the W3C, where very
few of its recommendations are sufficiently specified to enable
interoperability and where many folk with a technical background have
incorrect understandings of what interoperability is.

Having properly defined it gives us a solid foundation for writing
tests and a specification to achieve it.

Best regards,

Paul

Received on Thursday, 29 November 2012 03:26:44 UTC