RE: Testing and WebMob (was: [W3C Webmob] Call Tomorrow (19th March) Cancelled)

Thanks for the guidance, Tobie. And apologies for any unintended offense (certainly none was intended). The lack of focus is a perception I have due to the fact that the current activity is not very apparent in any really accessible way, e.g. regular meetings, an archived mail list, up-to-date info on the wiki, etc. Thus I have difficulty assessing what is the current activity level and where we can get engaged.

Re the channels on TTWF, do you mean those at http://testthewebforward.org/discuss.html ?
* http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-testtwf/ (very light traffic)
* irc channel: irc.w3.org#testing (not a good option for many of us behind corporate firewalls and not able to install IRC clients to stay connected all the time, or to review what's happened/discussed recently... it's OK for meetings but not as a main medium of engagement)
* https://github.com/w3c/web-platform-tests and the resources that one can find referenced there
  * https://github.com/w3c/web-platform-tests/issues and https://github.com/w3c/web-platform-tests/pulls (useful to track what is being done at a granular level, but not really replacing a forum, mail list, or wiki where things can be discussed)
  * http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-html-testsuite/ (very light traffic)

For those on the inside of this activity, actively engaged and setup with the tools to being engaged as needed, this might be an adequate set of resources. But for those attempting to get engaged, it represents a significant barrier. And it remains very difficult (to me at least) to draw any overall picture of how this program is working and where it is attempting to go as a coherent community effort.

Thanks,
Bryan Sullivan | Service Standards | AT&T

-----Original Message-----
From: Tobie Langel [mailto:tobie@w3.org] 
Sent: Friday, March 28, 2014 12:22 PM
To: SULLIVAN, BRYAN L
Cc: Dominique Hazael-Massieux (dom@w3.org); Natasha Rooney; W3C Webmob Public; MarkCrandon; public-web-and-tv@w3.org
Subject: Re: Testing and WebMob (was: [W3C Webmob] Call Tomorrow (19th March) Cancelled)

On Mar 28, 2014, at 19:42, "SULLIVAN, BRYAN L" <bs3131@att.com> wrote:

> Tobie, I agree that resources are the essential element, but unfocused resources don't help us meet any specific goal. Perhaps people misinterpret the use of the term "shepherding". The intent is not to diminish the effectiveness of the work being carried out at a spec and framework level, and we would have to watch carefully to ensure that didn't happen.
> 
> But if W3C members are now somehow allergic to the discussion and strategic work toward a larger vision for TTWF, I guess that discussion will have to occur elsewhere - unfortunate but perhaps a practical necessity.

A strategic, long term vision for TestTWF already exists. It's detailed in the test plan, multi-year budget, etc., material which you are familiar with. What's lacking to carry this vision forward is--again--funds and engineering resources.

Discussing how to focus said resources before they become available is moot. 

Characterizing current resources as unfocused is offensive; Momentum is picking up around the project, both in terms of contributions and vendor involvement.

As is customary for open source projects, goals are determined by those actually doing the work. This is done though the communication channels described on testthewebforward.org. It has been lightweight and very effective so far. I don't see any reasons to change it. 

The only value I can imagine non-engineering time can bring to the project at this point is by reviving the funding task force and successfully driving the funding effort. This projet doesn't need guidance or overview it needs resources. 

Hope this helps.

Best,

--tobie

Received on Friday, 28 March 2014 19:43:42 UTC