Re: XHTML 2 Issue handling

While I do not typically participate in these forums, I wanted to 
confirm that Bjoern's data is correct.  We did reject his request, and 
we did provide some rationale for that rejection. 

I would agree that the response was inadequate, as was the time it took 
us to respond to his comment.  Frankly, the about of time that had 
passed was what made it challenging to respond in a substantive manner.  
So much has changed in the intervening period that some of the comments 
are overcome by events.  I know that I personally was chagrined to 
discover that this issue (and some other older issues) had not been 
formally responded to. That is why I took the action of responding to 
them; albeit in a brief manner. 

You all should know that, regardless of how long it has taken to 
generate formal responses, every issue you submit is logged, recorded, 
and discussed almost immediately.  Usually the issues are disposed of in 
one way or another immediately as well.  Usually, the submitter receives 
a response about their submission quite quickly.  However, those 
responses are almost always sent privately - not to these forums.  This 
process, and the way this Working Group handles public comments, 
substantially predates the process documents to which Bjoern refers.  
Regardless, I am certain that the Working Group's intent is to follow 
W3C procedures, and to adapt to new procedures as they are introduced.

Sometimes, when an issue is very complex, the issue is deferred, grouped 
with other issues, or sent back to the submitter for clarification 
(conformance and meta-data related issues fell into this category).  
This can cause it to take much longer to respond to the issue, and can 
also make it difficult to respond with specifics to individual 
submissions - the resolutions become co-mingled.

Again, I want to thank you all for your continued interest in the work 
of the HTML Working Group and the W3C.  I for one look forward to 
working with you to resolve any remaining issues on the upcoming public 
drafts of our documents.  To that end, I have subscribed to this 
discussion list, and will attempt to participate actively as the XHTML 2 
documents move forward.

-- 
Shane P. McCarron                          Phone: +1 763 786-8160 x120
Managing Director                            Fax: +1 763 786-8180
ApTest Minnesota                            Inet: shane@aptest.com

Received on Thursday, 26 May 2005 03:48:47 UTC